Where does hatred of furries/furry fandom stem from?

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DonMigs85 said:
Eh, I really have nothing against furries. I even like nicely-done anthro art but not the musclebound bara stuff
I also like teasing the regulars in the furry thread every now and then.
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they already have somebody who teases that thread, his name is boss doggie.
 
Furries, bronies, otaku - the internet loves latching onto niche subcultures to ridicule and inflate its own deficient self-esteem. Feeds on itself like an ouroboros.

I don't mind competent anthro art, even the yiff stuff. I don't care for the muscle-bound, day-glo variety, though. Doesn't mean I feel the need to rag on people who do.
 
I've said something about furries on this board, probably even more than once. Always in jest, but that's not really an excuse to be a dick. There's just a level of discomfort that hits me regarding the subject. It could just be from ignorance or just having a distaste for what it represents (in my mind, of course). I regret the things I've said despite my level of discomfort regarding all of it but that's true of a lot of shit I've said in the past. I don't hate furries or the culture but I find myself never being able to relate with any of it that is exposed to me and that makes it really difficult to empathize. I do know what it's like to be part of a group that gets shit on a lot though and because of that I've been making an effort stop being a dick about it.
 
Devolution said:
Well some of them are generally putting their sexual fetish out in public which is what grosses some out. It's like if someone walked by you with their sex slave on a chain.
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Where do people go out with furry costumes in public? Honest question.

I don't mean it's never happened, mind you. I just didn't know that was a trend or a common problem with this particular subgroup. Just as I'm sure every once in a while BDSM afficianados do indeed go out in public with some BDSM gear on, or even a full fledged BDSM suit, whips/chains and all.

But I really can't imagine there are lots of furries out in public all the time in full furry gear.
 
19 & 21 said:
I've said something about furries on this board, probably even more than once. Always in jest, but that's not really an excuse to be a dick. There's just a level of discomfort that hits me regarding the subject. It could just be from ignorance or just having a distaste for what it represents (in my mind, of course). I regret the things I've said despite my level of discomfort regarding all of it but that's true of a lot of shit I've said in the past. I don't hate furries or the culture but I find myself never being able to relate with any of it that is exposed to me and that makes it really difficult to empathize. I do know what it's like to be part of a group that gets shit on a lot though and because of that I've been making an effort stop being a dick about it.
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This is absolutely my position. I think my two previous posts in this thread may make some question if I have some inclinations towards furry-ism myself -- why do I seem to be defending it? -- but I don't. I think it's gross, too.

But like 19 & 21, I certainly know what it's like to be criticized on illogical grounds, where people mock behaviors because they don't understand them, find them gross or weird, or simply because they're so uncommon.
 
Opiate said:
Where do people go out with furry costumes in public? Honest question.

I don't mean it's never happened, mind you. I just didn't know that was a trend or a common problem with this particular subgroup. Just as I'm sure every once in a while BDSM afficianados do indeed go out in public with some BDSM gear on, or even a full fledged BDSM suit, whips/chains and all.

But I really can't imagine there are lots of furries out in public all the time in full furry gear.
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Cons that have nothing to do with them and I've seen one or two back when I was in SF a lot. Not the full fursuit but other stuff.
 
I don't have any problem with furries.

But they are hilarious when they demand to be taken "seriously". That, I cannot do. It's not a lack of respect, it's pure apathy, combined with the inevitably comical effect of someone in a fur suit demanding acceptance. I think they should do whatever they like. But I fully reserve the right to laugh hysterically. Because it is super funny.

This actually is a fine line, in many respects. It is not mocking derision, but rather pure mirth at what odd creatures we humans can become, which fuels the laughter, at least for my part.
 
Are we talking about universal hatred, or just hatred HERE? Because outside of GAF (in my experience), "furries" isn't exactly a topic that ever comes up.
 
Spring-Loaded said:
Either, but I mostly wanted to hear directly from people who feel that way.
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"Inside every furry is a worthless sack of shit."

