Questions About Furries

[Clover Heart 978]

Questions About Furries? Does that make this a reverse-FAQ?

 

Anyway, I'm not a furry, nor do I ever really intend to be. Occasionally, I do anthro art, but that's it. I've written about this subculture on more than one occasion, but realized that there's a lot that I don't know about it. So I have some questions.

 

First, I suppose the definition is something that I'm a bit unclear on. I've given a definition before in arguments, but I'm uncertain as to whether this is accurate or accepted among the furry community. My definition was having a fursona in one way or another, which may include, though not necessarily exclusive to nor limited to, dressing up as them partially or fully, referring to yourself by your fursona or acting as your fursona online. Is this an accurate definition or is there a better one? Is there something I'm missing? Is there any in-community debate about it?

 

Second, I know that most (particularly the mammal-based ones) are called furries. If you're something like a snake or something, you're a scaly. But what about other animals? Birds? Fish? (I assume they could be called scalies as well, but I don't know.) Insects? Amphibians? I think that probably they all fit under "furry" as an umbrella term, but do other terms exist for these animals without fur in the way that one exists for reptiles? Or are there not enough of them to justify their own terms?

 

Third, controversy. I think most communities have controversy or divided issues within them. From an outsider perspective, the experiences I've had with furries are mostly positive. However, is there anything that the community disagrees upon? Is there even anything upon which to disagree?

 

Fourth, how much is role playing a part of the furry community? In my above definition, I've assumed (though could be wrong) that most furries have a fursona that they take on. Given that, you sorta need something to do with it, I think. This makes me think that RPing is probably a big part of the community, but I also have the sneaking suspicion that I'm very wrong. How much is RPing a part of it?

 

Sorry if any of my questions offend. I'm not trying to be presumptuous or judgmental. I just want to understand this subculture better, as it seems to have a lot of overlap with several of the subcultures I'm involved in (including MLP.) Plus it would be nice to actually know what I'm saying when I write about furries, which happens more than you might think.

 

Thanks for any and all answers!

[CawsOfDestruction 26]

I can only answer the first and second ones. The definition of furry is unclear, but most have agreed that it's where you enjoy anthropomorphic animals and may or may not contribute art or fiction. Not all furries have fursonas, though many do. The amount of those who dress up are even less, but they are still large in number. Bird fursonas are often called avians. As for the rest, I know nothing. I hope this helps.

[SkyHeart 102]

I am a partial furry :3 I have quite a few fursonas, including ponies, foxes, pandas, etc, and it so fun! I am sometimes them online, I design costumes, I dress up, and it fun! I'm not as serious as some, but I enjoy it. Its almost like playing pretend when you are little, but... not :3 that is my version any way, I am sure its diffrent for everyone.

[Discordian 6,013]

The term "furry" is rather ambiguous. As one would expect there's no single definition of what makes one a furry. Sometimes simply acknowledging that you are one is all it takes. This isn't so dissimilar to being a brony. There are some who only watch the show, some who roleplay, some who do art and so on and so forth.

 

Take me: I am a furry but I don't roleplay, don't have a fursona, I don't fursuit and don't contribute any sort of art. I just enjoy the general designs and ideas behind a furry character. (Coincidentally, furry webcomics tend to make up some of the better stories and artstyles given enough time. Some even start out great and only get better while others will start out pretty shitty and just get better. I could name a good few in both departments.)

 

"Furry" as a term is exactly how you put it: An umbrella term. There probably is more descriptive terms for different types of animals but I personally do not know of them. Some people even make up their own terms for it if they create a world filled with furries. You see this a lot in webcomics.

 

There is two or three debate points in the furry fandom, though none I've particularly gotten mixed up in myself. For one thing, there seems to be an obsession with electronic music in some parts of the furry fandom. Of course this isn't exclusive to them but much like in the brony fandom you'll see a lot of it because there's a lot of artists in the community and electronic is one of the easiest types of music to make whether you actually understand musical theory or not. Obviously it helps if you do but this can be argued about whether this is "furry music" or just one big coincidence.

 

Another point of debate is whether a furry should be sexual or not. Some people draw and depict furries to be very much like humans. Some do it in a more cartoony style and say it should be that way because merely drawing a realistic human figure is "sexualization" by default. Then there's the opposite side that thinks it's perfectly legit to have a human-esque body without actually having any sexual intentions.

