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| Due to the notoriety the furry fandom has gotten for the erotic content produced by a number of artists, some furries have asked that sexual content be limited, or at least displayed more responsibly. In response, websites such as have been created to spotlight art of a less controversial nature. And furry conventions have established guidelines of conduct that restrict sexually explicit material and behavior to appropriate areas and situations. | Due to the notoriety the furry fandom has gotten for the erotic content produced by a number of artists, some furries have asked that sexual content be limited, or at least displayed more responsibly. In response, websites such as have been created to spotlight art of a less controversial nature. And furry conventions have established guidelines of conduct that restrict sexually explicit material and behavior to appropriate areas and situations. | ||
| === Erotic content controversy === | |||
| Due to the notoriety the furry fandom has gotten for the erotic content produced by a number of artists, some furries have asked that sexual content be limited, or at least displayed more responsibly. In response, websites such as have been created to spotlight art of a less controversial nature. And furry conventions have established guidelines of conduct that restrict sexually explicit material and behavior to appropriate areas and situations. | |||
| Some furries have gone as far as to set up protest movements, most notably the ] movement, which was set up in 1998. The Burned Furs wanted to see the internet furry community take responsibility for its public image and be aware of how the bad reputation of the fandom was hurting furry artists trying to obtain professional work. They also believed that open promotion of ] and ] should be condemned by the fandom.<ref></ref> | |||
| The movement , and it was more widely opposed, eventually degenerating into a counterproductive flame war. The opposition claimed that such restrictions amounted to ], that it was not the place of the fandom to judge its members or try to restrict their freedom of expression, that they did more harm than good by overexaggerating the problems and with elements they didn't approve of, that problems were best dealt with discreetly by people in positions to do something about them rather than , and that they weren't setting a good example of behavior themselves with their often . | |||
| A short-lived counter-movement called the ] was set up to counter the Burned Furs in 1999, but it ended that same year. A more popular group, , was formed in 1998 in opposition to the factionalism and fandom infighting engendered by the formation of the Burned Furs. Due to the stigma associated with the Burned Furs, the group disappeared by 2001, some of their supporters joining the ranks of websites such as Portal Of Evil. A ] community has been set up to revive the movement.<ref></ref> | |||
| ==Internet Criticisms== | |||
| Critics of the furry movement are made up of people that hold the furry community up to ridicule or disapprove of the fandom in some way. Some furries have compared this activity to the hateful persecution of an oppressed minority group, thus it has picked up the terms "fursecution" and "furbashing" within the fandom and its critics. Both terms have been used to title LiveJournal anti-furry communities. | |||
| Critics of furries may come from outside the fandom or they may be disenchanted former members. Some may belong to similar fandoms, such as ], and may pick on furries merely for entertainment value, knowing that furry fans occasionally respond in a heated manner. Others may genuinely take issue with the fandom for various reasons. | |||
| Criticism of furries is generally regarded as being for the purposes of humor, and is possibly more likely to be largely ridicule rather than any kind of serious protest; hence the catch phrase "] Furries," although a group by the name "LOL furries" exists that is not anti-furry. Some anti-furries enjoy disrupting furry Internet message boards, an activity referred to, on the Internet, as ]. | |||
| Some of those that ridicule furries may behave obnoxiously, playfully, or hatefully with an apparent objective to irritate furry fans and lure them into responding negatively. Some make negative comments about furry fans on sites or forums. Some have considered ] one such site as it makes fun of everything, however many of their administrators have fursona names and a few, like SchmuckyTheCat, even state their furry fandom in the website's furry article (which has been protected for years and the mention has been there for years) and the site contains a large amount of furry erotica, so one might conclude that some furries run the site. Websites such as ] and ] similary seem to ridicule everything for the purposes of humour. Ridiculing also exists on blogs like the ] community Fursecution. | |||
| Furries who are dissatisfied with certain aspects of the fandom may also create sites such as , which hold the foibles of the furry community up to ridicule. They may even join anti-furries in their condemnation of certain aspects of the fandom and laugh along with them at things they also find funny. | |||
| ==See also== | ==See also== | ||
Revision as of 04:27, 11 July 2006
Furry fandom is an artistic and literary genre that celebrates the humanization of animals, specifically in cartoons and comics.
The furry genre is a metagenre based on the idea of fantasy animal characters, rather than any one type of fiction. Any title in any type of media can be considered a part of the furry genre simply by having a fantasy animal character in it, though such characters are most often seen in cartoons, comics, science fiction, allegorical novels, commercials and video games.