- Mark Twain





That quote may or may not be truthful. Personally I just think they are super lame and don't really want anything to do with them. It's a free country though. Lame away if that's what you want to do.
 
MIMIC said:
Are we talking about universal hatred, or just hatred HERE? Because outside of GAF (in my experience), "furries" isn't exactly a topic that ever comes up.
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In spite of the fact that furries have appeared on a few mainstream media programs across time, the 'hatred' of furries and the exaggerated freaking out whenever the F word comes up is largely an internet meme. And it seems largely confined to a certain flavor of internet user: people who essentially use memes to map their social world. Young-ish males who are particularly upset at what other people do if it's the slightest bit "strange".

If one thinks about it, acting like one has real "hatred" towards furries as a group is really silly, considering how little furries actually affect anything on or offline. But the subculture was turned into one of the web's foundation memes for bored dudes looking for shock material and things to LOL at. In the same way, I guess, that hipsters are an entrenched meme.

And much like people projecting hipsterism everywhere, meme-addled people read "furriness" into craploads of things that have little to do with the actual furry fandom... because they're paranoid now. Furries have been turned into salivating monsters by the memetics, and otherwise tough and savvy internet dudes apparently squeal in horror at the realization that they're looking at something/reading about something that just might be "furry".

As Tycho from PA once quipped about having a phone conversation with a girl in the furry fandom: "Had I... had I... 'yiffed'?"

To be fair, the actual western-originated furry fandom is often pretty silly. For many reasons not even directly related to just liking anthropomorpic characters. A lot of it is also damned crazy (and damned crazy ! = merely anyone who made a costume). On the whole though, it's no stupider than equally overwrought internet denizens who make a huge deal about "furry things".
 
Opiate said:
Where do people go out with furry costumes in public? Honest question.

I don't mean it's never happened, mind you. I just didn't know that was a trend or a common problem with this particular subgroup. Just as I'm sure every once in a while BDSM afficianados do indeed go out in public with some BDSM gear on, or even a full fledged BDSM suit, whips/chains and all.

But I really can't imagine there are lots of furries out in public all the time in full furry gear.
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Wherever they want to? As far as I know there isn't one or two places they go and that's it. I've seen them at bowling alleys and such all dressed up and restaurants depending on where you are.
 
Nerfgun said:
I don't have any problem with furries.

But they are hilarious when they demand to be taken "seriously". That, I cannot do. It's not a lack of respect, it's pure apathy, combined with the inevitably comical effect of someone in a fur suit demanding acceptance. I think they should do whatever they like. But I fully reserve the right to laugh hysterically. Because it is super funny.

This actually is a fine line, in many respects. It is not mocking derision, but rather pure mirth at what odd creatures we humans can become, which fuels the laughter, at least for my part.
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The way I see it, such individuals are inherently stupid people, suffering from a complete inability to see things from an outside perspective, thus making themselves look like complete dumbasses in the process.

But that's really something you see in any fandom, or anywhere even outside the fandom. Stupid people are everywhere, and it is a travesty, especially when they're in positions of power...
 
Because
- Look at them
- They want to be taken seriously
- Its really weird when you look at it deeply enough.
- Kinda like beastiality
- People getting aroused over the animal body
- Fan art is creepy.

This also applies to bronies.

You can say all that ignorance, bigotry, w/e stuff but I stick to my guns. I dont have a problem with any other people except those.
 
dark_chris said:
Because
- Look at them
- They want to be taken seriously
- Its really weird when you look at it deeply enough.
- Kinda like beastiality
- People getting aroused over the animal body
- Fan art is creepy.

This also applies to bronies.

You can say all that ignorance, bigotry, w/e stuff but I stick to my guns. I dont have a problem with any other people except those.
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Pretty much how I see it.
 
Zyrusticae said:
The way I see it, such individuals are inherently stupid people, suffering from a complete inability to see things from an outside perspective, thus making themselves look like complete dumbasses in the process.

