# Can someone explain Furry Fandom to me? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 25, 2012, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-furry-fandom-to-me/619965 "2012-04-25T22:50:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2012, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-furry-fandom-to-me/619965/21 "2012-04-27T03:22:34Z")
> [@mister\_nyx](#): > > I don’t think I’ve ever heard of anyone seriously calling for furries to be killed. No… But the hatred is more organized than the mere dislike (no matter how strong) of rap music or cubism. Especially if you calculate proportionately (because rap music is a much, much bigger segment of the American arts scene than furry art is!) the organized hatred is quite a bit larger. > [@](#): > > Furries equating obnoxious posts on 4chan with actual serious threats seems like the persecution mindset that is seemingly quite typical of them. As, of course, is denying that legitimate artistic movements also have been targets of hate. I quoted 4chan, because I thought it was amusing that what they said implied a backhanded compliment to furries. They banned it there, because if they let it in, it would take over completely. > [@](#): > > I suppose I’m just engaging in fursecution, though. Nope, merely holding a different opinion. You didn’t call furries fuckers, or fags, or any of the filthy words used against us on a daily basis. Civilized people can disagree without being nasty about it. (No stories or art involving ring tailed lemurs, of course, will be accepted.) ---
**Author:** ![mister\_nyx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@mister\_nyx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mister_nyx)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2012, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-furry-fandom-to-me/619965/22 "2012-04-27T03:51:14Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > No… But the hatred is more organized than the mere dislike (no matter how strong) of rap music or cubism. I don’t believe that’s true. I have certainly seen hatred of rap and modern art in all sorts of pop culture scenarios. I don’t think anywhere near as many people are even aware of furryism. > [@](#): > > Nope, merely holding a different opinion. You didn’t call furries fuckers, or fags, or any of the filthy words used against us on a daily basis. Civilized people can disagree without being nasty about it. LOL at furries finding they are uniquely discriminated against due to being subjected to the sort of slurs that people like me get exposed to in daily life, not just in 4chan threads. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2012, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-furry-fandom-to-me/619965/23 "2012-04-27T03:59:16Z")
> [@mister\_nyx](#): > > I don’t think I’ve ever heard of anyone seriously calling for furries to be killed. How do you know if they are serious or not? Does it really matter that much? If you can’t read minds, then a fake death threat looks rather like a real one. > [@mister\_nyx](#): > > I suppose I’m just engaging in fursecution, though. No; you didn’t call for them to be massacred. > [@mister\_nyx](#): > > LOL at furries finding they are uniquely discriminated against due to being subjected to the sort of slurs that people like me get exposed to in daily life, not just in 4chan threads. What’s this obsession with 4chan? I don’t go there and I see plenty of rabid hatred. And who said anything about “uniquely”? ---
**Author:** ![mister\_nyx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@mister\_nyx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mister_nyx)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2012, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-furry-fandom-to-me/619965/24 "2012-04-27T04:18:55Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > How do you know if they are serious or not? Does it really matter that much? If you can’t read minds, then a fake death threat looks rather like a real one. LOL, the words of someone who has never experienced an _actual_ death threat. Yeah, real-life death threats are _way_ different from messages from internet strangers. But, like, obviously, just by saying that I’m probably fursecuting you. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2012, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-furry-fandom-to-me/619965/25 "2012-04-27T04:53:32Z")
> [@mister\_nyx](#): > > LOL, the words of someone who has never experienced an _actual_ death threat. Yeah, real-life death threats are _way_ different from messages from internet strangers. But, like, obviously, just by saying that I’m probably fursecuting you. :rolleyes: No; I’m not a furry, and I don’t like cutesy words like “fursecution” (or LOL, for that matter). And you fail to explain exactly how “real” death threats are different. Do they come with a certification stamp from the International Board of Death Threats? ---
