Questions for all Furries! - Research Inquiry

[Student Researcher]

Hello all!

I am an undergrad student at SCU and I am writing an English research paper about Furry Fandom!

I chose this topic because it genuinely interests me. I don't know much about the furry community, so I feel like this is a great opportunity to explore what it is and educate myself. In my paper, I would also like to deconstruct the negative perceptions/misunderstandings that people have about the fandom!

I was hoping that some of you guys would be willing to answer a few of my interview questions!


With that being said, I'm curious to know more about:

• What compelled you to participate in the Furry Fandom?
• Do you own a fursuit?
• In your opinion, how accepting is the community?
• Has the community had an effect on your life, both positive or negative?
• Has society's negative perception of Furry Fandom affected you in any way? (Examples: Not wearing fursuit in public, not being able to tell friends or family about it, etc.)
• In your opinion, what values do furries uphold? What behaviors are looked down upon?
• Is there a social hierarchy within the furry community? (Example: Are older members or people with fursuits more respected etc...)
• Anything else you'd like to share?

Once again, this is solely for educational purposes and NOT to offend or make a mockery of anyone. I am truly interested in hearing everyone's perspective, even if it only addresses a few of the questions. All responses are valued and greatly appreciated!

And feel free to send me a message if you'd like to chat, or are simply interested in knowing more about my research! 


Thank you! Much Love,

Stacey

[John Red Beard]

We seem to get a lot of requests for surveys on this forum from people wanting to study us. I'm not sure what to think about that. But your questions seem benign and honest enough, so here goes:


• I've always been a fan of anthropomorphic animal characters, since long before the furry fandom was a thing. Don't know why. I've also always been an artist, and art plays a big role in the fandom.

• No fursuit.

• I've found the furry community to be more accepting than any other fandom or online community I've I've been a part of.

• The community has motivated me to make more art and to improve my skills. And they make me feel welcome, especially this forum.

• I don't tell most people I'm a furry, even people who know I draw and write about anthropomorphic animals. It makes for a weird situation where people know I'm a furry without knowing they know, because of the public perception that being a furry is a fetish or something.

• The fandom tends to be very LGBT friendly, and art theft is strongly looked down on, but other than that, I couldn't say.

• I think there is a hierarchy, but I'm not deeply enough involved in the fandom to be able to tell you anything about it.

• Ummm, *shrug*

[Albie]

Sure.

-- It was something that I was interested in.  I used to be ashamed and think I was weird.  But I decided to embrace that side of me.

-- I do not own a fursuit.

-- This community has been extremely accepting and most folks love to help out.

-- The community has affected me in a positive way.  I met a lot of friends and even found a boyfriend from it.  And they have helped me get out of an over two decade depression.

-- The perception hasn't affected me in the slightest. 

-- Values that seem to be looked upon is folks trying to make furries not look deranged.  And the people that make the fandom look bad seem to be looked down on.  From what I've seen anyway.

-- I haven't seen any real hierarchy in the community.  Perhaps the better artists out there are looked upon higher than others.

-- Other things I'd like to share is that furries tend to come into the fandom by different means.  Some have many fursonas and some only have one.  Some have stories and very creative means for their characters and some are just what they think they'd be if their own personality were converted in furry form.

[Dazed]

Oh, why not.


- Discovered the idea of lizard people through The Elder Scrolls. Looked up art, found the fandom.
- Nah dont own one.
- The wide majority of it is very accepting. Albeit, there are some sub communities one will learn to avoid
- Met my S.O through it which is nice
- Naaah. Let 'em think what they want, i know the truth.
- Being a decent member of society is held in very high regard, yes. And being a degenerate has.. mixed opinions.
- As a whole, not really, save for the artist who kindaa keep it going. In groups there are, but that's to be expected.
- It's a great way to meet people!

[Ginger Ale]

That's pretty cool of you, man!