Members of the furry fandom, known as furry fans, furries, or furs, particularly enjoy media that includes fictional anthropomorphic animal characters with human personalities and characteristics. Some examples of anthropomorphic attributes are: exhibiting human intelligence and facial expressions, the ability to speak, walking on two legs, and wearing clothing.
Since the mid-1980s, furry fans have referred to any anthropomorphic animal character as a furry. Other terms for these types of characters are funny animal and talking animal, or kemono in Japan.
The furry community has grown rapidly with the advent of the Internet. Content created by furry fans on the World Wide Web covers a wide range of interests, including fantasy, philosophy, sex, politics, religion and lifestyle. Some fans consider coverage of their activities by the mass media and entertainment industry to be sensational, as it tends to focus on fetishistic aspects of the fandom.
History and Inspiration
The term "furry" is said to have come into existence at a science fiction convention in the late 1970s. At that time the term was used to describe one specific genre of fantasy art.
However, the term "furry" can be found in works dating back to the 1900’s. Particularly in the case of stories that involved multiple types of animal characters, authors such as Palmer Cox and Laura Rountree Smith referred to them as “the furry folk.”
The fandom for furry characters traces its organization back to a science fiction convention in 1980, when a drawing of a character from Steve Gallacci’s Albedo started a discussion of anthropomorphic characters in science fiction novels, spawning a discussion group that met at various science fiction and comics conventions.
Over the next several years, a gradually increasing number of “furry fans” developed fanzines and eventually began to have gatherings at house parties. By 1987 enough interest had been generated for the first furry convention.
As the internet became more accessible, it became the most popular means for furry fans to keep in touch and share their artistic efforts. This gained the fandom higher visibility and it began to grow rapidly.
Virtual environments, such as MUCKs, soon became the most popular places on the net for furry fans to meet and communicate. One of the oldest and largest MUCKs in existence is FurryMUCK. One of the newest virtual environments to attract furry fans is Second Life.
Examples of the types of animal characters that typically inspire furry fans are represented by the titles below.
- From cartoons
- Roger Rabbit, The Angry Beavers, Rocko's Modern Life, Bugs Bunny, Mickey Mouse, Wile E. Coyote
- From animated feature films
- Disney's Robin Hood, My Neighbor Totoro, The Secret of NIMH, Bagi, Madagascar
- From comics
- Usagi Yojimbo, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Omaha the Cat Dancer, Shanda The Panda, Albedo Anthropomorphics, Maus
- From novels
- Richard Adams' Watership Down, Andre Norton's Breed to Come, Brian Jacques' Redwall series, Steven Boyett's The Architect of Sleep, S. Andrew Swann's Moreau series
- From games
- RuneQuest, EverQuest, the Star Fox series, Sonic the Hedgehog series, Jazz Jackrabbit series, Conker's Bad Fur Day
- From webcomics
- Newshounds, Boomer Express, The Suburban Jungle, Kevin and Kell, Faux Pas, Namir Deiter, Sabrina Online, Dan and Mab's Furry Adventures
Many members of the fandom have also cited as inspiration the historical usage of anthropomorphic animals in world mythology, including but not limited to Greek, Egyptian, Japanese and Native American. Aesop's Fables is also cited on many lists of furry resources.
The most common term used by cartoonists to describe anthropomorphic animals is "funny animals," a term that goes back to the early 20th century and seems to have been inspired by the use of animal characters in The Funnies, rather than as a reference to animal comedians. Additionally, in Japan there is a genre called kemono, a tangentially related but independent genre with different cultural associations.
There are dozens of webcomics based on animal characters. Many are created by furry fans and, as such, may be referred to as "furry comics." Titles such as Kevin and Kell are created by cartoonists outside of the fandom, and thus may be referred to as traditional funny animal comics. Some consider there to be little, if any, actual difference between a furry comic and a traditional funny animal comic.
Fan creations
Furry fans are eager for more material than is available from mainstream publishers. The demand is filled by fellow fans—amateur to professional artists, writers, and publishers who produce drawings, paintings, stories, independent comic books, fanzines, websites, and even small press books. Fans with craft skills put together their own plush furry toys, sometimes referred to as plushies, or build elaborate costumes called fursuits and wear them for fun or to participate in convention masquerades, dances, or fund-raising charity events (as entertainers). While many fursuits look like sports mascots, some fursuits go beyond that and include moving jaw mechanisms, animatronics, prosthetic makeup, or other frills.
Art and writing
Many furry fans participate in the arts, becoming amateur—and sometimes professional—illustrators, comic strip authors, painters, sculptors, writers, musicians, and craft artists. Primarily, the fandom produces hand- or computer-drawn artwork, although there are many sculptures, fabric pieces, stories, filk music pieces, and even photographs.
