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Scrimno Tarantino Eng 1A 19 October 2009

Myths and Stereotypes of the Furry Subculture

In recent years, a growing group of people throughout the world are sharing a common interest in anthropomorphism, the act of attributing human traits to animals, and zoomorphism, the act of giving animalistic traits to people. They call themselves Furries. It is difficult to estimate how many Furries exist. Anthrocon 2009 in Pittsburgh had 3776 attendees from all over the world, and it breaks new records every year. Together, 5.3% of the members of the Furry networking websites FurAffinity.net and Furtopia.org reported attending Anthrocon that year. That means that there are at least 70,000 Furries worldwide, and that number is growing rapidly. One of the reasons that making a census of Furries is difficult is because for someone to admit that that they are Furry is like "coming out of the closet."

Many prospective Furries would prefer to remain anonymous. There are so many myths and stereotypes about Furries which have been further propogated by media sources that Furries are either scared to open up for fear of "fursecution", or the general public has such a warped image of what a Furry is that some people might not even see that they might be Furry themselves. Matthew Davis, better known as "2 The Ranting Gryphon" and professional comedian said, "I'm not embarassed about my furry interests, but so many people have come to have their perception of the furry community colored by negative stereotypes that any beneficial discussion about it seems implausible." It's very difficult to change a stereotype. Davis continues, "Some furries have lost their friends, families and jobs for nothing more than revealing their participation in the community."

Prior to 2000 the only media coverage on the Furry subculture appeared deep in local newspapers where Furry conventions were taking place. Then in 2001 Vanity Fair Magazine printed an upsetting 7,000-word article about Furries. Soon other national magazines, newspapers, and television networks began focusing on Furry's fantastical fetishes. Furries withdrew deeper underground; all but the most daring continued to expose themselves to the media which was more than willing to publish their intimate personal lives to the world. While the media sources themselves may not have been explicitly hostile towards the Furry subculture, they provoked hostile responses against Furries.

Every person who decides to participate in the Furry subculture adopts a "fursona." Someone's fursona is their personal character which identifies who they are among other Furries. Using the name of their fursona is similar to an internet handle. Furries usually don't feel the need to give out their real names. Many feel comfort in the anonymity that a fursona provides them as well. Perhaps on the internet, a little anonymity is a good thing. Besides, what's in a name? Doesn't a kitten by any other name still feel as soft?

Furrydom consists of several aspects, and neither one can sufficiently define it. It's a Fandom. It's a Subculture. It's a Lifestyle. It's even a Religion. A Furry usually contains aspects from one or more of these categories. The term "Furry" is interchangable between a person and their fursona. Another definition of a "Furry" is the character in which the Furry person takes interest. Most Furries chose mammal fursonas and prefer to identify with mammalian species. Note that a character does not necessarily need to have fur to be a "Furry". Birds, reptiles, insects, and mythical creatures could also be Furries. As long as they were part human and part animal, the term "Furry" is chosen to generalize them all together because most Furries happen to be based on mammals.

The Furry Fandom emerged from humble beginnings. I spoke to Dr. Samuel Conway, better known as Uncle Kage to Furries, and chairman of Anthrocon since 1998, who said "[The Furry Fandom] began with groups of artists who got together at science fiction conventions. They would trade artwork at room parties. Then the internet revolution came along and more and more people began to discover the phenomenon." The internet proved to be the catalyst to boost the Furry Fandom into its large numbers today. Like most Furries, I also grew up to find that I enjoyed the prospect of walking and talking animal-people. I spent years searching for books, cartoons, and art with any kind of anthropomorphic content. Once I stumbled upon somebody's website and they mentioned the term "Furry". I finally had a name for my obsession. Thanks to a German guy who went by "Lutra" and his website, I was no longer alone in the world! Stories like mine are pretty common. Once immersed in the Fandom, I discovered all the wonderful "Furry" things people created. Masterful works of art, painstakingly detailed animations, excellent literature, and beautiful costumes called "fursuits" they made to wear at conventions.

