Advice: Telling others about being furry

[Moxx]

One of my bosses is terrified of clowns and mascots so I googled anthrocon and  showed her a picture from anthrocon 2011 and she said she had the same apprehensive reaction to the picture...so I won't be popping out of her birthday cake in a fursuit anytime soon!

She was curious how I developed my liking of furries though, and didn't think negatively of the whole thing.

I decided to test the waters and ask a few other co workers today if they knew what a furry was. All of them said no and when I told them what I was into, some looked at me funny and said they couldn't see spending $1500 on a good fur suit

Some of them thought I was yankin their chain and dismissed it until I told them I was serious.

I was pleasantly surpised that no one made fun of me or thought I was stupid for being into it. The ones that were curious asked questions and the ones that "didn't get it" thought the idea was ridiculous but didn't look down on me as a person.

How have people reacted/responded to "the news" for you? ..that is, if you tell people. ...or are you not supposed to tell people? Oh crap! Am I doing it wrong?

-Moxx

[josh_down]

you can tell people all you want. you've actually had a similar reaction to what i got when i tell people. from stories i've heard, we should consider ourselves lucky.

my belief in these stories is pretty limited however. i've yet to ever meet a person who particularly cares about me being a furry, let alone someone who even knew what it was before-hand. people really have to stop thinking that furry is like homosexuality in any way. it's not. homosexuality is a sexuality... furry is a sub-sub-sub culture (probably not even that). pretty much no one will know what it is unless they're involved in some way, so the best way to tell people about it is to let them know that you have some kind of interest in animals, and cartoon animals... or animal drawings or whatever your chosen outlet is. if they get curious, tell them stuff! chances are they probably think you're a little bit quirky already (not in any kind of sexual way) so it's no big deal.

[Puncia]

Honestly, count yourself lucky because I've heard some nasty stories about this. You're extremely lucky to be surrounded by people like this, even if they don't get it.

[Boone Zofox]

My worst reaction was from my sister. I asked her if she knew what furries were, and she did, but she didn't quite understand it. All I had to do was explain what I liked, and she was cool with it, and didn't see it as much of a big deal.

[Moxx]

I do feel lucky with the people I work with at my 2nd job. People I work around with my business might not really be cool about it but my 2nd job co workers andd I get along great already so I didn't fear letting them in on it. My mom already has a hard enough time dealing with my "bybrid" status so laying the furr on her would probably make her head explode..

[WingedZephyr]

One of my bosses is terrified of clowns and mascots so I googled anthrocon and  showed her a picture from anthrocon 2011 and she said she had the same apprehensive reaction to the picture...so I won't be popping out of her birthday cake in a fursuit anytime soon!

She was curious how I developed my liking of furries though, and didn't think negatively of the whole thing.

I decided to test the waters and ask a few other co workers today if they knew what a furry was. All of them said no and when I told them what I was into, some looked at me funny and said they couldn't see spending $1500 on a good fur suit

Some of them thought I was yankin their chain and dismissed it until I told them I was serious.

I was pleasantly surpised that no one made fun of me or thought I was stupid for being into it. The ones that were curious asked questions and the ones that "didn't get it" thought the idea was ridiculous but didn't look down on me as a person.

How have people reacted/responded to "the news" for you? ..that is, if you tell people. ...or are you not supposed to tell people? Oh crap! Am I doing it wrong?

-Moxx

Merged with the previously existing thread covering this topic.

[Moxx]

Thanks

[ArcticSkyWolf]

 they have a pictrure of two furs in fursuits on a couch with eachother.

which is like the back to the show from the commercial break thing. Yeah, I remember that. They could change it up a bit, maybe put a colourful one or two.

Post Merge: August 22, 2011, 03:13:42 PM

 people really have to stop thinking that furry is like homosexuality in any way. it's not. homosexuality is a sexuality... furry is a sub-sub-sub culture (probably not even that). pretty much no one will know what it is unless they're involved in some way, so the best way to tell people

I agree, why do people think it's with homosexuality? Probably because the fandom is full of open-minded people. Or maybe because some of the furries that are our there smear the furry fandom everywhere.

Also, you could tell people after watching a anthro tv show that it's awesome, that you like the art, stuff like that.

[Cifero Windtail]

I'm having some problems with telling people.
 
Mainly because my parents won't let me wear one of our dogs' old collars to school.

[Inja]

the only person who knows about me is my mate, and since i moved, now nobody gets me the slightest.
i thought i had kind of made friends with these girls. they liked cool and funky stuff so i felt pretty comfortable. but then they brought up furries. and i got all excited. but then they started saying how its purely a fetish thing and for sexual pleasure....and i tried to enlighten them....but they basically ended up calling me an animal [removed] and wouldnt listen 
my roommate doesnt mind that i wear my ears when im derping around the room, but i wish i could wear them on campus.

im starting to think that i'll never make friends in college.

[Cifero Windtail]

It's okay. Never give up. It's all turn out right in the end.
 
You know, maybe Rick Astley would say it better...
 
 
Rick Astley - Never Gonna Give You Up
 
And also, those girls that called you that terrible name? They only said that because they don't know what being a furry truly is. Being a furry doesn't necessarily mean that one likes to do that kind of stuff. It has a wide range of meanings. You'll find people with similar interests soon enough. The cover of The Hitchhiker's Guide to The Galaxy is famous for saying on its cover "Don't Panic." So don't. It'll clear up soon enough. 

[maggintons]

the only person who knows about me is my mate, and since i moved, now nobody gets me the slightest.
i thought i had kind of made friends with these girls. they liked cool and funky stuff so i felt pretty comfortable. but then they brought up furries. and i got all excited. but then they started saying how its purely a fetish thing and for sexual pleasure....and i tried to enlighten them....but they basically ended up calling me an animal [removed] and wouldnt listen 
my roommate doesnt mind that i wear my ears when im derping around the room, but i wish i could wear them on campus.

im starting to think that i'll never make friends in college.

well you could always look for another fur that lives nearby

[Puncia]

Has anyone tried my approach to it?

It's the exact same way I treat sexuality; Pretend like everyone already knows without making a deal out of it. That is - don't search for a reason to mention it but don't fret if it fits in the conversation. Example:

"Yeah I've thought about posing my drawings online but I hear you get a lot of flamers and trolls..."
"Not really, I've posted some stuff on FA without a problem."

At some point, somebody will wonder what you're talking about or not be able to follow you. In which case you explain it as if you're explaining anything else unimportant.

"What's FA?"
"FurAffinity. It's like DeviantArt, only more furry related."

And you answer their questions from there. With this, you make it less important, less tense and a lot easier to process for the other part.

[Cifero Windtail]

Hmm... I'll try that.
 
Once I can actually post pictures, of course...
 

[Inja]

well you could always look for another fur that lives nearby

i know, that's why I'm here