**Author:** ![mister\_nyx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@mister\_nyx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mister_nyx)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2012, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-furry-fandom-to-me/619965/26 "2012-04-27T05:03:41Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > :rolleyes: No; I’m not a furry, and I don’t like cutesy words like “fursecution” (or LOL, for that matter). And you fail to explain exactly how “real” death threats are different. Do they come with a certification stamp from the International Board of Death Threats? LOL, furry. When someone threatens to kill you to your face, it’s a lot different from when it’s some anonymous poster on 4chan or SA or wherever the hell else you’ve felt persecuted at. That’s why everyone laughs at your instances of “fursecution”. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2012, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-furry-fandom-to-me/619965/27 "2012-04-27T05:20:37Z")
> [@mister\_nyx](#): > > LOL, furry. Ah, the old bit about how everyone is so sociopathic that they can’t possibly be sympathetic towards any group that they aren’t a member of. > [@mister\_nyx](#): > > When someone threatens to kill you to your face, it’s a lot different from when it’s some anonymous poster on 4chan or SA or wherever the hell else you’ve felt persecuted at. Yes; it means that you’ll recognize them before they open fire or lob a Molotov cocktail into your house. Do you think that violent people are all too stupid to use a keyboard? > [@mister\_nyx](#): > > That’s why everyone laughs at your instances of “fursecution”. No; it’s simply that furries have been declared a valid target. A great many people are going to make a point of ignoring anything that happens to them short of death. ---
**Author:** ![mister\_nyx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@mister\_nyx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mister_nyx)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2012, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-furry-fandom-to-me/619965/28 "2012-04-27T05:24:03Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Ah, the old bit about how everyone is so sociopathic that they can’t possibly be sympathetic towards any group that they aren’t a member of. LOL, furry. I hope you never experience actual discrimination, because no one should. But if you did, you’d be able to see how clearly unimportant “fursecution” is from the regular, everyday shit that many, many people have to experience. I get that your experience is limited, but let me explain: for many people, it’s not just mean posts at 4chan. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2012, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-furry-fandom-to-me/619965/29 "2012-04-27T05:38:02Z")
> [@mister\_nyx](#): > > LOL, furry. I hope you never experience actual discrimination, because no one should. But if you did, you’d be able to see how clearly unimportant “fursecution” is from the regular, everyday shit that many, many people have to experience. I get that your experience is limited, but let me explain: for many people, it’s not just mean posts at 4chan. :rolleyes: It’s clear that you are not actually arguing with me, but with some imaginary poster. I’m not a furry, I’ve never even been to 4chan, and I don’t use the term “fursecution”. It’s also clear that you regard the term “furry” as an insult, which is why you keep throwing it as me; which makes your claims that they aren’t mistreated rather hypocritical. And I doubt you’d care one bit if I or anyone else did experience “actual persecution”. ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2012, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-furry-fandom-to-me/619965/30 "2012-04-27T07:13:01Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > It has roots of great antiquity, being prominent in Egyptian and Greco-Roman mythology. If you think centaurs are keen, you might be a furry. I think centaurs and other mythological, fantasy and science fiction races are keen, but I’m no furry. Furry fandom’s practically the opposite of what I find interesting - I like the aesthetics of the human face, and would not make it my first task to replace it with something inhuman, and I am more interested in substantial physical differences like an angel’s wings, a mermaid’s tail or a fire elemental’s vulnerability to water and how they might shape a person’s culture and upbringing than just declaring “your face looks like a dog’s face, therefore you probably _think_ like a dog.” ---
**Author:** ![florez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b9e5f3/32.png) [@florez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/florez)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2012, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-furry-fandom-to-me/619965/31 "2012-04-27T07:48:41Z")
I have never known a furry, but it seems a very harmless escape from the predictable. Maybe it is an inner child thing, a hobby; but whatever it is, I do not understand why it is controversial at all. The sex thing seems complicated, what with the fur suit, but maybe the furry is more uninhibited in the costume. To each his own, what is the harm in playing a cartoon critter? There are worse ways to escape. If people are actually hateful towards them, I think that is irrational, but people irrationally hate, and fear, and feel threatened by all kinds of different things. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2012, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-furry-fandom-to-me/619965/32 "2012-04-27T12:24:27Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > It’s an art style. An aesthetic. It isn’t for everyone, any more than rap music or cubism. If you like it, great. If you don’t, well, okay, fine: hope you find something you do like. How is it an art style? It seems that the only thing that art involving Furries has in common is anthropomorphic animals – isn’t that just content? ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2012, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-furry-fandom-to-me/619965/33 "2012-04-27T14:01:11Z")