• What compelled you to participate in the Furry Fandom? I really liked the idea of animals that could talk. I played a lot of games like Yu-Gi-Oh!, Pokemon, and Magi Nation, so that might have something to do with it. I also used to really like dragons (I will admit that I used to like Eragon by Christopher Paolini... let's just say that, looking back, it's not a read I'd recommend to anyone). Oddly, I ended up choosing a badger as my fursona. For some reason they click with me.
• Do you own a fursuit? No, but I might end up getting one someday, when I get my own place. I'd rather make one than buy one though.
• In your opinion, how accepting is the community? Pretty much universally accepting. There's a lot of people in the fandom that have trouble with fitting in or something like that.
• Has the community had an effect on your life, both positive or negative? I can't say that the fandom itself has affected me, no. I've grown as a person since joining, though, for sure. I'm starting to be a lot more confident, but that's really just because there's a ton of positive people here. The fact that they share an interest in anthropomorphic creatures is like the icing on the cake.
• Has society's negative perception of Furry Fandom affected you in any way? (Examples: Not wearing fursuit in public, not being able to tell friends or family about it, etc.) Yeah, I've been wanting to be open about being a furry for a while now, for two reasons: it'd give me the confidence to also finally come out as bisexual, and I would be able to work on anthro art without having to worry about my family or friends being shocked by my interests.
  [Content removed]
• In your opinion, what values do furries uphold? What behaviors are looked down upon? This question really depends on what platform is being used. Here on TFF, I'd say we have a lot of liberals, but a fair number of conservative furs as well. I don't think politics is really a huge thing on these forums though (I'll admit that I'm not old enough to be on the Adult Board, so I'm not sure how active that is). On Instagram there seem to be a lot more liberals, and a lot more politics in general, but I don't use Instagram for furry stuff, I just use it to look at art and the finest memes. With such a huge fandom, it's hard to generalize the moral values.
• Is there a social hierarchy within the furry community? (Example: Are older members or people with fursuits more respected etc...) Furs with popular art seem to be more recognized, but it's really hard to get a lot of recognition, so most people stay in little groups where everyone's treated just about the same.
• Anything else you'd like to share? I hope you get an A on your paper, man!

[Malina]

Sounds like fun


- Was interested in werewolves (like the emo I am) and found furaffinity through that, then started looking at art for 3/4 years before I made an account on some furry websites
- Not now, maybe in future though
- Mostly accepting, you can generally be who you want/are and people will be cool with it
- Can't really say for sure, though I've met some great people here and they've been excellent to have around. On the flip side there have also been not the nicest people I've encountered, but it's mainly been positive
- Never really had irl friends to tell anyways, when my siblings saw me browsing this site they raised some eyebrows but nothing more than that really
- I'd say on the whole most furries are lefties in politics, although that may be because it's quite a young fandom. Anything that's discrimarory or (especially) anti lgbt isn't really tolerated
- Good artists/people with good artwork can be seen as higher (think telegram stickers especially xD) and people with more expensive fursuits. It's similar to the high-school popularity contest in a way, just less savage (at times)
- Seems to be a lot of people surveying furries here, I feel some proper psychologists are going to show up at some point xD

[HellEye]

- after learning of the fandom's existence i thought: "it actually fits me really well, I should try and join and see where it gets me"
- no, I don't. I'd like to though.
- besides one or two bad cases I've heard of, it's the most accepting place you can find.
- very positive. I've found new friends, learned a lot about myself and others, had a lot of fun on the way.
- not really. If I don't tell someone I'm a furry it's because I don't think it's important. Two of my friends know, my close family knows. Though furries aren't as common in here so the bad perception didn't get here yet.
- we love joy and happiness. The fandom is in a big part about expressing yourself. What's looked down upon is intolerance. Art plays a big role in here, so anything bad art related is not good. Also I'd say creating negative stereotypes is nothing good. They had to come from somewhere...
- I haven't experienced anything like that. We're all equal, with equal opportunities.
- only that joining the fandom was the best decision in my life. It made me so much happier and I found a lot of good friends and people I value.

I hope your paper brings some light about the fandom to those who read it good luck!

