# I hate to ask this but... what's the deal with furries? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 12, 2003, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-to-ask-this-but-whats-the-deal-with-furries/206992 "2003-10-12T14:51:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![sajwalke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/edb3f5/32.png) [@sajwalke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sajwalke)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2003, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-to-ask-this-but-whats-the-deal-with-furries/206992/1 "2003-10-12T14:51:46Z")
I understand they are some sort of internet subculture related to drawings of furry animal. I have got the impression from many people that they’re total nut jobs but, because I don’t want to be to hast to judge, I thought I’d ask what the deal was here. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2003, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-to-ask-this-but-whats-the-deal-with-furries/206992/2 "2003-10-12T14:54:28Z")
Huh? You got a link or something to illustrate this? ---
**Author:** ![sajwalke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/edb3f5/32.png) [@sajwalke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sajwalke)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2003, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-to-ask-this-but-whats-the-deal-with-furries/206992/3 "2003-10-12T15:05:15Z")
Well, there are some samples of furry forums [here](http://www.somethingawful.com/articles.php?a=1727) (I hope I got the coding right) at [somethingawful.com](http://somethingawful.com). As you can see the object of the article is to make fun of this unusual group but nowhere do I find any sort of explanation. This has been happening for quite some time now and I’m sick of it, so although I feel silly asking my curiosity got the better of me. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2003, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-to-ask-this-but-whats-the-deal-with-furries/206992/4 "2003-10-12T15:16:26Z")
Dunno. As far as I can tell, it’s just people who like pictures of small, furry animals. No idea why this is considered unusual or weird. _shrug_ ---
**Author:** ![MC\_Master\_of\_Ceremonies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/bb73d2/32.png) [@MC\_Master\_of\_Ceremonies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MC_Master_of_Ceremonies)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2003, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-to-ask-this-but-whats-the-deal-with-furries/206992/5 "2003-10-12T15:21:07Z")
Basically it is a catch-all name for several fetishes or broader lifestyles based around, animals (not bestiality though), soft toys, fur or animal costumes. From what I gather they are nut-jobs (to say otherwise would rob the word of it’s meaning) of varying degreees of nut-jobality. ---
**Author:** ![DarrenS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/977dab/32.png) [@DarrenS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DarrenS)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2003, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-to-ask-this-but-whats-the-deal-with-furries/206992/6 "2003-10-12T15:23:09Z")
Could it be related to [this](http://www.sexuality.org/l/fetish/plushies.html)? Probably not work safe… ---
**Author:** ![owlofcreamcheese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/97f17d/32.png) [@owlofcreamcheese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/owlofcreamcheese)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2003, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-to-ask-this-but-whats-the-deal-with-furries/206992/7 "2003-10-12T15:28:01Z")
someone that is a furry is someone that has a strong attraction to hominid animals. the reason its freaked up is that for a large amount of them its a sexual thing… and you end up with drawings of a gay badger rapeing a fox wearing scuba gear at the bottom a swimming pool. or some sort of vore porn with a fox eatting a rabbit while rapeing it. or a horse man haveing sex with a cat woman while blood streams out of tears from the size differance… or tom and jerry haveing sex… or some other horrible horrible porn. the other freak worthy thing is that furries is a group like vampires where people blur reality for themselfs. you know all the angsty teens that think they are vampires? thats bad enough but the furrie sub culture is made of people that honestly think they ARE catgirls or foxes or wolves or dragons. of course neither of the above is all inclusive. and there is alot of people that just like animals that are like people, disney has made a few movies on that theme and its no big deal. but as with alot of things its the extreamists that define a culture, and the furrie culture has some of the creepiest extremes of ANYTHING(mostly because no matter how bad the porn was before its worse by adding an element of beastiality). ---
**Author:** ![IcicleFuzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ba8739/32.png) [@IcicleFuzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IcicleFuzz)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2003, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-to-ask-this-but-whats-the-deal-with-furries/206992/8 "2003-10-12T15:28:20Z")
Ye gods **DarrenS**. What a bunch of furverts! ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2003, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-to-ask-this-but-whats-the-deal-with-furries/206992/9 "2003-10-12T15:32:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by DarrenS \* > \*\*Could it be related to [this](http://www.sexuality.org/l/fetish/plushies.html)? Probably not work safe… \*\* I stand corrected. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speaker_for_the_Dead)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2003, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-to-ask-this-but-whats-the-deal-with-furries/206992/10 "2003-10-12T15:37:28Z")
