By Miravoir Psaltry
Reprinted from Players Magazine, vol. 8
Crocodile Jack would be proud. After seeing many Lions, Tigers, and Bears, (Oh My), Mira put on her pith helmet and khaki shorts and braved the forest and jungles (and sl User groups) of the Furry kingdom and came back to tell you all about their wild and wonderful culture. I've found that the Furries I've talked to don't all agree on what is and isn't "Furry". However, all Furries I've talked to were very shy of the media, because we have jumped to so many assumptions of whom and what they are. So, after a bit of coaxing, I managed to get a few of the shy denizens of this group to come forward and let me in on their world as they see it. Hopefully, you will find them as wonderful and fascinating as I do.
I met 4 gorgeous furries, Tomax Edison, Kotori Yossarian, Gani Sauvage, and Verbena Pennyfeather who lent me their thoughts on their culture. First of all, this lifestyle has been a long term thing for all of them, roughly four years. Most of them prefer being in animal form at all times, and when I questioned them about that, the common answer was uniqueness. Tomax put it eloquently by saying, "for a lot of people, just making another human character is boring and cookie-cutter. there isnt much uniqueness or self expression in it. Similarly, people might also think that the current mount of variety in normal humans is much lacking, so they make animals. and, no doubt, lots of people play as animals because that's what they wish to be. because in a lot of ways, animals are far more beautiful than humans." Gani also had a definite opinion on this, " Some people say that there is not enough racial diversity. I say that there is not enough species diversity. I think that is part of the appeal of meeting an alien race, just to know that you are different, not so much of a cabon copy." Verbena likes the uniqueness factor as well, and takes some amusement in the "mundanes" (non-furries) stereotypical responses when faced with a certain animal. Creative Expression is a key factor in the human existence, and it appears as though the furries have found the wellspring from which they can draw.
From what I've observed meeting the Furries in SL , they, like most people, want to be beautiful. Foxes, wolves, cats and tigers greatly outnumber weasels, sloths, and baboons. The people I spoke to tend toward wolves and cats as a rule. They want acceptance and love, and seem to find it in this group. I have inhabited their largest group here for some time, and everyone is always cheerfully greeting each other there, and generally are affable and affectionate with each other. Verbena put it astutely when she said, "Remember, we're all human behind that screen, no matter what some insist." But, they've established a wonderful sense of community, perhaps even tribalness that we as a modern society have lost.
Vanity fair and MTV really hurt the Furry subculture by depicting them as nothing up weirdos with hopped up sex drives. The assumption is that nothing but sex could make Furries as passionate as they are about their culture. All the participants agreed that there is a sexual aspect to being a Furry, but to hype them all as sexual superfreaks is a gross fabrication. Still, a search on Yahoo on the subject of Furries will brings both the informative, the cute and the bizarre. (Yet, so will doing a search on cooking (woah! what's she doing with that canoli??) ) Gani says that Furries are just more open about themselves. They accept all lifestyles with open arms. There's no need to hide who they are. Tomax said, " That is just a stereotype. theres a lot of social interaction there besides sex. of course, many many other subcultures do involve sex, but i believe the furry subculture is singled out because both participants are animals of some form, and because of that, people automatically assume we like to have sex with actual animals. another thing is that this subculture is a lot more open with themselves, and because sex is such an integral part of the human brain, it logically follows that there would be a great deal of it occuring."
So the result of my little safari? Furry is about mutual acceptance and common interests, rather like those that enjoy old movies, or collect stamps. And when a magazine touts that Furry is only about perversion, it misses the point, just like stories about other subcultures such as ravers often do. Furry is a chance to expand ones creative expression, and to participate in different personas. I have always enjoyed that sense of the dramatic, and so I too think that is a fun thing (although I really couldn't see myself as a furry everyday). But, how much they all seem to love each other, how they are connected through their furriness, is a beautiful thing.
And having documented the wild and wonderful species of the Furry Kingdom, Crocodile Mira now traipses back to the city, for a bath and to get all the twigs out of my hair.
Bestiality?
Call me misunderstanding, but if they try their darndest to be different, theyre opening themselves up to criticism and misunderstanding.
And, I dont know what this sexual aspect is, but it sounds pretty.. different.. and very open to misunderstanding.. to me.