[Michen_S]

- I don't know, I was interested in the furry fandom ever since I first heard of it. The idea of "animal-people" seemed endlessly fascinating for some reason.
- No, they're too expensive and too hot to wear IMO.
- The community is very accepting towards almost everyone in general. Of course it depends where you look, but most places seem friendly.
- The fandom is a great way for me to make friends and to express myself creatively. Without the furry fandom, I might've not had drawing as my hobby again. And even though my friends live far away, it's nice that I have someone to talk to.
- Not really. As far as I've seen, most people in the Netherlands haven't heard much of furries yet. Not even many of my age. I usually have to explain my hobby to others, but more often then not they forget again afterwards.
- I have trouble answering this one.
- Of course you have groups in the fandom with things like that, but not so much in the fandom in the general. The only thing I know is that better known furries are seen as higher, like Uncle Kage.
- The art is a really big part of the community, and there are a ton of artists in the fandom. The percentage of furs from sexual minorities is also very interesting to see.

[Timmy Fox]

• It's a community that intrigued me and a place I would say I'm able to call home.
• Not currently I have one on the way that is scheduled for completion later this year.
• There are of course some that are more accepting than others but overall I would say most people in the fandom are quite accepting of its members.
• Yes, I would not be where I am right now if it weren't for it. It is one of my core interests and a big portion of my lifestyle does reflect that.
• Not really, actually. I've run into some people who have been less accepting of me but never anything I haven't been able to deal with.
• I would say furries do tend to pride their overall level of acceptance and diversity. It is quite individual which values one upholds as result of said diversity but generally it doesn't differ too much from the general population in what is considered inappropriate behavior; There's not many in the fandom which would suggest that something illegal is less of a bad thing than any other person, for example.
• Yes and no, most people see each other on equal ground; Many communities within the fandom treat each other all like a big friendly family. That said, celebrities indeed do exist.

[KeahiNimbusLeHyena]

This sounds fun! I'd love to help!

• What compelled you to participate in the Furry Fandom? ~~My love of animals and art (Though, I am bad at it.

• Do you own a fursuit?  ~~Nope. I'd like one, but, it is expensive..

• In your opinion, how accepting is the community? ~~Extremely!

• Has the community had an effect on your life, both positive or negative? ~~Positive, I'm gaining friends!.. Negative, I am more secretive and losing trust of old "friends".

• Has society's negative perception of Furry Fandom affected you in any way? (Examples: Not wearing fursuit in public, not being able to tell friends or family about it, etc.)  ~~Yes.. I'm very shy about being a furry.

• In your opinion, what values do furries uphold? What behaviors are looked down upon? ~~Not sure... Stealing art and stuff is heavily looked down upon!

• Is there a social hierarchy within the furry community? (Example: Are older members or people with fursuits more respected etc...) ~~Not sure on tjis one either! Though, I'd like to say better artists and popular furries are in a higher rank.

• Anything else you'd like to share? ~~Don't judge books by their covers!!(--Too all reading.)

   
I hope this helps!

[Bricket]

1. It's not that I made a decision one day where I said "allright, let's become a furry now."
    I think it was a natural evolution, started having an interest in animals as a kid and the anthro art produced by movie companies made me seach for more and
    thus via pure coincidence and looking around I slowly joined the fandom.

2. No.

3. Is this community accepting? Yes and no. This community has the worrying tendency of accepting everything because "we should allow someone to feel like
    they please) which can lead to some worrying situations like accepting +76 made up genders and sexualities. However on the other hand if you say you're
    conservatives you'll get publically humiliated, talked behind your back and you will recieve messages where people make fun of you and call you stupid whilst not
    realizing their own irony from their "moral high ground".

4. It prevented from killing myself, that's quite the impact I would say?

5. Due to the non-stop stream of degeneracy from some "members" it's impossible to tell people.However I would suggest to not wear anything furry related in
    public.

6. A dangerous mindset of acceptance, however degeneracy and gringy behaviour seems to be univeralliy denounced.

7. Not that I know off, but artists do seem to get more respect which they seem to luckily capitalize from.
    There can be several furry groups and the founder is most of the time the leader of it.

8. Yes, it has its' cringe and degeneracy sometimes, I also might get caught in extremely hostile discussions; But I would never say goodbye from the furry
    community, I like it too much.