Someone found out about me being a furry!

[November]

Some person I sit beside (who is pretty popular) in Science class seems to look at my art instagram and asked me 'what are those things that you draw?' and it was insanely hard to explain, because i was AVOIDING using the word 'furry'. I had to explain it like 'it's kind of like walking animals' and now I totally regret saying that :p it wont stop me from posting my anthros tho lolol


im also trying to avoid saying furry because we have a really bad reputation because of the media :c

[Malina]

Well if you posted it on Instagram you must have had this in mind right ?

I wouldn't fret if I was you, just say it's a take on a zootopia /disney character or something of the sort. Anthros are more common than most think outside of the fandom
Either that or just tell them what a furry is (advice for that here: https://www.thefurryforum.com/forums/index.php?topic=10004.0), coming from someone they trust and personally know could make all the difference on the stigma behind it. If they ask about the porn and other 'questionable' things, don't try and deny it's there but acknowledge it and explain you don't do that sort of stuff; that's the best thing to do imo. Denying it just makes you look ignorant /unwilling to accept the truth.

Hope that advice helps, you can PM me if you need anymore advice (I'm not a furry personally so I can offer an outsider's perspective)
Good luck !

[Michen_S]

You can just explain you like cartoon animals or something like that. If they ask anything, just answer them calmly and honestly. The bigger of a deal you seem to make of it, the more likely they are to think it's something bad. I usually explain it by saying they're animals with human characteristics, then give one or a few famous Disney or Warner Bros characters as an exapmle. Then they usually get the general idea.

[November]

Thanks for the advice both of you! c:

[George]

I usually go with the "cartoon animals" one, since these days most furries I meet seem to define "furry art" and what we used to call yiff as the same thing. If asked the context, then yeah just admit it's a furry thing, but I can totally understand reluctance to immediately go with "furry".

[uhh]

I've always explained it as "drawing cartoon animals" or "liking cartoon animals" rather than being a furry. I also understand the whole 'fearful of the negative response because of the media' thing, they really screwed us.

[Molecular §hadow Ғox]

Personally, I'm proud to say I'm a furry and to be quite honest, I really don't care what the haters say.  I'm furry for life and that's all there is to it.  It's just a shame that we get so much bad press etc.  You do what you want and enjoy what you want as long as it's not hurting anyone.  If you enjoy being a furry, then that's you It's a great thing being a furry