Some Questions

[Morrogh TDO]

but I get mad when people say it is a 'deep, spiritual connection' as if it is the only way it can be.

I would have been less perturbed if you had specifically said that's what it was to you you did sound like you were generalizing. Might not have been what you intended, but it's how i read it. As for you getting mad at it being spiritual. Why? I didn't say that's the way it has to be. And i have yet to see anyone say that's the way it has to be. People are in the fandom for different reasons. Should just accept it as that. Nothing to be mad at.

[Drake Wingfire]

It is impossible to generalize how everyone feels about the fandom. Which is why to me it is a hobby (albeit one that I am more invested in that say, liking the TV series 'Xena') but others have some sort of spiritual connection with it. Personally... I don't get the spiritual thing. Not at all.

So people get mad at me for saying it is a hobby, but I get mad when people say it is a 'deep, spiritual connection.' You just have to take it on a case by case basis I guess, and don't lump everyone together in one stereotype.

It wasn't the fact that it was a hobby to you, it was just with how you worded your previous posts saying how that for everyone it was nothing but a hobby. I can't really fault you for not getting the spiritual branch of the fandom, hell many don't and just subsequently avoid it all together (still don't understand why you get actually mad as it was never said that the fandom is all spiritual and nothing else). This fandom has a lot of different types. reminds me of old debates of long ago, but back then it was more of a furry lifestylers VS furry fans. Pretty much the same deal. just some people who viewed the community as a big part of who they were, something they carried with them everywhere (spiritual or not) and then on the other hand, those who just viewed the fandom as something fun to do, but more of a just-online sorta thing. kinda like the second they stepped away from the computer they were now your average joe.


Bigjonesb:

Like I said before, don't sweat it. Its just one of those things that many people don't feel so open to talk about regardless of how one words it. Many people got this Media Fear.. I have cringed multiple times throughout this tread at some of the blunt replies I have witnessed. If what you were simply looking for was some sense of what the fandom is all about and where you think you might fit in. The simplest advice I could give is to just explore. browse the net, there are many forums and communities out there and many art sights, there are plenty of people and things out there. If it exists then there is pretty much a furry version of it XD
Don't rely simply on just this topic to get an idea. ^.=.^ all we can do (the ones willing to divulge at least ahaha) is just tell you what it was like for us, but every person is different. :)

[bigjonesb]

I know you can't just glob everyone in to one big ball of the same thing. The furry culture is a tree, it has to start at the roots, the core essence that everyone binds to, something that everyone can agree on. but to say everyone is the same based on the fact that they agree one little thing, is impossible, as like a tree, it doesn't grow just up but outward, so too, does the furry culture, people do something different, boom, a new branch of the furry culture is born. Okay enough with the Bad poem. This is why I want to get some answers from everyone I can, Determine the root and see how big the tree really is

[bigjonesb]

Do you know any good links to go check out, i have seen some of the art.

[zenia]

lol See guys! I guess I don't really mean "mad" ... but whatevs. :P

When I say it is nothing but a hobby, of course I mean TO ME it is a hobby... like when others say it is a spiritual thing, they mean it is TO THEM. ... But when nobody says that, it reads like they are speaking for EVERYONE. XD I just don't like being lumped in with the spiritual side of things... because to me, I don't feel that way and it still sounds a little nutty to me. But to each his own, hey! I don't fault anyone for feeling how they do about stuff!

[Drake Wingfire]

I know you can't just glob everyone in to one big ball of the same thing. The furry culture is a tree, it has to start at the roots, the core essence that everyone binds to, something that everyone can agree on. but to say everyone is the same based on the fact that they agree one little thing, is impossible, as like a tree, it doesn't grow just up but outward, so too, does the furry culture, people do something different, boom, a new branch of the furry culture is born. Okay enough with the Bad poem. This is why I want to get some answers from everyone I can, Determine the root and see how big the tree really is

But like a tree, for every branch there is a root, a vast network of roots reaching out into many directions. As every branch reaches out into new directions so does each individual root *chuckles* okay I wont be  all poetic and artsy fartsy either XD

What I mean is, for every type of furry you see out there, there is a unique origin. The real only sole thing that binds us as a group is a love of animals, both real and fantasy. There is no real formula to being a furry, its really a big label for a very big and vast group of people. Kinda like how we label anything living with leaves as Plants.

[Morrogh TDO]

To actually answer these questions, and keep in mind this is what it is to me.