My friend is a furry, and to him, it’s just that instead of hanging some hot drawn chick (e.g. Lara Croft) on his wall, he’d hang a picture of some cat girl (who can be naked, because apparently the fur is thick enough to hide any sexual characteristics beyond breasts). ---
**Author:** ![grump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8491ac/32.png) [@grump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grump)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2003, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-to-ask-this-but-whats-the-deal-with-furries/206992/11 "2003-10-12T15:41:21Z")
From a Savage Love column, [Link](http://www.thestranger.com/2002-08-08/savage.html) “furries” alsoefers to those who enjoy doing the nasty with someone in a fursuit costume. Not for me. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![elfbabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b782af/32.png) [@elfbabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfbabe)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2003, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-to-ask-this-but-whats-the-deal-with-furries/206992/12 "2003-10-12T16:46:32Z")
Some furries just think that drawings of catgirls, catboys, or whatever are pretty hot. Some just have a sexy cat/sexy fox/sexy whatever costume that they break out on Halloween or for costume parties. Some even say that sex isn’t a part of it at all, that they just think the catgirls/catboys/whatever look cool. Some are… not like that. Some furries are just a little weird. Some are all KINDS of messed up. And, as always, it’s the ones who are WAY too into it who feel the need to go on the internet and tell everyone about it. And I’m not even gonna TALK about plushies. Ack. ---
**Author:** ![owlofcreamcheese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/97f17d/32.png) [@owlofcreamcheese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/owlofcreamcheese)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2003, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-to-ask-this-but-whats-the-deal-with-furries/206992/13 "2003-10-12T19:04:21Z")
I would say the reasons its so hated are: 1. its beastiality, people that are into it don’t acknolage that point but even thinking a horse girl is sexy sounds like thinking that somehow makeing a girl more like a horse is sexyer than a normal girl… which implys the horse bit adds something. beastiality is generally disliked. 2. it lends itself to other repugnent fetishes, rape fetish especially. alot of chance to have power imbalence and ‘wild’ stuff. so a cat rapes a mouse instead of eatting it. 3. speaking of eatting! it has alot of even worse subfetish cultures. vores are a big one. its when one creature consumes another… in… a…sexy…way. also lots of violence fetishes are played out in furry porn. (killing something and haveing sex with it at the same time, haveing painful sex with cats with penis barbs. tigers with claws dug in. size differances ripping the woman.) 4. its sorta gives some people the impression of pedophilia. like, human like animals are the relm of children for normal people. children’s books often play on this, to tell a story about a child you use a child animal. this isn’t universal, but its an element in the hate I think… even if thats not a thing that furrys are thinking it can still draw that impression from outsiders. renamon from digimon is popularly drawn as a lesbian fox… monster… thing… its a kids show but no lack of porn exists for it that bugs people. 5. alot of it gay porn for whatever reason (be deep and imagin maybe its a way to deal with being diffrent by displaceing things onto an animal… or maybe because animals have more interesting penises… with barbs and sheaths and stuff so its diffrent to draw) , there is absolutely nothing wrong with that… but on the internet being gay will get you a “OMG fag!!!1” and that will build dislike for some people. basicly… there is nothing inherently wrong with thinking cat girls are cute. but combine some impressions from the outside world about your interest… with the really true fact that every single possible puke worthy fetish lends itself to a furry situation and so exists in the hundreds on the internet. which makes it a pretty hated group. I gotta say… I hate it. ---
**Author:** ![captainQwark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e68b1a/32.png) [@captainQwark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/captainQwark)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2003, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-to-ask-this-but-whats-the-deal-with-furries/206992/14 "2003-10-12T19:40:12Z")
by the way, what does “yiffy” mean? I’ve seen it used with parodies of the furry fetish. ---
