EBS Article 2

Subculture in the Spotlight: Furries

Ok, you may, or may have not heard about furries. But chances are you scene something about these guys some where, and you just didn't recognize it or understand there was Fandom involved. So what is a furry? Furry should be an adjective or something to do with fur or hair? Yes, in Webster's Dictionary yeah your right. But WD doesn't ever have Lingo/Jargon for other groups of people and what they use.

A 'Furry' or 'Fur', as in someone who is interested in The Furry Fandom, is someone who has one or many of the following intrests or beliefs. 1.) Art, Furry Fandom is full of art. Of what? anthropomorphic animals or cartoons. Animals with human like characteristics. Most all furs will make one up and use it as a persona to interact with other furs through RP. 2.) RP is Role Play, the act of acting like their character. Many members enjoy this. 3.) Fursuiting, is another popular one. And is what got me into the group. This is the act of dawning a Animal Costume and having fun, or doing whatever in it. You will find when you put one of these things on, alot of walls will come down when interacting with someone. 4.) Otherkin and Weres, are a subgroup. They go along the belief animal spirits are watching over them, or they are reincarnations of animals or really are an animal in a human body. Its a very spiritual thing.

Those are just some common things to identify a Furry. One may be intrested in Art and Fursuits, one may like niether. The Furry Fandom is very very diverse so no one definition is enough to describe it. Furry Fandom started way back in the late 70s some say when people just wanted to get together and discuss things like their favorite cartoons. Now its expanded and is easily almost a million members strong across the globe.

For some people the Furry Fandom holds a huge chunk of influence on their everyday lives, and their lives reflect that. For others its just a hobby, a fun one at that. There is no real way to learn more without coming across a load of hate propaganda or other stuff that's really irrelevant, the best way to get to know these guys is to talk to them. They are everywhere, just browse furry type videos on Youtube and exchange comments with one another.