The furry fandom (and furry culture in general) is so widespread that literally hundreds of thousands of people around the world are a part of the furry way of life in some way - and yet, it’s still so widely misunderstood by so many people.
Sofia Gray focuses on talking about the taboo, transparently - and it seems like the furry fandom is pretty high up on the taboo totem pole.
You’ve got questions, we’ve got answers.
So, let’s talk about furries.
When it comes to furries and furry fandom, there are a lot of misconceptions, myths and unknowns about what being a furry actually means...so let’s clear this up right now.
Furries are often mistaken for being sexual fetishists who are united by one common passion: having sex in animal costumes. They are also often thought of as having “weird”, “over the top” obsessions with animals or fur.
The simplest answer to this first question is that furries are animal superfans, or that they identify with a specific animal. More often than not, these animals are anthropomorphized, which means they have human characteristics.
What kind of a fan you are (and how intense your furry fandom goes) varies from person to person, but the furry culture is, at its core, a fandom.
Similarly to how a Disney fan would dress up as Mickey Mouse (even doing something as simple as sporting mouse ears on the way to Disney World), furries often enjoy dressing up as the animal they love or identify with.
No, because how ridiculous does that sentence sound.
One of the things most commonly associated with the furry fandom is sex. More specifically, crazy kinky orgy-style sex in amimal costumes. Why this has become linked with the furry fandom, they will never really understand.
Do all people in the furry community do it for sexual gratification...or is there something more to it?
While many people think that being a furry is solely about sex, not all people who participate in furry culture do it in a fetishized way.
There ARE some people who are in this for the animal-costume orgies...but that’s definitely not all furries are. People who are interested in the more sexual aspects of the fandom would include people who enjoy fursuit sex or using their furry costumes in erotic art - things like that.
On the other hand, you have people who don’t indulge in any kind of sexual release from their furry passions - these people would be interested in the furry fandom for fun, as a hobby or because they really love and identify with the fursona they’ve created for themselves (more on that later!).
Really, most furries would equate what they do to people who wear their favourite football jerseys to support their team.
With all the mystery around what the furry fandom really is, the most asked question is what do people in this community DO? How do you celebrate being a furry, what does that really mean?
Being a furry is about celebrating something you’re interested in. How you choose to do that might look different from how someone else who shares the same excitement does it. It looks different for everyone.
Yes, some celebrations are more sexual in nature - but some aren’t sexual at all.
As for the “why” - it can be as simple as a hobby or past-time, and as complex as feeling as though they are incomplete without the character they dress up as.
You can ask this question in the most non-judgemental way possible, because it really is hard to understand if you’re completely on the outside of this community.
What do people get out of dressing in fursuits?
While the reason may not be super simple to pin down, the answer for what you get out of being a furry can be a lot simpler: it’s fun and it makes you feel good.
Even if you’re not at all interested in the furry fandom in a sexual way, putting on a fursuit and taking on that fierce fursona of yours can make you feel happy.
In fact, some people even claim that they really don’t feel “whole” or complete without their fursuit on. One of the many reasons people get into the furry culture is because they felt like they were lacking something in their human life and have found something that adds fun and excitement into their lives.
Like any fandom or culture, there are words that were either created or associated with the furry world. If you really want to understand the culture - you need to be familiar with the language that’s commonly used when talking about furries.
While there are many, many terms that can be used when referring to the furry culture, consider this your crash-course in curry terminology with some of the more basic terms.
Anthropomorphic: You will see this word a lot because it really described just what furries are. Anthropomorphic means a mixing of human and animal characteristics. Examples of this would be cartoons like Mickey Mouse (an animal who talks and wears clothes) or werewolves, a human who has wolf-like characteristics.
Therians: Therians are people who believe they are spiritually connected to animals. People who identify as therians may also feel that they themselves aren’t totally 100% human, which is why they bond so well with animals. Some therians believe they are animals trapped inside human bodies, which they equate to being a person who identifies as a different gender than the biological sex you were born as.
Otherkin: Otherkin are like therians, in that they feel a spiritual bond or connection with animals. However, otherkins also tend to extend that to mystical and ethereal species like dragons or minotaurs.
Fursona: Your fursona is what personality you have when you’re participating in furry culture. This can be an alter-ego, character, avatar or assumed identity that can be similar to or completely different then your human persona.
