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File:Shanda12.JPG
Shanda the Panda #12, an example of a furry comic

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

File:Uybook11.jpg
Cover for Usagi Yojimbo, book 11

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 TV
Father of the Pride, Kimba the White Lion, Disney's Rescue Rangers, SWAT Kats
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

File:Watcher in the woods.Dark Natasha.jpg
An example of furry artwork (by Dark Natasha)

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

Group of fursuiters posing with an admirer during WorldCon 2002.

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.

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.

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 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.

Some furries have gone as far as to set up protest movements, most notably the Burned Fur 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 plushophiles and bestiality should be condemned by the fandom.

This movement attracted some support, but it was more widely opposed, eventually degenerating into a counterproductive flame war. The opposition claimed that such restrictions amounted to censorship, and that it was not the place of the fandom to judge its members or try to restrict their freedom of expression.

A short-lived counter-movement called the Freezing Furs was set up to counter the Burned Furs in 1999, but it ended that same year. The Burned Furs had virtually disappeared by 2001, but a Live Journal community has been set up to revive the movement.

Furvert

Furvert (a portmanteau of "furry" and "pervert") specifically refers to someone who behaves in a lewd manner in public while identifying themselves as a 'furry', or in order to identify themselves as a 'furry'. The term was coined in the earliest days of furry fandom, initially as a joke, later as a pejorative term, and today merely as a descriptor. The term was used on an episode of ER, episode 155: Fear of Commitment.

The earliest known regular usage of the term was in reference to the first open-membership furry Amateur Press Association ("APA") magazine, "Furversion", which first published in May of 1987. Karl Maurer, the magazine's publisher, is credited with starting the ongoing practice of using puns involving the word "fur" to indicate Furry activities (hence a comic called Furrlough, a convention called ConFurence, and so on).

Despite rumors to the contrary, "furvert" never meant "furry convert", and there has never been a term created for such a phrase. Furries are simply "furries"; no distinction is made between "converts" or any other type of furry. Nor has "furvert" ever referred to those aroused by sexual furry art outside of the fandom, except when used specifically in the pejorative by non-furries referring to other non-furries who evince a taste for such material.

Anti-furry groups

The anti furry movement is made up of people who enjoy holding the foibles of the furry community up to ridicule. Some furries have compared this activity to the hateful persecution of an oppressed minority group, thus it has picked up the term "fursecution" amongst the fandom. It is also sometimes referred to as "furbashing". Both terms have been used to title LiveJournal anti-furry communities.

Members of the anti-furry movement may come from outside the fandom, or they may be disenchanted former members. Some may belong to similar fandoms, such as anime, and may pick on furries knowing that furry fans occasionally respond in a heated manner and generate "Internet drama." Others may honestly hate the fandom for one reason or another.

The anti-furry movement is generally regarded as being for the purposes of humor rather than any kind of serious protest; hence the catch phrase “LOL Furries.” Anti-furries also occasionally disrupt furry message boards. This type of activity on the internet is most commonly referred to as trolling.

Anti-furries may go out of their way to appear obnoxious, either in a playful or seriously hateful manner, with an apparent objective to irritate furry fans and lure them into responding negatively. Some anti-furries make negative comments about furry fans on sites such as Encyclopedia Dramatica or the Live Journal community Fursecution.

Furries who are dissatisfied with certain aspects of the fandom may also create sites such as Crush! Yiff! Destroy! 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.

One of the best known centers of anti-furry activity is the website Something Awful. Another is Portal Of Evil. These are sites that poke fun at all types of controversial internet content, including furries.

See also

References

  1. 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)
  2. Definition of metagenre
  3. Staeger, Rob (July 26, 2001). "Invasion of the Furries". The Wayne Suburban. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  4. "'Furries' Descend On Golden Triangle". WTAE-TV. June 16, 2006. Retrieved 2006-06-30. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  5. ^ 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)
  6. ^ "Pleasures of the fur". Vanity Fair.
  7. ^ Video of CSI episode and video of furry scenes from ER's furry episode
  8. Example of early 20th century literature with the term Furry Folk highlighted throughout
  9. Yarf Chronology Of Furry Fandom
  10. "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)
  11. "Golden Age Funnies". Retrieved 2006-06-30.
  12. Cooksey, David. "Anthropomorphic Fandom Convention Information Sheet". Retrieved 2006-06-30.
  13. MTV's Sex2K Fursuit Video
  14. "Fur Ball In The Works", Pittsburgh City Paper, 2/2/2006
  15. "Animal Passions: The furries come to town — and our correspondent tails along", Pittsburgh City Paper, 6/29/2006
  16. "Furries Descend On Pittsburgh". KDKA-TV. June 16, 2006. Retrieved 2006-06-30. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  17. Burned Fur Statement Of Purpose
  18. The new Burned Fur Community on Live Journal

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

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Information

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

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