Dr. Pepper article
net.spy!
articles to explain furry fandom is written by a professed non-furry.
Even though it was written a couple of years ago, it's still pretty
accurate. Article follows -
He leaves off one point, though - a very basic one, and the main reason
why I'm in this newsgroup:
21. Furry fandom also involves an appreciation of anthropomorphic (or
funny animal, or furry) publications.
-------------------------------
Furry Fandom Observed (credited to Dr Pepper)
This is an attempt to concisely explain furrydom to the curious.
I am not myself a member of this group, this is what I have been told,
have heard and read, or just observed in action. This is by no means
complete but it is a start towards understanding.
1. In the simplest terms furry fandom is the admiration of creatures
that have both human and animal traits. Since such do not actually
exist, this is considered a subgenre of science fiction/fantasy
fandom.
2. One aspect of this is simply liking so called "funny animal"
cartoons and comics, such as Bugs Bunny, Tom & Jerry, et al. Such
creatures are not conceived with much logic, and it is their human
references that are important, the animal shape is more for humor than
anything else.
3. Then there is the envy of certain traits observed in animals. Such
traits include speed, strength, grace, beauty, cunning and of course
possession of fur. Most of the animals people are attracted to are
mammals, hence the term "furry," but nothing is excluded.
4. This leads to the desire to put oneself in the animal's place so as
to be able to really experience what it is like to be so gifted.
5. But most people want to have this experience with human type
sapience. This leads to the postulation of various kinds of
creatures.
6. Real animals that somehow can think and talk. A lot of folklore
and mythology is mined for source material for these. Of more recent
vintage is the idea of using biological or digital technology to
augment ordinary creatures.
7. Sapient analogs of certain animals. These include parallel
evolution on other worlds, human genetic intervention, and additional
evolution, say due to massive radiation.
8. Gene spliced creatures made to order. These can range from
customized humans to totally new beings made with the desired
combination of traits.
9. Furry fans like to read and write stories involving any of those
creatures, admire and create art featuring them, and play games that
include them. This includes playacting, such as answering the phone
with a "meow."
10. But some people are more than just furry FANS. These people are
11. Furries are those who get into the concept so much that they
deliberately develop alternate personas that actually have those
animal traits. Each persona takes on a life of its own in a sort of
controlled schizophrenia such as ventriloquists and fantasy gamers
practice. [Ed. Note: I don't agree that role-playing of any sort,
furry persona or Dungeons and Dragons, should accurately be called
"controlled schizophrenia," any more than an author should be
considered schizophrenic if she has the ability to create and maintain
believable characters in a novel.]
***Ed. note above by Watts Martin***
12. Furries have many different ways to relate to their furry
personas. Some think of them as totally different beings who happen
to live inside them. Others see them as simply minor varients of
themselves. And still others see them as vehicles for normally
suppressed aspects of their own personalities.
13. The most interesting way of viewing a persona, though, is to see
it as some sort of mystical entity that can confer benefits which are
represented by the animal shape. Some relate this to a witch's
familiar or to the spirit guardian of the Plains Indians. This can be
taken literally, that is with actual belief in such entities, or in a
Jungian fashion, that the animal shape is a symbolic key to unlock
unconscious abilities.
14. Fine. So what do furries do with their personas? They
communicate through them. The definition of the persona determines
how the furry will express themself. This can be quite different from
how the actual person does it. This may facilitate communication
under circumstances in which the person would normally feel inhibited.
15. In fact it has been claimed that, despite the impression one might
get about the persona as "putting on a mask," the use of the persona
actually enables a person to be more genuinely themselves. That's
because the persona has more freedom, not being subject to the
stifling layers that social convention puts on us mere humans.
16. Long as we're getting free of social conventions, we might as well
get to sex. Most furries are interested in the concept of sex between
themselves as themselves, or themselves as their personas, with other
such creatures. This differs from simple bestiality in that the
partner is another mature sapient. So regardless of the species
difference, it remains full participation sex between two people.
17. Dear me, did I say two? Two is another social convention. A lot
(most?) furries like group sex.
18. In fact, social conventions seem to go down like dominos once one
gets started. That may be why so many (most?) furries are bi.
19. Let us now pause while the straight and monogamous folks come out
from wherever they just dived into for cover.
20. Ok, didn't mean to chase anyone off. The point is that wherever
may be on the spectrum, from full fledged furriness to just a reader
of "Panda Khan," there is a place in furrydom for you.
[end of file]
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Aleph Null, net.spy! | Personal: mh...@vm1.tucc.trinity.edu
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Greywolf
> Its nice to see that article has finally made on here. There is a
> story behind it.
Where? Did I miss it?
--
-Jordan .. PEACO...@iscsvax.uni.edu
.OO. Jordan Peacock (Jordan Greywolf)
O/\O (New Address): 1610 Parker
-- Cedar Falls, IA 50613
Fuzzy Fox
>I find it very ironic that one of the most well-known (and oft-used)
> articles to explain furry fandom is written by a professed non-furry.
I think this is because the article has an air of objectivity to it.
Any description of furrydom that is written by a furry tends to be
tainted by that particular furry's ideology. I think Dr. Pepper managed
to glean the important parts from several people's ideologies without
introducing any of his own.
--
Fuzzy Fox ...!uunet!rei2!fox
Also known as David DeSimone an...@cleveland.freenet.edu
"Shaka, when the walls fell."