Waaay back in in the days of Reganomics and Orwell, 1984, I had the
privilage of going to the WorldCon when it was in Los Angeles (though it was
_actually_ held in Anaheim....go figure). I was the guest of several friends,
who had purchased extra 'guest of...' memberships two years before when LA won
the vote. Since it was my first big con, they were busy filling me in on all
the info/jargon that I would need to survive Worldcon with a minimum of
bewilderment. Eventually, the term 'Fringefan' was dropped.
"Fringefan?" I asked innocently, "What is that?"
"Groups at the fringes of fandom," they replied, as if that explained
anything, "Like the Anthropomorphics."
Anthropomorphics? Mind you, I was a good student in those days, nose to
the grindstone and all that, doing as well in English Comp as physics, so I
knew the _meaning_ of Anthropomorphic ("The ascription of human form or
characteristics to non-human objects or entities"), but still hadn't the
faintest clue what it meant in this context -
"OooooooKay, what is an Anthropomorphic?" I asked, taking the bait.
"Well, they draw pictures of animals" they explained after a long
hesitation.
.....and what is so bad about that? The odd thing about this evasive
reply was that they were getting _very_ uncomfortable with the line of
questioning. I, being a typical, socially inexperienced sci-fi fan (and yes, a
virgin), caught the unmistakable hint of something risque, and wanted to know
more - but more was not forthcoming; they were so embarrassed about the
subject, all I could get out of them was that the 'Anthropomorphics' were a
very weird bunch and people to definately stay away from.
In retrospect, I wish that I _had_ found the furries, as I might have been
introduced to things like Albedo and the rest ages ago, instead of scouring
comic book stores over half the state looking for back issues. Wonderful art
and clever stories, and yes, some of the most heart-wrenchingly attractive
female creatures ever to flow from a pen.
The point of this long-winded (sorry) tale is that _fifteen_years_ago_,
almost a half-decade before CF0, the term 'Anthrpopmorphic' was known by sci-fi
fandom and ALREADY had distasteful connotation for fandom at large. I would
offer the hypothesis that we always have had that reputation, but in the days
before organized furrycons and the internet, the number of people who _knew_
about furry or our reputation were fewer, so one was more likely to get the
response of "What's that?" than "Ewwwww, you're one of _those_?"
I now return you to your regularly-scheduled brawl.
Thorulf (Rod Basler) - [happily awaiting CF10]
>
> The point of this long-winded (sorry) tale is that _fifteen_years_ago_,
>almost a half-decade before CF0, the term 'Anthrpopmorphic' was known by
>sci-fi
>fandom and ALREADY had distasteful connotation for fandom at large. I would
>offer the hypothesis that we always have had that reputation, but in the days
>before organized furrycons and the internet, the number of people who _knew_
>about furry or our reputation were fewer, so one was more likely to get the
>response of "What's that?" than "Ewwwww, you're one of _those_?"
In The Erotic Art of Reed Waller, he talks about a story published in Vootie
#5 back in 1977.
"Member reaction was so strongly divided that a schism was created. Little
did I imagine how popular anthropomorphic erotica would become years later"
That takes us back 22 years, and still no sign of a furry Golden Age.
anybody for the Vootie era care to comment?
Al Goldman
~Kah'Serrith
The Black Gryphon.