I would like to note that said webcomic misrepresents my opinion on the furry debate, and that the author of said webcomic will be among the first to go when The Stars Are Right.
From Miller’s link:
I like it.
Oh, come on, now. Anyone who can come up with this can surely be spared? I tell you, there are MANY times when I’ve wished for a car battery and ready access to to an erring Doper’s nipples myself!
This is very true. I was very angry at the time, but lost access and couldn’t do much about it.
Time of what? Sorry. Link
And this is why we will never get through: RexDart has chosen to believe something, and will take a sample size of one to draw generalities about everyone.
You know, I have read what RexDart and fruitbat have written in this thread and I fail to see what is upsetting you folks. It seems clear that they understand that the ones who have sex in the suits are a minority of the ones who just like to draw pictures or wear the costumes. It’s not at all unreasonable to say that the ones who have sex in the suits are on the fringe and that is “strange” or “freaky” while maintaining that “strange” or “freaky” is not a bad thing. The biggest irony of all is that fruitbat is mocked for not knowing enough about the culture while Rex is mocked for knowing too much.
It sucks to have everyone in your group compared to the extremists. (Imagine how Moslems must feel.) That is not what is happening in this thead though.
Haj
I agree–I don’t know what is so upsetting either.
I can understand being a bit vexed, a bit peeved, but I dunno–some of you have gotten really pissed here. I’m a little surprised.
You want to know what I can’t help but be amused by in this?
I’m not a furry. I don’t count myself as one, no one in the fandom would. And yet the fact that I don’t run around screaming about what a freak someone is for watching Robin Hood a lot or something means I’m taking my part in a group I don’t even fucking belong to too seriously.
People get really pissed for exactly the reasons Tengu got at. It’s pretty similar to acting like everyone who likes pictures of babies has some infantilist fetish, and when they try to explain that isn’t what it is, going off at them about how their subtle nuances don’t matter, they’re all freaks anyway.
And then, at the same time that people are in here talking about how everyone in the community is some sick freak, there are people coming in defending them, because obviously they’re only talking about that one fringe element. Except they’re not. RexDart and fruitbat have both stated multiple times that they are not extended the “that’s sick, you bunch of freaks” to that specific part.
And frankly, if the whole discussion annoys some of you so much that your entire addition is “everyone just shut up”, it isn’t that hard to stay out of it. About the time people stop attacking people over the whole thing, people can stop trying to defend themselves.
And it still makes me sick that anyone who makes the claim that they’re all for getting rid of ignorance thinks that mocking large groups of people is cool. Especially when it’s done the way fruitbat does it, when the mocking is based specifically on things s/he’s been informed aren’t reality. I’d been under the impression this board wasn’t the kind of place where that kind of behavior was encouraged. But it goes on in GfuckingQ too.
And any other group that tries to correct misconceptions, people at least pretend to pay attention. And if someone comes in and talks about how either everyone involved in say, BDSM is just like (insert small extreme group here), or “I don’t care if all you like is a little spanking, you’re a sick fuck”, I don’t think there would be hordes of people insisting that’s a reasonable view. And I doubt there’d be loads of people wondering why on earth anyone was insulted by it. Especially not if it came up any time the word “spank” was mentioned on the board.
You would be fucking Goofy.
I don’t see what is so upseting either.
People have specifically stated that they are talking about those who get their sexual kicks this way. Not everyone else.
If you are looking to educate people as to the calmer aspect of the subculture, then it just makes people defensive to be screamed at.
I don’t know much about this issue. But I know that in every group there is the majority who are sane, if a little unconventional, and the fringe minority who are truely whacked.
This is true for fans of LOTR, Harry Potter books, bird watchers, Trekkies, and sky divers. I imagine it’s probably true for furries too.
But from my admitedly limited viewpoint, furries seem a bit oversensitive.
WELL GUYS, WAY TO PROVE HIM WRONG*!!!*
shit, it’s anthropomorphic animals. if you’re going to self-identify as a furry (what a name!) due to your great interest in them (sexual or non-sexual), then you will be mocked for it. surprise, surprise.
i started writing an analogy about people calling themselves “toolies” and drawing images of tools (sometimes in sexual poses), considering themselves screwdrivers in a human’s body, or going to “toolie” conventions. then they wouldn’t understand why some people teased them. it got too bizarre.
anyway, I suggest certain people here and elsewhere grow a thicker skin about these matters. it’ll be needed.
You’ll note, of course, that, despite saying this, they keep using Furries to mean them, and say things like:
and
and
Proving themselves to be either liars or completely unself-aware twits.