But that's really something you see in any fandom, or anywhere even outside the fandom. Stupid people are everywhere, and it is a travesty, especially when they're in positions of power...
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It's a historical irony that many of the mainstream media programs that have run "shock" pieces on furry fandom have run into one roadblock: there aren't actually enough of those "insane, crazy, shocking" furries to go around.

So they've often had to fall back on hiring actors, and renting animal costumes (that, with further irony, are often of inferior quality to what actual furry fans make) to appear in their pieces and spice things up by acting things up. I recall hearing that a decade ago, some show that filmed something at a furry convention hired non-fans to come into the hotel in costumes and act wild in the background while they interviewed people To insure that everyone at home saw the con was full of crazies.

Of course, even when actual, nominal members of the subculture get on television, youtube, or radio, as in most such cases, they are often drawn from a small pool. The same people appearing in multiple venues to promote the same publicity and image.

At the end of the day though, all of this seems to me, kind of a dodge. It is a distraction from deeper, core issues; we can argue about stereotypes, argue about ignorance, etc. And there may be a lot of stereotypes and a lot of ignorance, yes.

But doesn't it also boil down to a lot of people just being unable to cope with what's really out there? The Internet is a gallery for a bunch of people to get together, while imagining they are part of a mainstream - the audience - and see all this strange stuff stream by to gawk at. Like the song says "Look at the bullies singing, to prove that they all belong."

Every time I see someone say "those furries are the only people I have a problem with", I think: really? You don't get out much if you think furries are the end of the earth. Or insert-whatever in place of "furries". Same difference.
 
I don't hate them, but to be fair I don't know any in person.

Now, they can be the absolute weirdest people on Earth, I still don't see how that makes hating them okay. Are they harming anyone? Nope? Then I don't care. Just like bronies or any other kind of fandom.
 
I just watched the documentary someone linked, Anna meets the furries, it´s on Youtube. It was deeply saddening to me. If it is something that turns them on I wouldn't care less about it and never had until I watched the movie, I guess my only sentiment has been that they "are vocal about something sexual".

But how, when some of them talked, it seemed like they didn´t really get into the scene because of being furries. But more that they had to do it to get someone that cared for them, and to have something they felt as meaningful to occupy themselves with.

It left my really conflicted, In one way I guess it is good that they have found all those things that they were missing in their lives, on another hand they had to take on a lifestyle so different just to be loved.

In the words on the great: "I am human and I need to be loved, just like everyone else does."
 
dark_chris said:
You can say all that ignorance, bigotry, w/e stuff but I stick to my guns. I dont have a problem with any other people except those.
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Murderers? Politicians? Serial killers? Rapists? Lawyers? Bankers?

I have a very, VERY big list of people I have a problem with that sit waaaaay above "furries" and "bronies". Sounds to me like some folks have got to do some re-prioritizing...
 
Just heads up: furries =/= Sonic fans =/= bronies =/= furries. Also, furries =/= zoophiles =/= otherkin

And generally furry hate are done mostly by furries themselves anyways. It's just fun to troll furries who seriously think seriously of the stuff... which other fandom also do to their fringe.

Nowadays it seems like people are indifferent save for the usual "I'm hip!" guy trying to start a shitfest.

Kaijima said:
It's a historical irony that many of the mainstream media programs that have run "shock" pieces on furry fandom have run into one roadblock: there aren't actually enough of those "insane, crazy, shocking" furries to go around.

So they've often had to fall back on hiring actors, and renting animal costumes (that, with further irony, are often of inferior quality to what actual furry fans make) to appear in their pieces and spice things up by acting things up. I recall hearing that a decade ago, some show that filmed something at a furry convention hired non-fans to come into the hotel in costumes and act wild in the background while they interviewed people To insure that everyone at home saw the con was full of crazies.

Of course, even when actual, nominal members of the subculture get on television, youtube, or radio, as in most such cases, they are often drawn from a small pool. The same people appearing in multiple venues to promote the same publicity and image.