Fursuit: This is exactly what is sounds like. The costume that brings a person’s fursona to life. A furry suit. Many people claim that their fursuits were really the final transformation step for them to really complete their fursona.
FurMeet/FurCon: A furmeet or furcon is an organized gathering or convention where furries come together and express their collective love of the culture. This can include anything from fursuiting to art pieces to creative writing.
Fleshies: People outside the fandom or who don’t participate in any part of furry culture.
Breaking the Magic: when someone breaks their fursona at the wrong time or someone calls them by their human name while they are in their fursona form.
Yiffing: “Yiff” is a sound that is typically made by foxes and it generally made if cuddles or grooming turn into something a bit more sexual.
Murr or Murrsuit: Murr is a sexy murmur that is made when a furry is interested in something a bit sexier than casual greetings or hugs. If you’re wearing a murrsuit, you will have easy access holes or a fursuit that is easily opened for when things get frisky.
There is a bit of confusion (in those of us who don’t participate in the furry culture) about what exactly being a furry entails.
What do furries actually DO?
Do you dress up at home or role-play in the bedroom?
And if so...how is that different than pet play?
It is very common for furries to role-play in real life, but some choose to have their fursona be an online presence only.
For people who prefer to keep their fursona online, there is sometimes a sexual fantasy that’s attached to their personality that they can only really truly express in online forums where like-minded people go.
Furry fandom is different than pet-play fetishes because of one major thing: furries are more about representing themselves in animal form, and pet-play is more about transforming yourself into an animal (leaving your human self behind).
People who engage in pet play fetishes will often wear rubber or latex costumes that are specifically meant to make them look like their chosen animal, sometimes even covering their whole body. Similarly, they will act like an animal, sometimes even refusing to speak or eating and drinking out of a bowl.
Furries, on the other hand, incorporate their favorite animal into their human form, or sometimes even create an entirely new anthropomorphic animal persona. It’s like a woman wearing her best lingerie - it makes her feel confident, sexy and bold, which naturally makes her feel ready to take on anything in the bedroom.
If you are talking with someone in the furry community or are doing any kind of research on furries, you will likely come across the term “fursona” frequently.
This is because it’s extremely important to furry culture...and here’s why...
A “fursona” is the personality (or persona) the furry identifies with.
This would be what they believe to be a true representation of the animal they adore as well as who they are as a person.
This is mostly why furries identify with anthropomorphized animals because these animals would have both human and animalistic characteristics. A person’s fursona can be a combination of who they are as a person and the desired traits they love about the animal they adore...or it can be something like an alter-ego that is nothing like who they are outside of their furry adventures.
If you’ve been around the furry community or done any digging into what it’s like to be a furry, you might have come across a term called “bronie” that has raised quite a bit of controversy.
What is a bronie, anyways?
Simply put, a “bronie” is a male (usually an adult male) who is a My Little Pony fan (or superfan).
For those of you who don’t have kids or have lived under a rock for the last 50 years, My Little Pony is a television show and toy franchise that was first popular in the 1980s. My Little Pony got a revamp in 2010 with a new hit TV show, and this is when “bronies” became a more well-known thing.
Bronies don’t consider themselves to be effeminate, and many of them are not gay - which are two big stereotypes of being a bronie. They mostly identify as “normal guys” who love My Little Pony.
How do furries realize this is what they want to do? How do you know if you want to be a furry - and from there, how do you actually get into the furry community or build a lifestyle that incorporates your fursona?
VICE actually has a really great article where they interviewed a few different people in the furry community to ask just how they knew they were a furry.
Here are some of the main reasons people realize they are furries…
Some people find animals to be beautiful and aesthetically pleasing - and it’s not a far leap from admiring animal art to wanting to participate in something you find to be animal art.
Many people are drawn into various communities because they feel a strong sense of belonging and kinship there. Many people who participate in furry-fandom have grown up feeling bullied or lonely, and have found a community in the furry fandom of people who are accepting and kind.
Creating a whole new fursona, representing yourself as something you’ve always identified with and just participating in something you find yourself passionate about it really wonderful.
One of the most common misconceptions/stereotypes about furries is that they are a bit “out there”, with many people assuming that anyone who participates in the furry fandom isn’t very realistic, may not lead a “typical life” or that they live as animals instead of humans.
There is actually an entire movement and scientific project that is dedicated to the furry fandom, smashing misconceptions and giving furries a place to go to talk about themselves freely, spread the word about what their lifestyle is actually like and who they really are as furries and as people.