Furry conventions are some of the only places people can meet eachother face-to-face away from the internet and discuss their Furry interests. Many states and countries have Furry "cons", but the largest three are Anthrocon in Pennsylvania, Further Confusion in California, and Eurofurence in Germany. They are held annually where Furries conglomerate to socialize, share trade secrets, buy and sell art and other merchandise, and generally have fun. "Attending conventions is very important to a lot of people." Dr. Conway says. "They make friends over the internet, and a convention might be the only time out of the year where they can actually spend real time with their friends." He also says that a Furry convention is "also an opportunity to hang out with like-minded people where those who are afraid to let anyone know that they like furries can be themselves." The first Furry convention I attended was Further Confusion in 2008. Once I walked inside the hotel doors, I felt like I had finally come home. It was filled with people just like me. People who shared my interests, values and experiences. I could truly call these Furries my peers. All my dreams since I found the Furry subculture were becoming reality. Before then, all I had experienced about it was over the internet.

Most of the Furry subculture takes place online. Furry networking sites like Fur Affinity, Furtopia, and Furry 4 Life give Furries free space to display their multimedia, hosts forums for them to publicly post to, and each has their own private messaging service. Furries also correspond through email, instant phone messaging, computer programs like AIM or Skype, and Multi-User Kingdoms such as FurryMUCK or Second Life. "The Furry Fandom owes its entire existence to the Internet," Dr. Conway said. The Internet allows Furries to maintain communication and share information in ways that would otherwise be impossible.

There are other ways people express their Furriness, of course. They can incorporate animalistic behaviors into their daily lives like making animal noises or walking digitigrade. Furries call this "Lifestyling". Lifestylers are also known to wear collars, false animal ears and tails, but they may only be comfortable doing so around other Furries. It's common as well for Furries to wear clothes with Furry content on them. There are even some cases where people have altered their bodies to look more like their fursonas.

Some Furries feel a spiritual connection with a particular animal. They generally chose their fursonas based on their totem animals. Strong spiritualists may assert that they are an animal in a human body ("Furry".) Kathleen Gerbasi found several Furries who fit into what she called "Species Identity Disorder." Therians are some of these people with the belief that they are either physically, mentally, or physically part animal. Otherkin are similar to therians, but based on mythical creatures. Although therians and otherkin are not Furries in the standard sense, they find refuge and acceptance in the Furry subculture.

Ever since Vanity Fair's article "Pleasures of the Fur" printed, it seemed that everybody wanted to ride their coattails on what they discovered about the Furry subculture. What did Vanity Fair find? Mostly stereotypes, myths and misconceptions.

The article's author George Gurley attended a Furry convention and interviewed several Furries. It begins with a pleasant description of the hotel lobby and some of the activities of the convention. Gurley describes people "skritching": scratching-itching eachother "like macaques in a zoo." He even inclued a handy little dictionary of Furry terminology:

"The furry group has its own customs and language. "Yiff" means sex, "yiffy" means horny or sexual, and "yiffing" means mating. "Fur pile" denotes a bunch of furries lying on top of one another, affectionately, while skritching. "Spooge" is semen; a possible outcome of a fur pile. A "furvert" is anyone who is sexually attracted to mascots and such."

Then he singled out a few individuals who admitted to engaging in plushophilia: sex with stuffed animals. He and visited their homes to further explore their personal lives. One man admitted that he used to experiment with bestiality, and fantasizes about sports mascots. Gurley speculates why people became Furry: "Something happened to them after a youthful encounter with Bugs Bunny or Scooby Doo or the mascot at the pep rally." And after that, "they decided their fellow human beings were not nearly so interesting as those animal characters." Dr. Katharine Gates, sex researcher and self-proclaimed pervert, explained that these might be "zeta", or "the lowest", people not suitable for relationships. She indicated that the only way for such people to have intimacy was with something nonhuman. "Everything is fetish fodder. I can't think of anything in this world that couldn't be sexualized by somebody," Gates said. Back at the convention, Gurley interviewed Military personnel who seemed to assume that wild Furry orgies were occuring in the hotel rooms. While they maintained peace with the Furries, a couple bar patrons expressed interest in murdering them for their alleged acts of sodomy.