-What was the light-bulb moment when your realized you were furry?
It wasn't really a light-bulb moment to me, it was kinda gradual. It started showing first hints though when i realized that the fur fandom was a (for the most part) pretty open minded community. There was no racism, nothing that really separated anyone from each other. Also had this odd feeling of Draconity as some dragons in the fandom would say. Kinda looked into things and saw that there were more like me. It kinda went from there.

-Did you struggle with coming to grips with the fact you're a furry?
Not really, i just see it as another thing that kinda makes me who i am. It's a part of me.

-If any issues arose, how did you deal with people, such as friends and family members, that arose when you came out as furry?
The same way i deal with people finding that i'm gay. If you have a problem with it. Go away, leave me alone. I am who I am


-Do you feel it was one of your best choices to come out as furry?
I could say it was. I feel a sense of freedom. Nothing holding me back. No hiding. No secrets.


-Did coming out as a furry lift any size burden of any kind (eg.: mental, social) off of you?
Again i could say yes.

-What do you think makes someone a furry? What would your checklist look like?
To me there shouldn't be a checklist. To each his own. But i will say at the very least, you got to have an open mind.


-Do you believe there's an age limit, or is it part of you for the rest of your life?
There absolutely is no age limit. You can be a furry starting from the time you know it exists to the time you die.


-Do you believe it ever too old to enter the furry world? (excluding the obvious, Death)
Not at all. I've heard of some fur's grandparents getting into the fandom.

#- This is aimed more at furries living in smaller cities (roughly 100,000 citizens or less) but feel free to answer if you feel this still applies to you:

-Do you find it more difficult or easier to be furry in smaller general population areas?
It's a bit harder, cause there is a less likeliness of other furs in the area.

-Do you feel the smaller population keeps you less active in the furry community or more active?
Online it doesn't really change with me but to actually go out and do stuff, again when there's not many furs close to you, it's harder to go out and do things.

-Do you feel that a smaller population allows you to get to know the local furries more personally
I can say yes to that. When you find furs to hang with in your area. The ones you get to be friends with and tend to hang with them more.

[bigjonesb]

Guys, please don't fight, I understand it has different meaning to different people that's why i wanted to know as much as I can. I understand that to people who share Zenia's interest, it a hobby, Possibly an escape from reality let the creative juice go to work, a break away from the mundane or other reasons. For people like Drake, It' s a part of you, not just to be let go at moment's notice. It makes you who you are, without it, you would feel lost.

Not trying to cram words in your mouths but just to let you know that I know it different for everyone

[zenia]

I hope no one is reading my posts in a way that makes it seem like I am trying to fight. :) I am not like that. lol XDD

[bigjonesb]

I think things did spiral out of control a little there, that is one problem with text, it lacks the tone of voice to convey a proper tone of understanding.

Again, I'm no wordsmith, but I try make sure my word don't get messed up, but I do fail sometimes. Hopefully you didn't feel like any of us were trying to pick you apart, I wasn't trying to, I might have gone a little defensive, but I wasn't trying hurt you

[Tef]

No worries, there are subjective and objective aspects to the furry community which contributes to the said community's elusiveness. In fact, any community has always been, and is always being redefined in one, usually subtle way, or the other.

[Drake Wingfire]

Well text will always be that way, that's why we gotta be clear on what we say :P Can't tell you how many times someone has said something to me on say MSN and I wonder what the hell they are even talking about and then they gotta say it was a form of sarcasm or something, when really I thought they were being a massive tool with bad social skills lol. Online we are just left with the face value of what someone is saying.


Though continuing on the topic here, I find the community might be trying a bit too hard to remain elusive. We are approaching that turning point that Trekkie's did long ago where one day we are gonna get tired of mincing words and dodging bullets and just gonna have to lay our cards on the table and get over what people think of us. I have been wanting to see that turn for a long time since the more we act like being furry is something to be embarrassed about and treat it as a sorta social stigma, the more general society is going to think that there really is something wrong with us. Its impossible to hold a position of "we are normal people, nothing wrong here!" when we shy away from everything with paranoia and lock most of the fandom behind blast doors only giving people a view of a very prettied up "disney-fied" version of the fandom.

[Neox]

I think we've got a pretty cool discussion going on here.  Bigjones, you've definitely got some of the right people in here to debate about this; this is probably the most informative "what is a furry" discussion I've ever seen.  Don't feel bad about causing people to rally back and forth... hell we do it here all the time. =P  

-Do you believe a lack of proper knowledge of what furry really is, is keeping more people from joining up?