According to FurScience, a little less than 20% of furries call themselves “therians” - this means they spiritually identify and connect to animals and consider themselves to be “less than 100% human”. Some of these people also believe to be an animal trapped inside a human body, and explain it with the symmetry of a person who identifies as a different gender than their biological sex.
Where do people go to be furries? Are there get-togethers and conventions for this sort of thing, or is a more a “behind closed doors” or online kind of community?
People who choose to role-play their fursona’s in real life, usually, they do it for one reason: it’s fun!
Dressing up in something as simple as ears and tails or going with a complete fur-suit, it’s like role-playing your favorite live-action video game, but for people who love animals.
There are even events that are organized (furry conventions) to bring together people who love to take their fursona IRL. People who frequent these types of gatherings are usually more likely to practice furry-fandom as a hobby, and not necessarily a lifestyle or fetish.
Aren’t we all secretly dying to know how this actually works?
Whether you have some interest in the furry culture or really just have no idea how this could possibly work - let’s talk about how furries have sex while still fully in their fursonas.
This might shock you, but many people don’t have sex with their fursuits on.
While some do, many people find their fursuits to be really nice and beautiful (and expensive!) - so they prefer to not have someone else’s bodily fluids all over them. Which makes sense.
While some people don’t have sex with the fursuit on, some do. There are fursuits that are made for sexual intercourse (with strategic holes where you need them) - but these are pretty rare.
Something of interest...even though some people don’t have sex with their fursuits totally on, many people find furry porn to be really beautiful.
In a 2016 NY Post article, active furry Dominic Rodriguez says that “it was totally porn” that got him interested in the furry culture, even though he doesn’t consider the sexual aspect of it huge for him anymore.
“It’s the opposite of videos of people f*cking...it’s not dehumanizing. It brings humanity into something that’s more total fantasty” says Rodriguez.
One of the most harmful stereotypes or judgements that come against the furry community is the connection people have drawn between furries and beastiality.
How are they different? Well, in reality, they are absolutely nothing alike. And here’s why...
Beastiality is the act of sex between a human and an animal. For some reason, people have linked this act with the furry fetish, when in reality, they are very different.
The biggest reason furry fetishism is different than beastiality is that people who participate in furry fetishes see themselves as anthropomorphic, which means having both animal and human qualities.
The biggest difference between a furry and an actual animal is in how an ordinary animal compares to an anthropomorphic animal.
See, anthropomorphic animals (what many furries base their fursonas off of) are quite human, often operating at a human-like level of intelligence and expression. In many ways, anthropomorphic animals are practically human.
When it comes to beastiality, one of the biggest controversies is that the animal isn’t at the intelligence or communication level to give consent or to really be aware of what’s happening, which is why beastiality is considered to be rather repulsive to many people (including those in the furry community).
Coming out as a furry is a lot like coming out as bisexual or gay. It can be really scary. Many people judge what they don’t understand. Not only that, you yourself may have a lot of questions about your own desires.
So just how do you know if you’re a furry?
Well, anyone can be a furry - it just depends if this culture is something that interests you.
Here are some rough statistics from popular furry-fandom movement FurScience...
More than 75% of furries are under the age of 25.
About 84% of furries identify as male, 13% identify as female and about 2.5% of furries identify as transgender.
83% of furries are caucasian, and about ⅓ of the surveyed furry population identified themselves as exclusively heterosexual.
There are many misconceptions about furries...who they are, what they do and how into furry fandom they are.
But at the end of the day, furries are regular people who have found a movement/community they feel connected to and explore who they are on a level some other people don’t feel the need to explore.
If you feel like there is some part of you that connects with the furry culture - do some more research and become active in local furry fandom forums...give it a try.
If you like to be restrained, you buy bondage toys. If you like to be spanked, maybe you buy a flogger or paddle. But are there any sex toys that are made with furries in mind? What kinds of sex toys do furries like to use (if any)?
Well, of course. You name the kink, there’s likely a sex toy for it...and furry fandom is no exception.
While many people in the culture themselves may not use sex toys in relation to their furry life, there certainly are toys that are geared towards the community. Whether it’s a dildo made for people who want to have sex with dragons or those fox tail anal plugs - the sex toy industry is very aware of the furry fandom.
Most of the time, though, someone in the furry fandom would more likely invest their time in money in making their fursuit the best it can be rather than buying these few select sex toys that can only be used on certain occassions.
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