 

Part of that probably comes from the fact that the furry fandom is highly accused of being a porn-based fandom. Obviously this is a choice of the artists not something that's some inherent trait of the subculture itself. You can find plenty of non-sexualized but very human-looking furry characters.

 

Bet you this sounds familiar. Yup, this is the same hoops anthro/human pony artists and those who appreciate such art have to jump through. One could say that using anthro pony art is crossing the border into the furry fandom.

 

The ponies are already anthropomorphized in the show just by having human thoughts, behaviors and personalities. They don't need a human-like body to already be considered anthro. That's another point of debate you can find in the furry fandom: Whether furries should even stand on two legs at all or just stick to their original body types, walking on all fours, with the behaviors of that species...but still thinking like a human while doing so.

 

For these reason characters like Bugs Bunny are, essentially, furry characters. You'll find all kinds of debate and arguments everywhere about whether Bugs is actually a furry but he fits the bill quite perfectly. A lot of it is probably just that people don't want their precious childhood associated with a subculture with a stigma for porn attached to it even if it's perfectly reasonable to not have porn and furries in the same sentence.

 

But it's the internet, what're ya gonna do?

Edited February 20, 2014 by Discordian

[Scootalove 10,684]

The definition of a furry is truly unclear, but I believe that it is a person who loves anthropomorphic animals and most of them don't make art or fictions. As for the second question, they have other names for people who like birds and other animals but there are still fursonas that are based on other animals. Hope that helps.

[FoxyCryptid 4,327]

I can input in the "what are other things called" one. Off the top of my head bird characters are called avians and reptiles/dragons/lizards/whatever of that sort are called scalies. 

 

I think aquatic animals might be called scalies to, but don't quote me on that. 

 

As for definitions, it can be used two ways:

 

*The anthropomorphic characters themselves can be called furries

 

*Members of the fandom.  

Edited February 20, 2014 by Shoboni

[Discordian 6,013]

I can input in the "what are other things called" one. Off the top of my head bird characters are called avians and reptiles/dragons/lizards/whatever of that sort are called scalies. 

 

I think aquatic animals might be called scalies to, but don't quote me on that. 

 

As for definitions, it can be used two ways:

 

*The anthropomorphic characters themselves can be called furries

 

*Members of the fandom.

Aquarians, maybe? Man, now I'm gonna have to research this.

[Fhaolan 4,468]

First, I suppose the definition is something that I'm a bit unclear on. I've given a definition before in arguments, but I'm uncertain as to whether this is accurate or accepted among the furry community. My definition was having a fursona in one way or another, which may include, though not necessarily exclusive to nor limited to, dressing up as them partially or fully, referring to yourself by your fursona or acting as your fursona online. Is this an accurate definition or is there a better one? Is there something I'm missing? Is there any in-community debate about it?

A 'Furry' is either an anthropomorphic animal character, or a member of the anthropomorphic animal fandom. There really isn't anything more to it than that. You don't need a fursona, although many have one, and you definitely don't need to role-play or dress up in any way, though many do. Given the number of Furries who do have fursonas, it can give the impression of being a requirement, but it isn't really.

 

Second, I know that most (particularly the mammal-based ones) are called furries. If you're something like a snake or something, you're a scaly. But what about other animals? Birds? Fish? (I assume they could be called scalies as well, but I don't know.) Insects? Amphibians? I think that probably they all fit under "furry" as an umbrella term, but do other terms exist for these animals without fur in the way that one exists for reptiles? Or are there not enough of them to justify their own terms?

Birds tend to be called Avians, and according to the half-dozen furries who have insectal fursonas that I'm aware of, they just call themselves Buggies. I'm not aware of any fish or amphibian furries, but I'm sure there are some out there, just not enough to warrant a subterm.

 

Third, controversy. I think most communities have controversy or divided issues within them. From an outsider perspective, the experiences I've had with furries are mostly positive. However, is there anything that the community disagrees upon? Is there even anything upon which to disagree?

Yes, last time I paid attention there were three main controversies in the community, one serious, one somewhat frivolous. The serious one was around Yiffers, which is the Furry equivalent to Cloppers, and their somewhat aggressively overt presence in the fandom. Basically there are a number of Yiffers who have a tendency to loudly proclaim their fetishes to everyone and anyone who comes within range, and insist that similar fetishes are a requirement to be a Furry.