I don't believe there is a single thing keeping people from joining up.  A friend of mine put it this way, couple weeks ago when I was at his place: "There is no application to the furry community."  People generally look around on the internet, end up liking what they see, and decide they want to make themselves a part of it.  The community is growing every day.  Hell, even on BCF we get new members here all the time.  It's astonishing, actually.

-What would you do to clean up the misconception of what furry is to the general public?

I take a more guerilla approach to it.  I'm a really social guy, and I get along really well with just about anyone.  I typically let people get to know me for a couple weeks/months or so before I drop the furry bomb on them.  By that point, they typically know me well enough to know that I'm not a fucking weirdo.  I work a steady job working with industrial machinery, I like to party and have people over to play xbox, I write music (playing guitar, bass, drums, etc), I do artwork, go dirtbiking down at the river, go camping, etc.  I'm a bit eccentric, but people generally don't dislike being around me, no matter what side of the tracks they're from.  Then, if it comes up in conversation, or if I feel like the person would be cool with it, I drop the whole, "Yeah, last weekend I was out getting drunk with a couple friends of mine who were furries, blah blah blah..."  Some of them are like, "What's a furry?"  Others go, "Wait... WHAT?!"  Then I explain to them, in my words (as humbly and as factually as I can), what it means to be a furry and I do so in a way that they're not weirded-out by it.  I've made several people actually somewhat "fur-curious" just because of how I execute my behaviour and represent the furry community.  Because, let's face it, EVERYONE has an inner animal.  Furries just like to explore that inner animal.

-What are some common misconceptions about furry that you like to correct right now?

The fact that everyone does it for sex.  I fucking hate that.  I was into the furry art and called myself a furry before I even knew there were people out there who did it for the sex, or hell, it was probably even a year into it before I discovered that people drew furry PORN.  And you get all these furs who have a camera pushed into their faces that end up shooting the whole community in the foot.  Chewfox on the Tyra Banks show, for example.  Or any single person who stands in for an interview and explains what a "murrsuit" is all about.  Like, I don't give a shit if someone tells me they ARE into the furry thing just for sex.  Whoopdie do, good for you.  It doesn't bug ME one bit.  But the general public gets so up in a tizzy over it, that it pisses me off people can just go around singing "fursuit orgy! Fursuit orgy!" >.=.<

Like, yeah, there're gonna be weirdos in any group of people.  The worst part is how people think that ALL furries are weirdos, just because of how much bad PR we've had in the past.  I'm trying to change peoples' views on it, one explanation at a time. =)

[Neox]

And dude, seriously, if you're worried about yourself becoming a furry: don't be.  Even as a community, we have our own little subgroups of people.  It's like... most people think about gamers, and they think an unfit teenager with supreme acne doing nothing but playing games all day.  The truth is, like the gaming community, we have our hardcore folk who play extreme sports and party their asses off; we have our anime nerds, computer nerds, who sit in their houses and do nothing but browse 4chan all day; we have our heavy stoners and shroom-heads, who... sit in their houses and do nothing but browse 4chan all day (XD); and we have our rednecks, who... well... yeah... *ahem*

Choosing to be a furry doesn't define you as being one or the other, it's just another thing to add on your life's resume.  You can clearly see that we've got some cool people here trying to give you the down-to-earth explanation on what it means to be a furry.  We're not trying to keep you out; we're trying to give you every reason to feel welcomed.

[bigjonesb]

 The eluding of questions is probably the big hurdle that's keeping furry from really gaining any real support, I understand that you don't want to misquoted or misinterpreted, but if you are, call the media responsible for the "error", get other furs in on it, if they hear nothing from anyone, they're going to assume they have the information correct and just move on.

I know some people are being welcoming, and appreciate that. It's just that with some of the posts you kinda feel some people are trying to corner you and, you all know how well animals act when cornered, I tried not to get argumentative, but I'm sure I lashed out somewhat, Honestly I was having serious doubt about being furry after a couple of those posts, in fact I was going to watch some tv shows I had recorded and the PVR was set to the TV station SPACE, which was running the Furry episode of fanboy confessional, and I felt like I had to find a TV show quick because if watched any more I would just feel the pain of rejection. But today feels different, And I feel like I'm back on path, thanks to people being warm and welcoming, so thank you