If only **Der Trihs** was as tolerant of Americans or those that believe in God as he is of the poow pwosekooted fowwees. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2012, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-furry-fandom-to-me/619965/34 "2012-04-27T14:06:44Z")
If only **Der Trihs** was as tolerant of that believe in God as he is of the poow pwosekooted fowwees. If you’re wearing a fur suit to a convention with your fellow yiffers, no harm, no foul. You’re not bothering me. If wear a fox tail or fox ears in your day-to-day life, I’m going to think that’s fucked up, just like wearing baggy pants around your ankles or carrying an open umbrella on a sunny day. Just as you have the right to dress like a fox outside of Halloween, I have a right to think that’s not normal. If that’s “fursecution”, oh well. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2012, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-furry-fandom-to-me/619965/35 "2012-04-27T14:12:03Z")
Don’t worry. He’ll be all over them as soon as the fur-suiters start to push a conservative political agenda. I may not often agree with Der Trihs, but I give him full credit for remaining consistent. ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Tyger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Silver\_Tyger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Tyger)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2012, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-furry-fandom-to-me/619965/36 "2012-04-27T16:09:21Z")
> [@florez](#): > > The sex thing seems complicated, what with the fur suit, but maybe the furry is more uninhibited in the costume. It should be noted that probably 99% of furries that have a fursuit don’t have sex in them. You don’t want to ruin the thing you spend thousands on AND get heatstroke. As probably everyone knows, I’m a furry. I’m not in-your-face about it. I don’t think I’ve ever been persecuted, although I have been harassed for it, mostly by people from SomethingAwful (not saying everyone from there is like that). I’m not involved in any of the communities and I’ve never been to a convention. ---
**Author:** ![florez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b9e5f3/32.png) [@florez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/florez)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2012, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-furry-fandom-to-me/619965/37 "2012-04-27T16:28:51Z")
> [@Silver\_Tyger](#): > > It should be noted that probably 99% of furries that have a fursuit don’t have sex in them. You don’t want to ruin the thing you spend thousands on AND get heatstroke.. No disrespect was intended by my comment, As I said, I have never known a furry. About not wearing the fur suit for sex is practical, and makes sense. Thank you for educating me. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2012, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-furry-fandom-to-me/619965/38 "2012-04-27T16:55:56Z")
I am not a furry but you know, when I was little I wanted to marry the fox Robin Hood from the Disney movie and I still think he’s pretty damn cool. Does that make me a furry? And yes, furries do get the brunt of the Internet hate. I’m totally with him. But you know, comparing furries to people that believe in God is way out there. I mean, furries have _never_ tried to tell me what to do with my vagina or uterus. ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2012, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-furry-fandom-to-me/619965/39 "2012-04-27T18:22:18Z")
I would be curious what the convention scene is like for furries. It seems like such a relentlessly persecuted petition of the geekdom kingdom. Seriously, it’s hated more than LARPers! And, who do furries petition for help in cons and things? I can think of many shows that have anthropomorphic elements, but nothing with a central scene. What exactly goes on at such an event? ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2012, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-furry-fandom-to-me/619965/40 "2012-04-27T20:50:43Z")
> [@elmwood](#): > > If only **Der Trihs** was as tolerant of that believe in God as he is of the poow pwosekooted fowwees. How many people have furries oppressed or killed in the name of furry-ness? When was the last nation conquered in the name of furryness? When was the last furry torture scandal? Where’s the international furry child molestation ring scandal? Where’s the oppressive furry legislation? Where are furries waylaying people and beating them to death? Religion is monstrously evil and highly delusional, and has the body count to prove it; furries are generally people with a harmless fetish. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-furry-fandom-to-me/619965.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-furry-fandom-to-me/619965.md?page=3)