‘I don’t care what the word MEANS! I’m going to keep using it to mean what I want it to mean and you can SUCK me!’ is not an honest debating technique. It is not asking to have your ignorance eradicated. It is not speaking of only a small group.
RexDart and fruitbat are spouting willful ignorance, and claiming ‘but I don’t REALLY mean what I say!’ doesn’t change a fucking thing.
And you know what, Dryga_yes, fuck you, too.
Yes, it’s look kinda odd from the out side, to an outsider, but, what doesn’t? And, you know what?
THAT ISN’T WHAT PISSES PEOPLE OFF YOU UTTER MORON!
The fact that ‘kinda odd’ and ‘freaky to the point of requiring therapy’ and ‘role playing’ and ‘perverted sexual practice’ become synonyms when idiots like RexDart, fruitbat, or yourself start spouting your bullshit is what pisses people off.
I suggest certain other people not act like morons. It’s not needed per se, due to the diligence and hard work of the moderators, but it does make things much nicer.
Were we having this conversation in person meeting in person, Dryga_Yes, I would do something nasty to you, and point out that of course you were being punished for your gross stupidity, and that it was foolish to complain about it*. You would doubtless rebut that it wasn’t a fact of the world that some nasty thing just happened: simply a fact of my twistedness. I suggest you meditate on the applicability of this situation.
*Moderators: I have no intention of doing anything to any member of this board, whether in person or electronically. This is merely a written representation of one of my favored forms of argument with regards to “that’s the way the world works” reasoning.
I find it amazing that after two pages of this I still have no idea what a furry is interested in. I allowed that I found the fringe element of people who dress as animals to have sex to be weird. No one seems to be terribly upset by that. They are upset because I used a word that applies to a larger group to describe those people.
All I have been told about the rest of the ‘furries’ is that they are interested in anthropomorphic animals. I really am curious so here is one more attempt to get some education on the issue.
Question 1 - Do all collectors of anthropomorphic animals identify as furries. For instance would a person interested in beanie babies or Mickey Mouse self-identify as a furry?
Question 2 - Is there a sexual element to most of the fandom? If there is, how is it manifested?
Question 3 - Is there a particular work of film or literature that is the focus of the fandom? I am thinking of Star Wars to the Sci-Fi fans.
Question 4 - If anyone cares to share, what are you particularly interested in? Is there a web page you can link to that explains it.
It is inevitable that some will take these carefully crafted questions the wrong way. The honest to God truth is that the protestations of several posters have me incurably curious. I can’t believe how pissed off people have become without being able to explain themselves. All I have heard is “Furries are not like that!”. I don’t doubt that the legitimate furry fandom is quite different, thus I ask for an explanation.
Damn I’m starting to think I am dealing with the Illuminati or something.
Certainly, fruitbat. Always glad to raise pit threads up a notch, even my own. There’s a copy of a semi-official FAQ here: http://www.faqs.org/faqs/furry/faq/ , and another lengthy definition here : http://home.microserve.de/juergenr/faqs/usenet-whatis.txt . Of course, there’s no Furry Board of Standards maintaining official definitions, so I can’t vouch for the accuracy of everything.
With all sincerity **Robert[b/], thank you for the references. I really couldn’t just search myself being on my work computer. Google is a risk for everything. I can’t even search ‘Cheese’ without bringing up porn sites. My curiousity is genuine.
Going with the more educational tone…
In fact, it’s pretty much impossible to get a standard. Ask any two furres what it means, and you’ll get a different answer.
Some include just art and fiction - a fan’s not a furry. Although as I RP Nekogami (in various forms, ranging from an almost naturalistic housecat to a very humanoid panther.), I suppose I’d still be - at least when IC.
Some (ridiculously, IMO) refuse to include 'suiters, more human furres (anime catgirls, or those with ‘humans in suits’ personalities) (This last one annoys me), or yiff.
Some include all that and add in Centaurs/Mermaids, etc. (Then there’s 'taurs…Basically, take a centaur, make the human half an anthro horse - that’s a horsetaur. Change the animal as you wish. I’m fond of Cattaurs, personally. (You’ll be detecting a theme of my furreness, I’m sure.)
It occurs… Perhaps a Cafe Society thread on what a Furre is might help head off these blow ups for at least a short time.
Unfortunately I’m rather mentally exhausted, ATM (and Google and Altavista are both being bitches) so if I’m going to be responsible for starting it, it’ll have to wait.
Damn… It’s a shame that the furries are so oppressed. Why don’t you guys spew your hatred elsewhere? I think tomorrow I will contact my Congressman to see if he can initiate a bill to protect furries from such outrageous abuse!