 

The frivolous one is the exact dividing lines around the 'what is a furry' definition. Basically the debate is whether an anime cat-girl, who's only animal characteristics is a pair of cat ears and a tendency to meow on occasion counts as a furry or not, and whether a talking animal who is otherwise completely animal in appearance counts as a furry or not.

 

Fourth, how much is role playing a part of the furry community? In my above definition, I've assumed (though could be wrong) that most furries have a fursona that they take on. Given that, you sorta need something to do with it, I think. This makes me think that RPing is probably a big part of the community, but I also have the sneaking suspicion that I'm very wrong. How much is RPing a part of it?

Depends on your definition of 'role play' actually. Fursonas are very common, but not required, and many 'Fursonas' are more like Avatars in that they are not really separate characters, just alternate presentations for marketing purposes. Most of the writers and artists in the community have a 'Furry' avatar of themselves they use like that, but they rarely 'role play' as such. They fursonna is just them in a different skin, as it were. However, there *are* a lot of roleplayers.

 

And there's also a lot of Therians, which is a special subgroup who don't consider what they do 'role playing' as such. They honestly believe they are spiritually an animal of some type, which is different from the Totem animal concept. Therians and Furries often get confused with each other, as there are many crossover members, but they are technically separate groups.

 

EDIT: I forgot to mention the third controversy. Sorry about that. It's the 'Lifestyle' controversy. It may not be true anymore, but there was a period of time when there was a subset of Furries who believed that being a Furry defined them, rather than being just a 'fandom'. I'm not exactly sure what happened to this one, as I've been a bit out-of-touch with the community recently.

Edited February 20, 2014 by Fhaolan

[Discordian 6,013]

A 'Furry' is either an anthropomorphic animal character, or a member of the anthropomorphic animal fandom. There really isn't anything more to it than that. You don't need a fursona, although many have one, and you definitely don't need to role-play or dress up in any way, though many do. Given the number of Furries who do have fursonas, it can give the impression of being a requirement, but it isn't really.

 

 

Birds tend to be called Avians, and according to the half-dozen furries who have insectal fursonas that I'm aware of, they just call themselves Buggies. I'm not aware of any fish or amphibian furries, but I'm sure there are some out there, just not enough to warrant a subterm.

 

 

Yes, last time I paid attention there were three main controversies in the community, one serious, one somewhat frivolous. The serious one was around Yiffers, which is the Furry equivalent to Cloppers, and their somewhat aggressively overt presence in the fandom. Basically there are a number of Yiffers who have a tendency to loudly proclaim their fetishes to everyone and anyone who comes within range, and insist that similar fetishes are a requirement to be a Furry.

 

The frivolous one is the exact dividing lines around the 'what is a furry' definition. Basically the debate is whether an anime cat-girl, who's only animal characteristics is a pair of cat ears and a tendency to meow on occasion counts as a furry or not, and whether a talking animal who is otherwise completely animal in appearance counts as a furry or not.

 

 

Depends on your definition of 'role play' actually. Fursonas are very common, but not required, and many 'Fursonas' are more like Avatars in that they are not really separate characters, just alternate presentations for marketing purposes. Most of the writers and artists in the community have a 'Furry' avatar of themselves they use like that, but they rarely 'role play' as such. They fursonna is just them in a different skin, as it were. However, there *are* a lot of roleplayers.

 

And there's also a lot of Therians, which is a special subgroup who don't consider what they do 'role playing' as such. They honestly believe they are spiritually an animal of some type, which is different from the Totem animal concept. Therians and Furries often get confused with each other, as there are many crossover members, but they are technically separate groups.

See all of this? This is awesome. When someone actually knows what the crap they are talking about it makes all the difference.

[Miss Light Diamond 2,801]

Allot of people say that in order to be a furry you have to like...anthro porn basically. Which is not true at at all. Sure...most furries do enjoy that kinda stuff but there are a few who just enjoy RP's, making OC's, and just dressing up. Its a common misconception that the whole fandom is about porn. Just thought I'd throw that out there.

And now onto what...would define a furry. I often say just...whether the person identifies as a furry or not. If they like the fandom but don't do anything in it...and still consider themselves a furry then all the power too them.

