Social Scientist on a quest to end furry discrimination seeks information

[BaldHumanBrain]

Hello furries!


My name is Summer, and I am a furry lover, advocate, and student of social psychology researching the phenomenon of social misrepresentations of furries. I am doing research on potential graduate dissertations currently, and the topic of furries 'ruffle my feathers,' if you will.


In the near future, I am giving a speech on some of my findings and opinions on furry status in North American culture (I will share the brief with you!)


I'm reaching out via this forum because after exploring the furry culture for quite some time, I've come to truly fall in love with the creativity and camaraderie that I see in furry culture. Oh, and I think furries are just plain cute and fun. It is my hopes to attend a furrycon within the next year!


A little about me: I am a Psychology student in Northern California who has always been familiar and bonded with the ideas of anthropomorphism and zoomorphism. Even as a child, I always felt organically primate or human, and after much speculation I truly identify as human, or more specifically the human brain. However, I've kept a chronically open mind toward the idea of anthropomorphism, zoomorphism and identity fluidity in general!


For those of you who are curious, I've attached a very brief overview of my argument. Keep in mind it isn't in full detail. I WOULD BE DELIGHTED if anyone has constructive comments, as I want to be as accurate of your culture as possible! Luckily, the internet exists and this is already floating around in academic archives, so any plagiarism attempts are no threat- same with any comments provided by y'all! References are provided if anyone is curious. 


I would like to leave you with a simple question: What would you like the public to know about furries?


If I am interested in using an answer I will contact you, and of course, anonymity is assumed.

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[YourUnknownHost]

Ah, i'm interested in psychology a bit
I would like to let the public now about the misconceptions. Also that it's normal there are some people bad here also there are mostly good people here and that could be applied to almost any group/fandom.

[Ori]

I guess the two biggest things that should be mentioned is our creativity, openness (Like despite that we're all furries, some of us are into skating, and others are into stuff like paintballing ) and that we're not all sex maniacs.

[YourUnknownHost]

Its pretty diverse actually i actually met a furry that's into programming and lasers,beamers and a furry that likes guns and sports the two are pretty different.

[Apollos Weibrecht]

I think if you plan to end furry discrimination, an important thing to inform people that not everyone who's into it dresses up in fursuits and goes to cons. There are plenty of people who just look at anthro-themed art from time to time, it doesn't have to be a life altering thing, and not everyone is weird, upfront, or pushy about it.


I think once people realize that, they'll care a lot less, beyond maybe being slightly put off.

[Detroit]

i think the biggest and best thing about the furry community is that everyone is generally extremely nice and welcoming and judge free, we act as a safe place for people on the lgbtq+ community as well, its also full of amazing hard working creative people who gives away their talent , sweat and tears to help and do things for others as well as the many set of charities we have at con to help animals/animal shelters

[Rocco Rex]

The one thing I would like them to know is that we are ordinary people who just happen to like animals with human characteristics. We come from all races, religions, ages, careers, social standing, and beliefs. Some of us are doctors, accountants, soldiers, and scientists. Some are students or retirees. Your best friend might even be a furry. Would it really be worth losing your bestfriend because he/she thinks animals with human characteristics are cool? And how is liking anthropomorphic animals any different from any other fandom, like Star Wars fans?

If you want to look deeper into the part about comparing furries to Star Wars fans, check out the 501st Legion and Mandalorian Mercs.

[Salakar Crocoli]

We are nothing more than a community that is brought together by our enjoyment of anthro animals. Too many people see us as just perverts, which is almost always not true, and I think that has to change. People don't wear fursuits or go on these forums for that reason. They do things like that to find people that are interested in the same things that they are. I've been tip-toeing around a topic that is a huge stereotype against furries, and I think it needs to stop. I think that absolutely no one should be able to hate a group of people without doing research about that group first. Even then, I still won't like someone hating another person, but at least they made an effort to learn about who they hate, which I find more honorable than unjust hatred.

[Wolfie the Umbreon]

I would like them to know that, like many people said, we're just normal people, with interests in anthro-related stuff. Furry discrimination has to end. it's like if you  discriminate a HIV+ person just for having HIV,that person hasn't done anything wrong to you. Same for furries. It's just persons' ignorance and has to end.

[tengu42]

Most discrimination is based off  a lack of familiarity. People have a hard time hating on a group that a freind or loved one belongs too. Bring the personal touch to the lives of those around you. While I respect someones choice to stay closeted, just like in the LGBTQ community, hiding has never improved anything. Talk to your friends and relatives, don't let them wallow in ignorance.

[surlifennec]

In my opinion, one super important thing that isn't stressed enough is the definition of "furry" itself, being someone who is "interested in anthropomorphic animals". This means animals with any human characteristics, be that talking, walking, or just being more a human's level of intelligence; Mickey Mouse, Pikachu, and Jake the Dog are all examples of furries BY DEFINITION. If you are a human who is a big Lion King fan (interested in an anthropomorphic animal), then you are by definition a furry. This doesn't mean you must label yourself a furry, but the reason people shun the furry label anyways is just because they haven't checked the definition of "furry". More people are furries than they think, and that's fine. Humans have a history of thinking that animals with human characteristics are cool.

Even the traditional way people think of furries (animals shaped like humans) makes 100% sense. Dogs and cats evolved to look cute so humans would take care of them, and humans naturally are aesthetically attracted to the way that some animals look. A "furry" in the sense most people think of (again, bipedal plantigrade) is just a cute/aesthetically pleasing animal head slapped onto a human body. By that logic, even yiff makes sense- sexually attractive human body, aesthetically attractive animal head, fluff here and there, paws, and tail. I don't yiff, and much of the fandom doesn't, and that's obviously not the most important thing to focus on (I digressed a bit), but it does make sense.

In short: Being a furry does not mean I want to have sex with a cat. It also does not necessarily mean I like bipedal, plantigrade, anthropomorphically-shaped animals. I could just like Simba and still BY DEFINITION count as a furry. The real definition of what it is to be a furry needs to be more widely spread and the label needs to be less scary to people.