One thing a non-furry should know.

[Snow Kittie]

When I joined this fandom I was running off of stereotypes and I had very little knowledge of the fandom. I, admittedly, spread more rumors, gave incorrect impressions, and gave a bad first  impression to many. As I spent more time with the fandom however I learned more and more and every day I understand mroe what a furry is, what it means to be one, and I realized, a lot of what I believe or thought was wrong.
I've made it my goal to learn more about the fandom, gain insight into the community, and figure out how to describe it to someone who isnt one.

But thats not easy, because a lot of people already know about them. From TV, newspapers, Youtube. People have been given a wrong impression, and I do not want to continue that trend.

If you could only tell one thing to someone who is not a furry, whether they know about it already or not, what would it be?


For me, it would be, only a fraction of furries wear fur suits. Many go to conventions without suits, and even more are furries without either conventions nor fur suits. You don't have to like or wear fur suits to be a furry.

[BakaFawkes]

Hmm, I would say...
 
The fandom isn't just one thing. It's art, it's fursuiting, it's getting out to meet new friends... There's something different for everyone, and it's such a great kicker for finding things in common with people around you.

[Maine]

For me, I've come to the point of explaining that the furry fandom is basically people expressing their sense of creativity and community through the medium of the anthropomorphic animal.

I think that suits most furs, but hey, the community is so large, you can't cover everyone.

[Bubblegum]

Many of us are regular people with jobs, school, friends, family, and other things in our lives who are capable of functioning in a social setting and respecting boundaries. It may be our private fantasy world away from the stresses of life, or an expression of an alternative side of ourselves through creative pursuits and community participation.

[Alex Laetus]

Indeedy do; furries are not normal, but then again, who in the world wants to be?!


People who strive for the cookie cutter could be meditating and gravitating towards much more worthwhile goals!


But all in all, I think people just need to know that we're just like any other fandom; a bunch of people who all are interested in a certain subject, with different branches that tend to draw us in more.


Our subject just happens to be anthropomorphic animals, which brings us all closer like a normal fandom does with their "subject"

[Nobi]

I would say that furries are no different from anyone else when you get right down to it. We all have lives, we all go to school, we all have or will have jobs, and there's as much variety within the fandom as there is in the rest of the world. We've got people of all religions, sexualities, identities, and interests. We've got everyone from young middle school students to fully-grown adults with careers and families. Take Uncle Kage, for example; he's a published chemist. I follow a fur on Twitter who's a policeman. We've got construction workers, artists, musicians, computer programmers, metallurgists, and everything in between. The only thing that makes us stand out is the one characteristic of our fandom. Wolfgun put it quite well when he told me that a furry is simply a person who has more than just a passing interest in anthropomorphic animals. And of course, that interest takes numerous forms. Some furs make visual art. Others make music. Others roleplay online. Others suit, and still others yiff. The point is, we're a very diverse group, and a single glimpse of one aspect of the fandom is hardly indicative of what the entire fandom is like.

[Trixsie Vixen]

I think Furries are like facial features within a family: each one doesn't have all the same features as another or yet another, but you can see the family resemblance between most and when you look at them all you can see all the diverse features.

Trixsie

[Modemkill]

Personally, I think it's important, when talking to someone who's genuinely interested in the fandom and knows little about it, that you try not to focus on what it isn't, and tell people more about what it is.

My usual response is something along the lines of "It's a bit of fun, and an appreciation of good art of a specific genre."

You shouldn't ever tell people what something isn't, because that will just give them the impression that you're hiding something, or come to the conclusion that you must be asked about it a lot, and have prepared answers, which is never good.

It's be like someone asking "Hey, whats up with you working in that local youth center?" and you replying with "Well, it's definitely not because I want to take advantage of kids!" What's the first thing you're going to think? I don't know about you but my reaction would be "Well, that's kind of creepy" Whereas if you had replied with "Well, I like to help out there, the kids enjoy having somewhere to hang out." I'd be more inclined to think "Wow, what a nice guy!"

But hey, that's just my personal opinion, take of it what you will.

[Trixsie Vixen]

Yes, yes and yes!
 
Also, I agree completely!!

[George]

Personally, I think it's important, when talking to someone who's genuinely interested in the fandom and knows little about it, that you try not to focus on what it isn't, and tell people more about what it is.

My usual response is something along the lines of "It's a bit of fun, and an appreciation of good art of a specific genre."

You shouldn't ever tell people what something isn't, because that will just give them the impression that you're hiding something, or come to the conclusion that you must be asked about it a lot, and have prepared answers, which is never good.

It's be like someone asking "Hey, whats up with you working in that local youth center?" and you replying with "Well, it's definitely not because I want to take advantage of kids!" What's the first thing you're going to think? I don't know about you but my reaction would be "Well, that's kind of creepy" Whereas if you had replied with "Well, I like to help out there, the kids enjoy having somewhere to hang out." I'd be more inclined to think "Wow, what a nice guy!"

But hey, that's just my personal opinion, take of it what you will.

This.

I find it very hard to explain the significance to someone with no context, but it's a helluva lot easier than explaining to someone with predetermined notions about it.

[Toxic Konpeito]

I would just tell them that we're not ALL like that creepy guy hanging around kids birthday parties. Take a chance and get to know the fandom better, and hopefully you'll see the same friendly community I know and love and realize that if creativity could be converted into an energy source, the furry fandom would generate enough to stop the global energy crisis in it's tracks. 

[Trixsie Vixen]

Exactly, I just hang out at kids parties for the fairy bread.  Nothing creepy there!

"Mmmm, fairy bread...."