At the end of the day though, all of this seems to me, kind of a dodge. It is a distraction from deeper, core issues; we can argue about stereotypes, argue about ignorance, etc. And there may be a lot of stereotypes and a lot of ignorance, yes.

But doesn't it also boil down to a lot of people just being unable to cope with what's really out there? The Internet is a gallery for a bunch of people to get together, while imagining they are part of a mainstream - the audience - and see all this strange stuff stream by to gawk at. Like the song says "Look at the bullies singing, to prove that they all belong."

Every time I see someone say "those furries are the only people I have a problem with", I think: really? You don't get out much if you think furries are the end of the earth. Or insert-whatever in place of "furries". Same difference.
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Amazing post as always.
 
On a related note no one told me about this thread so I already came late :(

Zyrusticae said:
Murderers? Politicians? Serial killers? Rapists? Lawyers? Bankers?

I have a very, VERY big list of people I have a problem with that sit waaaaay above "furries" and "bronies". Sounds to me like some folks have got to do some re-prioritizing...
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Hahahah agreed. Hilariously enough most of the times they're all generalizations anyways. When people say "they're pushing their furry agenda on to me!" they usually mean "that person is using a furry avatar".
 
Zyrusticae said:
Yes.

Where have you been?
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Well reading the thread actually. Saying that some people are creepy don't equal "social ostracization". I can see how a little exageration for the sake of argument can be fair, but social ostracization is stretching it a lot. And no, it's not a matter of semantics.
 
dark_chris said:
Because
- Look at them
- They want to be taken seriously
- Its really weird when you look at it deeply enough.
- Kinda like beastiality
- People getting aroused over the animal body
- Fan art is creepy.

This also applies to bronies.

You can say all that ignorance, bigotry, w/e stuff but I stick to my guns. I dont have a problem with any other people except those.
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- This is really your opening reason? Have we reached Idiocracy already?
- So, why shouldn't they?
- Lots of things are weird and lots of people like weird things.
- But it's not bestiality.
- If something exists there are probably people who get aroused over it.
- So don't look at it.

I used to feel this way about furries and then thought who am I to judge and feel hatred against people who aren't hurting me or anyone else. Sure, they are kinda odd and they'd have to agree they are outside the norm of human behavior, but what does that matter? They are people who have found a hobby/fetish/lifestyle that makes them happy and I respect them for having the courage to live their lives how they want despite most of society's feelings about them.
 
Some people will always find behavior associated with childhood (playing make-believe, engaging in imaginative fantasy, dressing up outside of parties/holidays, identifying strongly with animals/characters) kind of weird when adults do it. Of course, videogames, comics, and cartoons are all part of the same barrel of monkeys.

Some of the same people have a desire to maintain a hierarchy and be nasty to those they perceive to be lower on the hierarchy in order to feel better about themselves. It's nerds being as nasty to other nerds as the cool kids would've been to them in school.
 
I don't hate them. I don't know what to call the emotion I have towards furries, but it involves some pretty intense eye-rolling.

I do have one furry friend IRL. He's a great guy, I love him. Years before the term "furry" was even coined, we gave him a ton of shit when he admitted to us that he had a crush on Tails Prower from Sonic. (Yes he's gay. Double Jeopardy!)
 
jiji said:
Some of the same people have a desire to maintain a hierarchy and be nasty to those they perceive to be lower on the hierarchy in order to feel better about themselves. It's nerds being as nasty to other nerds, just as the cool kids would've been to them in school.
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It's most likely this anyway. Apparently video games, comic books, etc. are all exceptions to the rules because they belong in it, despite having applicable aspects. It's essentially nerd wars.

Muffdraul said:
I don't hate them. I don't know what to call the emotion I have towards furries, but it involves some pretty intense eye-rolling.

I do have one furry friend IRL. He's a great guy, I love him. Years before the term "furry" was even coined, we gave him a ton of shit when he admitted to us that he had a crush on Tails Prower from Sonic. (Yes he's gay. Double Jeopardy!)
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Sounds more like a Sonic fan.
 
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