The "CSI" episode "Fur and Loathing" was largely based on Gurley's article and only served to reinforce the stereotypical fetishes from "Pleasures of the Fur." In the show, they found that civet oil had been used as an aphrodesiac in a private room party at a Furry convention. Naturally, a session of 'skritching' at the party escalated into a 'fur pile' into which more intense 'yiffing' ensued. Men, wearing fursuits, posed as female characters. Again, the entire thing focused on sexuality and the outrageous things they believe Furries do.

Rick Castro is a professional pornographer. He's made several videos detailing fetishes, including "Sex2k: Plushies and Furries." Released shortly after "Pleasures of the Fur", the film explores the interests of plushophiles and others claiming to be sexually influenced by the Furry subculture. Much of the film follows a young Furry, Yote, through a convention and some of his wild encounters.

After the film debuted on MTV, Yote admitted that his entire part was scripted so that Castro would have a sellable story. The other people who participated in the film claimed that Castro told promised their interviews would be used for different purposes. Instead, it became another Furry sex expose. He similarly misguided artists about how he would portray their work ("Plushies and Furries".)

The truth is, magazines and television networks are profit driven businesses and they will show anything to drive up sales. A couple things that never fail to deliver are novelty and sex. Every journalist is familiar with the phrase "man bites dog," which symbolizes something newsworthy. With the case of Furries, the man IS the dog.

It is understandable that the media would focus on sex. Sex sells. It has been proven time and again that people are interested in other's sex lives. That's why we see publications about affairs and how to please your partner, and TV shows with gratuitous sex scenes. It has almost become a requirement for television shows and movies to contain some sexual content.

While there is much more to the Furry subculture than pornography and sex, nobody can deny its existence. The internet addage "Rule 34" states that "If it exists, there is porn of it. No exceptions." This suggests that there is a sexual fetish for every conceivable subject. In fact, Sigmund Freud said, "The only unnatural sexual behavior is none at all." Humans are sexual creatures. Furries, though some may deny it, are human. Therefore, it's natural to assume that the "furverts" enjoy anthropomorphic pornography and may engage in sexual activity while in costume. Completely nonhuman things like plushies and animals do not fit into the anthropomorphic category and most Furries feel no sexual attraction to them. Those that do are purely coincidental cases.

In fact, Zoophilia is not common in the Furry subculture because animals are generally held in such high regard. Advancements in the study of sexual development have shown new light on sexual development. Irwin and Price found that an individual forms an imprint at a young age of what is an appropriate sexual partner. This sexual imprint is usually based on the features of the individual's parents. It is possible then for an indivual of one species to perceive another species as its caregiver, and thus form a sexual imprint on the species of the "parent." This may be the case with some Zoophiles.

Works Cited: Castro, Rick. "Sex2k: Plushies and Furries." MTV Networks. 2001. TV.

Conway, Samuel PhD. Web interveiw. 8 Nov 2009.

Davis, Matthew Wayne. E-mail interview. 7 Oct 2009.

"Fur and Loathing." CSI. CBS. 30 Oct, 2003. TV.

"FurAffinity.net Members List." FurAffinity.net 2009. Web. 10 Dec. 2009

"Furry" WikiFur. 30 Oct. 2009. Web. 9 Nov. 2009.

"Furtopia.org Members List." Furtopia.org. 2009. Web. 10 Dec. 2009

Gerbasi, Kathleen C., et al. "Furries from A to Z (Anthropomorphism to Zoomorphism)." Society & Animals 16.3 (2008): 197-222. Print.

Gurley, George. "Pleasures of the Fur." Vanity Fair. 487. (Mar. 2001): 174. Print.

Irwin, Darren E., and Trevor Price "Sexual imprinting, learning and speciation." Heredity 82.4 (1999): 347-354. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 10 Dec. 2009.

"Plushies and Furries." WikiFur.com. 13 Aug. 2008. Web. 20 Nov. 2009.

"Rule 34." WikiFur.com. 24 Aug. 2009. Web. 9 Nov. 2009.