While the bulk of these fan-created pieces of art are distributed through nonprofessional media such as personal web sites and via email, some publish their works in anthologies, Amateur Press Associations, or APAzines. A few have mainstream, professional credits to their names.
Role playing characters ("Fursonas")
Some furry fans create anthropomorphic animal characters in order to engage in role-playing sessions on the Internet; these characters may be used in MUDs, on Internet forums, or on Electronic mailing lists. The oldest extant on-line furry role-playing environment is FurryMUCK, although it was predated by the GE-run BBS, The Beastie Board in which conversation sometimes led to role-play. Another popular online furry social game is called Furcadia, created by Dragon's Eye Productions, which has become significantly more popular than FurryMUCK. There are also several furry-themed areas and communities in the Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game Second Life.
Conventions
Sufficient membership and interest has allowed for the creation of many annual furry conventions in North America and Europe, the largest being Anthrocon in Pittsburgh in July. Further Confusion, held in San Jose each January, is almost as large. The total attendance figures for furry conventions exceeded 9130 in 2005, a growth of 13% over the previous year. In 2005, 18 such conventions took place around the world. The first known furry convention, ConFurence, is no longer held. (Califur has replaced it, since both conventions were/are based in southern California.)
Many conventions feature an auction or fundraising event, with the proceeds often going to an animal-related charity. For example, Further Confusion has raised more than $44,000 for various charitable beneficiaries over its seven year history, and Anthrocon has raised more than $62,000 for animal-related charities since 1997.
Furry lifestylers
The phrase furry lifestyler is used to describe an individual with beliefs similar to those of animal related religions and philosophies, such as Shamanism and Otherkin. Many lifestylers often believe they have a totem animal that watches over them or that they are the reincarnation of an animal spirit. Others may believe that animal instincts exist within humans as part of a genetic code.
Some lifestylers may also adopt physical attributes of an animal, such as animal-related hair styles, tattoos, and articles of clothing or jewelry. Cases of people undergoing extensive body modifications are documented, as shown on the Discovery Channel program Humanimals: Wild Makeovers, but are extremely rare.
Contrary to popular misconception, the phenomenon of furry lifestylers is not directly related to furry fandom. Rather, lifestylers are one of many segments of society who are drawn to the fandom out of an interest in animal characters.
The phrases "furry lifestyle" and "furry lifestyler" first appeared in July 1996 on the newsgroup alt.fan.furry during an ongoing dispute within that community. One element within furry fandom believed that any peripheral interest not directly relating to furry art, literature and fantasy should not be directly associated with the fandom. While others believed that the definition of what constituted furry was up to the individual. The dispute was resolved by the creation of the newsgroup alt.lifestyle.furry August 1996 to accommodate discussion not relating solely to furry cartoons, artwork and literature. Posters to this newsgroup quickly attracted the term "furry lifestylers." The fandom and the lifestyle have been considered separate concepts since that time.
Some other communities, such as the "were" or "therian" communities, share similar beliefs with furry lifestylers but wish to distance themselves from the term “furry,” as they are not necessarily interested in furry fandom or do not wish to have their beliefs trivialized by association with a "cartoon" fandom.
Sex and furry fandom
A number of furry fans enjoy creating erotic works. In furry slang these may be referred to as yiff or spooge (slang for semen). Online galleries exist to display such works.
Furry fans may engage in cybersex fantasies on MUCKs, MUSHes, MUDs and other online role play environments. Such environments frequently have age-restricted areas for this kind of activity, though some MUD-style furry games are restricted in their entirety to "adults only", such as Tapestries MUCK.
The term Furvert (a portmanteau of "furry" and "pervert") specifically refers to the subgroup of the fandom that sexualizes anthropomorphic animal characters. The term may be used pejoratively, as a joke, or merely as a descriptor.
Media coverage
Portrayal of the furry fandom in the mainstream media is rare but several shows and magazines have featured furries in some way. Some members of the furry community feel these focus too much on the sexual aspect of the furry subculture. Examples include articles and columns in Vanity Fair and Loaded magazines, the syndicated sex column Savage Love, and dramatized fiction or documentaries portrayed on television shows like ER, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (CSI: Episode 406: Fur and Loathing), The Drew Carey Show , and MTV's Sex2K. More recent news stories have noted that "despite their wild image from Vanity Fair, MTV and CSI, furry conventions aren't about kinky sex between weirdos gussied up in foxy costumes,", but instead about "people talking and drawing animals and comic-book characters in sketchbooks."