That's also a good question about other animal species...I've always used the term "Furry" As just something to cover the whole lot...or Scalie when talking about those with scales obviously xD

I dunno about disagreeing stuff...It really comes down to each person in the fandom. I've met furries who Love bronies to bits...but I've also met a bunch who hate them. So it really depends I suppose. Maybe I'm misunderstanding the question 

 

RPing is a very very very large part of the fandom...I have met a few furries who don't RP so there are some who just enjoy making art and fursuits and stuff...but there's allot of RPing.

Edited February 20, 2014 by The Moose Queen

[Fluttermena 1,223]

First, I suppose the definition is something that I'm a bit unclear on. I've given a definition before in arguments, but I'm uncertain as to whether this is accurate or accepted among the furry community. My definition was having a fursona in one way or another, which may include, though not necessarily exclusive to nor limited to, dressing up as them partially or fully, referring to yourself by your fursona or acting as your fursona online. Is this an accurate definition or is there a better one? Is there something I'm missing? Is there any in-community debate about it?

 

Being a furry doesn't necessarily require having fursona, that would be like saying that you need to have a ponysona in order to be a brony. It's true that many furries create fursonas and roleplay as them, but it's more of a byproduct of the fact that we like anthropomorphic animals rather than a requirement.

The very basic and bare-bones definition is: we like animals who look and/or act like humans.

 

Second, I know that most (particularly the mammal-based ones) are called furries. If you're something like a snake or something, you're a scaly. But what about other animals? Birds? Fish? (I assume they could be called scalies as well, but I don't know.) Insects? Amphibians? I think that probably they all fit under "furry" as an umbrella term, but do other terms exist for these animals without fur in the way that one exists for reptiles? Or are there not enough of them to justify their own terms?

 

"Furry" is the general umbrella term, and also refers to fur-covered species. Scalies are reptiles, and is sometimes used for amphibians. Birds are "avians". I don't really know much about all the various terms, and in fact many types of anthros don't have a specific word associated with them. You could simply use the regular words (insect, cetacean, etc.).

 

Third, controversy. I think most communities have controversy or divided issues within them. From an outsider perspective, the experiences I've had with furries are mostly positive. However, is there anything that the community disagrees upon? Is there even anything upon which to disagree?

 

The furry fandom is notorious for the ammount of drama it's members manage to create. One of the main sources of controversy are the subcultures whithin the fandom that are considered weird even by the rest, such as lifestylers , otherkin and therians. Many of the more mainstream furries think that they take themselves too seriously. Another source of controversy is the obnoxious behavior (either real or percieved) that some fans have. A lot of furries start arguments over trivial things, and the fact that the furry fandom gets a lot of hate drives some of us to become overly defensive, which in turn annoys non-furries and keeps the vicious cycle going. And of course there's the sexual aspects of the fandom that contribute to the bad reputation.

I does look like most of the controversies among furries have to do with our reputation and the way mainstream society sees us.

 

Fourth, how much is role playing a part of the furry community? In my above definition, I've assumed (though could be wrong) that most furries have a fursona that they take on. Given that, you sorta need something to do with it, I think. This makes me think that RPing is probably a big part of the community, but I also have the sneaking suspicion that I'm very wrong. How much is RPing a part of it?

 

I'm not much of a roleplayer, so I don't know as much about this as other people, but from what I've seen, roleplaying does seem to be a pretty big part of the fandom. This is actually quite similar to the brony fandom in that regard, furries tend to be very social, and since the fandom revolves a lot around stories and art created by furries, for furries, roleplaying tends to occupy a good chunk of the fandom's activities.

 

Phew, long post to write. Although I'll say that your questions were more fun to answer than most. Most people who want to learn about furries tend to come up with the same old questions that have already been answered a million times.

[Stardust 640]

Furry is a hobby where you just appreciate anthro animals really. Most furries in the western world at least (I think different in Japan) tend to have a sona.

There is no term for aquatic creatures, for birds maybe feathered friends and I guess avians. But generally everyone is a furry.

Controversy yeah tons and tons. Being too welcoming is one as some dodgy people get involved, I mean that happens with many fandoms. Politics still happens too but generally it is something people try to avoid.

Yeah among the people who do it roleplaying is big. A lot of what is popular is nsfw stuff though tbh. I guess there are world building type furries too. Mostly though I just see casual roleplaying that is more just hugs and stuff. The serious ones tend to stay in the background idk. 

 

[Adorable Lovestar 243]

I'm a furry, but I don't hang around any greater furry fandom. I think it's really unlikely you'll find consistent answers from anyone. Furries are as varied as anyone else.