Has someone manipulated you out of the fandom?

[Amethyst star]

There was a period in the furry fandom when I was reading/seeing a lot of negative feedback on the furry fandom eventually it got to me and I started to get depressed and felt stupid being in the fandom thinking things like "ugh it's true fursuiters are all creepy people" or "ugh I hate it it feels like whenever I watch art I feel sepreated from people irl" but later on I thankfully  came to my senses and returned to being a furry and loving it I even told a few of my best friends (being quite shy or  rather sensitive when it comes to this sort of thing it took quite some courage) I never expected them to react the way they did they accept it and never had a problem with it ever since and now I even get excited when the word "furry" appears and I'm glad to have been loyal to the fandom! so anyways do any ofyou have a similar story to this?

[ArcticSkyWolf]

I rarely talk to people about it, I was always open minded and I did read a lot off the Internet.

Entering this fandom also made me even more open minded towards more things 

[Fox_720B]

Oddly enough, I see a lot of people trashing other furs on the Fur Affinity Forums. I see lots of new people join that place, get trashed all to hell, and then leave the fandom. I stay on there to kind of be a voice of reason, along with a handful of other tolerant furs that exist there.

[Rhoryc]

Oddly enough, I see a lot of people trashing other furs on the Fur Affinity Forums. I see lots of new people join that place, get trashed all to hell, and then leave the fandom. I stay on there to kind of be a voice of reason, along with a handful of other tolerant furs that exist there.

I know this may be a tad off-topic, but...



This forum here was the first place I began to interact with the furry community. My original plan was to join the FA forums, but after seeing the way new members were treated I turned here. I do not regret that decision at all. I don't know what it is with the FA community, but there are quite a few rude and prejudiced people there. You think within a community (furries) largely stereotyped and looked down upon by society, we'd be a bit friendlier toward one another. That's what I love about these forums; everyone is friendly and accepting toward each other.


---


Anyway, I had been interested in furries since I was pretty young. I thought anthro animals were really cool and whatnot. Unfortunately, I learned about the fandom itself through stereotypes and went along with it, believing furries to be creepy weirdos. It was only until I started looking into it myself that I realized that the stereotypes were wholly exaggerated. So I guess I was never manipulated out of the fandom since I was never in it at that point. It did keep me from getting involved in it though, which is pretty much the same concept.

[MrRazot]

When I discovered the fandom in 2010, I realised I could be a furry, but I was seriously in denial of it. It took me two years to eventually try it out. That's when I joined here. Since then I'd started understanding all the anti-furry things I'd seen beforehand and only then did I start looking into all the hate around the fandom. Now I have my own theories and pretty much I'm all happy to be considered a furry.


Few notes:
The hate around the fandom is long gone - Only furries hate furries now for some reason.
Other people either don't know what a furry is, or just think furries are weird.
Internet users generally feel that furries are all "look at me i'm a furry and special woof woof, etc" and dislike them for that only.

An example of what I didn't understand before

Spoiler for Hidden:

[BakaFawkes]

I can't say completely out of for a time, but every so often I come across something very negative for (or by) furries. You all know that every group has its radicals, and those people can make it hard to want to be part of something. Don't get me wrong, I'll never let that ruin it for me, but it kind of strains the connections.

[Rexodus]

Well, I was someone who used to hate the fandom before I really knew what it was about - before I gave it a chance. The reason why? The Media.

Basically, I've been a furry since 2009, but only a few months ago I realized I was a furry. This is because of all the negativity towards furries. When I was that meer child back in '09, I was simply like: ''These people are crazy. They go round doing stuff with other furry's and that's just naaasty.'' because to be honest, that's really all that get's around about it, and not the great stuff about the fandom like the people and what not. Though I always kept my thoughts to myself about the fandom, due to not wanting to cause fights due to my biased way of looking at things.

I held this belief until a friend of mine, serib, told me about it and explained it a little more - then I realized that I was a furry.

It's as if I were an adult who watched the news, saw one thing about teenagers and  hated them because of that one thing. I judged by the minority and put it on the majority.

I was hating on my own family.

But now. Now that I have realized that I am a furry, I couldn't have been more wrong back then . I enjoy being a furry and I will not be afraid to say that I am a furry if anyone asks .

[Drakos]

I've had moments where people IN the fandom have made me lose a ton of faith in humanity. However, I just tend not to associate with those kinds of people anymore and that way I'm able to just enjoy the fandom better for the good part of it .

Honestly, I probably don't take the fandom like "Super" serious, it's more or less just something I'm into, it's not really a lifestyle (Off topic I suppose a little, but I'm just making a point that nothing has ever really per say 'deterred' me from the fandom).

[werewolf]

Oddly enough, I see a lot of people trashing other furs on the Fur Affinity Forum . I see lots of new people join that place, get trashed all to hell, and then leave the fandom. I stay on there to kind of be a voice of reason, along with a handful of other tolerant furs that exist there.

for me that's why i gave up posting there. My Fur Affinity Forum name is chagen.

[NonstopFurry]

I have been a Furry for years and I have heard and seen many negative things about the fandom, but I am who I am and I love being a furry and haven't had doubts. And if I see/hear other people getting hated on somewhere else I stick up for them because it's who they are.

[Sparky15756]

Every cult/fandom/section of life has their own bad images but if you love the culture so much then leaving would be more of a loss to you than you'd think, my own opinion

I've seen enough of the fandom to hate it from the inside but I love the culture too much to completely hate it, there's so many different people who make the social interaction (online) more enjoyable.

[Drakos]

Every cult/fandom/section of life has their own bad images but if you love the culture so much then leaving would be more of a loss to you than you'd think, my own opinion

I've seen enough of the fandom to hate it from the inside but I love the culture too much to completely hate it, there's so many different people who make the social interaction (online) more enjoyable.

After reading this I could not agree more. It's true; no matter where in the world you go there will always be that small group of 'haters' whether it be in this fandom or any other sort of fandom or cult in real life or online. It's human nature for some people to be mean unfortunately, but it's everywhere. Generalizing that all people in the fandom are mean or bad is a silly thing to do really when you consider that. That's why I just try and enjoy the fandom for the really nice, fun people there are in it .

[Sirius]

Noone is ever gonna drive me away. I've learned that i should be proud of what/who i am and not care what others think. Caring about others opinions nearly ended my life.