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NEWS: Furtype #1 in Print

What's the difference between someone who likes to dress up as a cat, and someone who likes to dress up as Digi Charat?

Yiffy really makes me wanna barf, so I understand the shrieks of outrage, but... like the gospel song sez, look past all their faults and see their need.

Dan Savage wrote the best theory I know of to explain the whole thing. If you're old enough to buy hentai, click on the below link:

http://www.thestranger.com/2002-08-08/savage.html

I find the entire subculture to be both disgusting and scary. There are some serious, serious psychological defects with these people.

Anthropomorphic or "humanized" animals have been with us since the dawn of civilization. From the gods of ancient Egypt to the advertising icons of the modern day, people of every culture have created fanciful creatures simply by imbuing animals with human traits. Only within the last two decades has anthropomorphic or "Furry" fandom been recognized as a distinct fan-base in its own right. Fans are found in all corners of the world, and come from all races and ages and creeds. We are bound together across the most daunting barriers by our mutual admiration for these beasts of myth and legend who, by simple reflection, give us a better window into ourselves.

A large number of anthropomorphics fans are employed in scientific or technical fields. A significant percentage have college diplomas and many of those hold advanced degrees. This, perhaps, is what leads many casual observers to raise an eyebrow. "Why would someone like this be into cartoon animals? Isn't that unusual?" If we look at the world around us, however, we will see that anthropomorphized animals are an integral part of our culture. We use them to represent our political parties. We talk to our dogs (and some even imagine they talk back, though in their own way). We put a tiger in our tank. We cheer for mascots -- anthropomorphic animals dressed in team uniforms -- at our favorite sporting events. Our casual observer may simply be unaware that it is only in the last forty years that cartoons and cartoon animals have been relegated to the world of children. Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and their ilk were once targeted primarily to an adult audience, their productions filled with innuendo and biting political satire. Fans of anthropomorphics today simply have not forgotten those roots.

The average Furry fan is cast from the same mold as the science fiction or sword-and-sorcery fan; all of us imagine strange and thrilling worlds and try to picture ourselves living in those worlds. Sadly, as a newcomer to the field, Furry fandom is still greatly misunderstood. In the early days of the fandom the conventions were held in West Coast venues; inevitably, the more free-spirited culture of the region affected the character of the conventions, and hence the public perception of Furry fandom. It is an image that has been perpetuated (and grossly exaggerated) in recent pop culture arenas such as MTV, tabloid news magazines and the TV show CSI.

Furry fandom has endured, however, just as fans in other genres had to endure shocked stares and uninformed finger-pointing in their awkward early days. More and more people are coming to realize that Furry fandom is not about the curious behavior trumpeted in the scandal sheets, but is instead an artistic and literary genre that is practiced and enjoyed by tens of thousands worldwide. We count among our ranks professional sports mascots, animators, cartoonists, puppeteers, artists, illustrators, and writers, as well as those who simply think that it would be a wonderful thing if animals could walk or talk like we do. If you as an adult still occasionally like to flip to the old cartoons, or have a stuffed animal sitting on the dashboard of your car, or buy cereal because it has a cool tiger on the box, you may well enjoy what our fandom has to offer.

b) defenders to remember that this thread is about this magazine and not furries in general-- and let's face it, do you really want to be caught defending this as on par with Bugs, Hazel and Snowball?

The general misconception is that every member of furry fandom is into anthrosex or zoophilia. The truth is that there are no more of 'em in furry fandom than there is hentai fanboys amidst otakus.

In that case I'm afraid Furrydom is filled with zoophiliacs!

AM wrote:

The general misconception is that every member of furry fandom is into anthrosex or zoophilia. The truth is that there are no more of 'em in furry fandom than there is hentai fanboys amidst otakus.

In that case I'm afraid Furrydom is filled with zoophiliacs!

That's was the public opinion about anime fans about a decade ago