The furry fandom

[LiftFan]

Well, the other week I went to the Millennium bridge in London because I wanted to have a ride on the incline lift. I was there and all of a sudden - a bunch of people dressed as animals walked by! I later went and looked online of what this was so then found out it was a group called London Furs who apparently meet fairly often. I delved deeper and just saw how big this community really is! Whilst I'm not one, I know that a few members of this forum are so I ask you this - How did you find out about furries and why do you people seem to get so much bad stigma? I honestly don't see why people get so much hate for it, IMO it's like being a train enthusiast; something that just kind of happens but to the outside world looks strange.

 

[STEVIEBOY1]

I have not heard of this, do they wear fur clothing, EG Fur Coats etc or do they just dress up as animals? If the latter, it sounds like a student jape thing?

 

[backontrack]

There's a bit in the current Private Eye about that, in Seen and Heard.

 

[Via Bank]

I have not heard of this, do they wear fur clothing, EG Fur Coats etc or do they just dress up as animals? If the latter, it sounds like a student jape thing?

1. The latter
2. No.

See: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Furry_fandom

 

[Alteran Ancient]

Yep. LondonFurs. They meet every three weeks on a Saturday at Jamies' Bar, outside the north exit of City Thameslink station, and do a walk "suited" walk via the Millennium Bridge, Tate Modern and Blackfriars Bridge. Much to the amusement of international tourists!

I've visited a couple of times in the past, as I know a few people who regularly attend.

 

[TheEdge]

I'm sorry, but they are just soooo creepy...

 

[CyrusWuff]

It's not just London. There's at least one meet taking place somewhere in the country every weekend, and three conventions (Birmingham, Bristol and Livingston).

The largest convention in the world (in the US, natch) attracted over 7300 attendees last year, largest one in Europe saw over 2500, and the largest UK one was over 1400.

 

[LiftFan]

Bloody hell, and I thought the turnouts for the A and D stock last days were big...

 

[rectoryroad]

Furries are all different but the one that mostly bothers people is when put into an inappropriate way such as drawings, videos, fanfiction ect.

 

[Nym]

Is this on the left inappropriate?

The meets in London aren't the most decent or pleasant.

The stigma comes from the many parts of the internet that tends to relate more to the, less, "Safe for work" end of furies.

 

[LiftFan]

Is this on the left inappropriate?

The meets in London aren't the most decent or pleasant.

The stigma comes from the many parts of the internet that tends to relate more to the, less, "Safe for work" end of furies.

Nice profile picture - I could only dream of drawing that well which is annoying given I need to be able to for my BTEC in Engineering...

Honestly, I don't really have anything against the more sexual side anyway as you get that with almost everything on the internet nowadays

 

[Nym]

Nice profile picture - I could only dream of drawing that well which is annoying given I need to be able to for my BTEC in Engineering...

Honestly, I don't really have anything against the more sexual side anyway as you get that with almost everything on the internet nowadays

Technical drawing and artwork are very different beasts..

I can draw technically (and indeed I teach graduates how to, so I'd hope I'm half decent at it) but artwork, I'm a lot less, competent.

I'd hope your BTEC teaches it properly and not a load of bad habits...

 

[Gemz91]

Is this on the left inappropriate?

The meets in London aren't the most decent or pleasant.

The stigma comes from the many parts of the internet that tends to relate more to the, less, "Safe for work" end of furies.

In what way aren't the meets most decent or pleasant?

 

[Nym]

In what way aren't the meets most decent or pleasant?

I'm reluctant to answer, I'll end up sounding like a boring old fart. Unless they've changed again in the last few years

 

[TheNewNo2]

Some of my best friends are furries.

Furry can encompass a wide array of behaviours. The basic premise is that they identify in some manner with animals. While things like cats, dogs, wolves and foxes are most common, some people identify with birds, lizards, or even mythical creatures such as dragons. For some people it can go to the level of wearing a fursuit, but most do not, though they may own ears or a tail.

Furries have a bad reputation for being sexually perverted. Though frankly goes on between consenting adults is no one else's business as far as I'm concerned. I don't personally believe that furries are any more perverted than the rest of us, it's simply that they recognise it. Once you already identify as outside the heteronormative cisgender sexual norms, it's less of a stretch to try other unusual sexual matters, as you don't have the mental pressure to conform.

Note that being a furry, even sexually, is distinct from beastiality, though the two may overlap for certain people.

The furries I know are nice, generally fun people, who are pretty much the same as the rest of us. There are some I like, some I'm not so fond of, some I would really rather the earth opened up and swallowed. Much like in any other group of people.

 

[AlterEgo]

Once you already identify as outside the heteronormative cisgender sexual norms, it's less of a stretch to try other unusual sexual matters

Does that apply to all "unusual sexual matters"?

It's quite a dangerous statement to make - essentially the premise is that if you are not a straight man/woman, you are more predisposed to "unusual sexual matters". Is that an unqualified statement?

 

[TheNewNo2]

Does that apply to all "unusual sexual matters"?

It's quite a dangerous statement to make - essentially the premise is that if you are not a straight man/woman, you are more predisposed to "unusual sexual matters". Is that an unqualified statement?

It's not a predisposition, my argument is that most people have things that they would enjoy as "unusual sexual matters", but that people who are not straight are more likely to be willing to try them, simply because their sexual orientation makes them already outside what society considers normal, so the self-stigmatising is lessened.

Think of it a bit like with drinks. If you try something unusual and you like it, you're more likely to try other unusual things. So you're going around tasting every cocktail under the sun while most people just order a pint. Possibly they just really like the beer, but quite possibly they see the idea of ordering a cocktail as somehow stigmatising ("not manly", etc - my work colleague still goes on about me ordering a cocktail at a bar three years ago when the entire rest of the team had beer). They might well like the cocktail if they tried it, but they won't try it, because beer is ok and doesn't have the stigma. Now if you don't like beer at all, then you're already outside the norm of drinking culture, so there's less stigma to try different drinks that take your fancy. Especially if you are with other people who aren't drinking beer.

 

[PaxVobiscum]

...The stigma comes from the many parts of the internet that tends to relate more to the, less, "Safe for work" end of furies.

I think it is important to distinguish between "furries" (which I had to Google) and "Furies" (which I did not).

The only kind of furries of which I was previously aware are made by Rycote for the film and broadcast industries.

 

[yorkie]

Remi Gaillard has dressed up as animals (among other things, such as speed cameras and computer game characters e.g. Pacman & Mario) for pranks, does that count?

 

[90019]

Remi Gaillard has dressed up as animals (among other things, such as speed cameras and computer game characters e.g. Pacman & Mario) for pranks, does that count?

Personally, I wouldn't count him, since it mostly just seems to be coincidence with his pranks, and lots of them don't involve animals.
You never know, you'd have to ask him for the actual answer.

 

[507021]

A close friend of mine is part of the fandom, and I've always been made to feel very welcome when I've attended the meets.

 

[LiftFan]

I am fairly close friends with one, and he's probably one of the kindest people I know