**Author:** ![lord\_vykor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e495f1/32.png) [@lord\_vykor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lord_vykor)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2003, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-to-ask-this-but-whats-the-deal-with-furries/206992/15 "2003-10-12T19:53:59Z")
The Wikipedia article on [Furry fandom](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Furry_fandom) is fairly informative, and seems more objective than the previously linked sources. The general disgust over the group seems focused on sexualized elements, which are not necessarily the major elements of the subculture. These aspects though, as the article states, were the focus of mainstream media coverage. Very strange group, but seems harmless enough. The public hatred seems slightly irrational. Another case of society passing summary judgment on its abnormal elements? ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2003, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-to-ask-this-but-whats-the-deal-with-furries/206992/16 "2003-10-12T20:31:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by captainQwark \* > \*\*by the way, what does “yiffy” mean? I’ve seen it used with parodies of the furry fetish. \*\* “Yiff” is supposedly the noise that foxes make while mating. Seems to be furrydom’s version of “fuck”. ---
**Author:** ![Nanoda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Nanoda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nanoda)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2003, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-to-ask-this-but-whats-the-deal-with-furries/206992/17 "2003-10-12T21:00:01Z")
Also remember that somethingawful is out to ridicule everybody. A chosen exerpt from a BB for baseball fans could look as dumb, and they certainly managed to bash certain helpful anti-spam groups recently when they had a problem with them. For non-outrageous stuff, you could check out the [about](http://yerf.com/web/info.htm) section at [yerf](http://yerf.com/), or just read [vgcats](http://vgcats.com/). I always thought “yiffy” meant cool. Like the anime fanboys say “kawai”. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![DreadCthulhu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/db5fbb/32.png) [@DreadCthulhu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DreadCthulhu)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2003, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-to-ask-this-but-whats-the-deal-with-furries/206992/18 "2003-10-12T21:12:51Z")
They are mostly a group yiffing crazing perverts. And this is from a guy who like tentacle porn. ---
**Author:** ![Daikona](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8baadc/32.png) [@Daikona](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daikona)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2003, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-to-ask-this-but-whats-the-deal-with-furries/206992/19 "2003-10-12T21:24:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by owlofcreamcheese \* > \*\*I would say the reasons its so hated are: > > (snipped a lot of stuff that implies that somehow the extreme fringes are valid representatives of the entirity) > > basicly… there is nothing inherently wrong with thinking cat girls are cute. but combine some impressions from the outside world about your interest… with the really true fact that every single possible puke worthy fetish lends itself to a furry situation and so exists in the hundreds on the internet. which makes it a pretty hated group. > > I gotta say… I hate it. \*\* I feel a compelling need to follow your logic here. Looking at pictures of human women isn’t inherantly wrong. But I mean, you can get into some pretty puke worthy fetishes from there. I mean, scat porn has women in a lot. So does rape fantasy. And pedophilia? Don’t tell me all those women dolled up to look like catholic schoolgirls aren’t feeding into _that_. And we could talk about _real_ bestiality. I get a lot of things in my spam that are just a _little_ more graphic than putting kitty ears and a tail on someone. What kind of sick freaks _are_ you, looking at _women_?! I hate people who like women. (Okay, in case anyone is slow to follow this. You can’t take the fringes of something and declare that the tamer angles of it are disgusting and you hate the whole thing without sounding like a freak. I fail to see an inherant difference between thinking a girl with a tail is cute and thinking an elf is cute. And not many people talk about the disgusting nature of the latter. The fact that some people get off on the idea of raping dogs doesn’t mean people who don’t are sick because of it.) ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2003, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-to-ask-this-but-whats-the-deal-with-furries/206992/20 "2003-10-12T21:34:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by owlofcreamcheese \* > \*\*someone that is a furry is someone that has a strong attraction to hominid animals. > > … > > its a sexual thing…\*\* Firstly, don’t confuse ‘hominid’ (which means Humans and the Great Apes) with ‘Humanoid’ (Human shaped)/Anthropomorphic (‘Human Shaped’, although anthropomorphism ranges from ‘animal shaped, but with human minds’ all the way up to ‘human with pointy ears and a tail’). A Cat Furre is no more a hominid than a regular cat, though in most cases (s)he’ll be a humanoid. Depending on my mood, my Furre persona shifts from small and completely catlike in everything save sentience, to a fuzzy version of me. Secondly, Furry is not ‘a sexual thing’ any more than any other form of Fantastic fiction/art is. Yes, there’s a sexual aspect - I won’t deny that, nor will I deny I have some yiffy art. But that’s not all there is to it. Hell, turn on the TV any Saturday morning and you’ll find Furry stuff. Disney channel’s showing Robin Hood? Furry! Fox has TMNT on? Furry! CN’s showing old Pepe LePew cartoons? Fur…er…possibly a bad counterexample… ^\_\_~ [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-to-ask-this-but-whats-the-deal-with-furries/206992.md?page=2)