Posted by: Mafioso | October 18, 2004 at 06:28 PM
Bestiality is people having sex with animals. Furries are people dressed up like animals. Although there's all the talk of us coming from common ancestors, having sex with an animal, and having sex with a person dressed UP like an animal are still two different things. Maybe some furries *do* have sex with animals, but so do people that don't dress up at all. But other than mentioning the stereotype that some people think they have sex with animals all the time, that wasn't at all what the article was about.
Posted by: miravoir | October 20, 2004 at 10:22 AM
What miravoir said. Bestiality would be like if someone started humping the sheep in Bedford.
Posted by: urizenus | October 20, 2004 at 11:32 AM
I just wanted to say a few things on this subject. First off let me say this is one of the most balanced articles I've seen on the subject, very well done.
I have been a "furry" since 1986 but that isn't correct really since I was the same before but didn't know what to call it. It is something that grew out of science fiction, basically some folks rooted for the aliens rather than the boring ol' human hero stereotype. They gravitated around theme elements where the alien wasn't just the convienent bad guy Bug Eyed Monster. One of the appealing attributes of Star Wars was the idea that the aliens were niether all good or all bad but were individuals just like humanity itself.
Using Star Wars as an example, we all have an idea who Chewbacca is and how throughout the series he showed himself to be trustworthy, brave, compassionate, highly skilled in many ways, a good person to have at your back and a hero just as much as any human character. Yet, why is it when a person takes up that character as a costume or avatar they are suddenly perverts who like to hump sheep?
I wear a tiger skin pattern on my avatar in SL yet I have no desire to boff an animal of any kind. My girlfriend, who isn't a furry, thinks it makes me look exotic and sexy. She views it like makeup, jewelry and clothing, a way to make the person unique, desirable and visually exciting. She has a few of the skins I make and she wears them as the mood strikes her, just like a pair of earrings, a certain color of lipstick or a leather jacket. I think she is the bomb wheather she is in her human skin or her furry skin, either is good because I am attracted to the person, not the avatar.
The same sort of thinking that certain people use who hate furries because they consider them all perverted freaks would be the same as thinking all people who wear fur coats have sex with their dog or all women who wear makeup have a clown fetish... its stupid, utterly moronic. But then there are a lot of them out there.. they sold an awful lot of Yugos and Chrystler K cars and they are bringing back the Partridge Family.
If you look around SL a while you will realize no group has cornered the market on morality, SL has a thriving business selling mature sim land and vendors of sex toys and animations are thriving yet there is only a small number of furs in SL. The skies are dark over mature sims all over SL with private skyrooms yet there really is only one furry dominated sim and it looks like any other sim... other than a glaring lack of BDSM toys that is. I've been to both furry and human events and there really is no difference in how people act.
I sell my skins to both furs and non-furs alike. The tan leopard skin in the article was a custom av for a woman who had no idea furry even existed but thought it would be exotic and sexy to have leopard fur. I sometimes catch flak from furs who think my skins aren't really furry because it isn't toony enough. Just as there are people who hate furs, there are furs who will not have anything to do with non-furs at all and will shun those who do... (don't worry, we think they are nuts too)
There are two things I have learned; The only normal people are the ones you don't know and we are all human under the pixles.
Posted by: Kathmandu Gilman | October 22, 2004 at 04:19 PM
Thanks for that post Kathmandu. If you want to flesh it out a little I'd like to post that as a main post. email me: [email protected]
Posted by: urizenus | October 23, 2004 at 12:46 AM
Girl-gets-Boy, Girl-and-Boy-grow-old-and-get-tired-of-each-other. baseball A marriage, in other words. Narrated nascar mostly by the wife, it becomes quickly fantasy football lugubrious in a sort of Liv Ullmann/Sylvia kazaa Plath-ish kind of way ("I believe the olsen twins / your taxi is here she said. / halloween He looked down at the street. She golf was right. It stung him, / the pathos sailor moon
Posted by: Inuyasha | October 28, 2004 at 09:30 PM
well I'm a furry, but, its not beastiality. it's fursuiting
Posted by: Filut piek | May 16, 2007 at 11:11 AM
I am a furry as well, and I would like to point out that furries are anthropomorhic animals, not regualar animals. an anthropomorhic animal is an animal with human like characteristics such as human intelligence, the ability to talk, walking on two legs, opposable thumbs, etc..
Posted by: Scott J Powers | February 09, 2008 at 03:00 PM
You're one of the very few non-furries I've read about believing in the non-sexual side of the furry group.And it's true.Many beast heads,even if they are sexual,would rather date another furry or a human.NOT an animal as media accuses.
Posted by: Blackie | February 15, 2008 at 04:56 AM