Although various articles have linked the furry fandom to sexual fetishes, such as bestiality and plushophilia, many furry fans have stated that they do not participate in or approve of such fetishes, and they protest the portrayal of the fandom as anything but an interest in a certain genre of art. They do not think of furry fandom as being any different from other fandoms, such as anime, which also have erotic sub-genres and sexually oriented role play, but are not judged as a whole because of them.
Though the sexual controversy tends to capture the greatest amount of attention, furry entertainment of a non-sexual nature that is suitable for all audiences continues to be produced in great abundance by the fandom.
Due to the notoriety the furry fandom has gotten for the erotic content produced by a number of artists, some furries have asked that sexual content be limited, or at least displayed more responsibly. In response, websites such as Yerf.com have been created to spotlight art of a less controversial nature. And furry conventions have established guidelines of conduct that restrict sexually explicit material and behavior to appropriate areas and situations.
See also
- Animal transformation fantasy
- Anthropomorphism
- Funny animal
- Kemono
- List of furry comics
- List of furry role-playing games
- Macrofurries
- Otherkin
- Parahuman
- Talking animal
References
- Kurutz, Daveen Rae (June 17, 2006). "It's a furry weekend". Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Retrieved 2006-06-30.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - Definition of metagenre
- Staeger, Rob (July 26, 2001). "Invasion of the Furries". The Wayne Suburban.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - "'Furries' Descend On Golden Triangle". WTAE-TV. June 16, 2006. Retrieved 2006-06-30.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Belser, Ann (June 18, 2006). "All about 'furry fandom' at confab". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved 2006-06-30.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Pleasures of the fur". Vanity Fair.
- ^ Video of CSI episode and video of furry scenes from ER's furry episode
- Example of early 20th century literature with the term Furry Folk highlighted throughout
- Yarf Chronology Of Furry Fandom
- "dmuth" (January 15, 2006). "Furries! Introduction to the Furry Fandom". Claws-and-Paws.com. Retrieved 2006-06-30.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - "Golden Age Funnies". Retrieved 2006-06-30.
- Cooksey, David. "Anthropomorphic Fandom Convention Information Sheet". Retrieved 2006-06-30.
- The Drew Carey Show - Furry Episode, article on Wikifur
- MTV's Sex2K Fursuit Video
- "Fur Ball In The Works", Pittsburgh City Paper, 2/2/2006
- "Animal Passions: The furries come to town — and our correspondent tails along", Pittsburgh City Paper, 6/29/2006
- "Furries Descend On Pittsburgh". KDKA-TV. June 16, 2006. Retrieved 2006-06-30.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help)
Further reading
- Craig Hilton: Furry Fandom — An Insider's View from the Outside, parts 1 & 2, South Fur Lands #2 & #3, 1995, 1996
External links
Listen to this article(2 parts, 12 minutes)
These audio files were created from a revision of this article dated Error: no date provided, and do not reflect subsequent edits.(Audio help · More spoken articles)
Information
- WikiFur, the furry encyclopedia — furry fandom's community wiki
- A Chronology of Furry Fandom (early days through 1996)
- The Sociology of Furry Fandom written and researched by David J. Rust; a member of both SF Fandom and Furry Fandom
- Template:Dmoz
- PeterCat's Furry InfoPage — Repository for FAQs, lists, periodic postings
- Flayrah Furry News Portal — Current news of interest to Furry Fandom
- A Historical And Cultural Commentary On The Object Of Furry Fandom — A furry author examines the history of the furry genre and fandom
- The Furry Subculture — Information on furry fandom along with links to various pages
- Funny Animal Comics — An explanation of anthropomorphic animals as a genre
Art
- Yerf — A furry art archive with restrictions on quality and mature subject matter
- VCL — A mostly-unrestricted archive of furry art and fiction
- Transfur — A filterable transformation artwork site including furry themes
- deviantART Traditional Media Drawings (Anthros) — An anthropomorphic art subsection of the enormous deviantART repository; also see the corresponding section in Digital Art
- Fur Affinity — A deviantART style website for anthromorphic art, music, and literature
- Rabbit Valley — A furry comics and art website
Other
- Furnation — A furry webhosting service and adult furry comic publisher
- Furbid — An auction site specializing in furry materials
- Furnet and Anthrochat — popular furry IRC networks
- Yiffstar — A furry "Adult" stories archive
- FurryMUCK — A popular multi-user chat and roleplaying environment in the MU* category
- The FBC — A popular Furry internet radio station
- Furtopia — A popular furry webhosting community, with art contests, radio, and forums