Yes, We’re Talking About Furries… No, We’re Not Talking About Your Pets
/A cat, a dog, and a frog walk into a convention on two legs. No, this is not the beginning of some strange joke my dad would say at the dinner table, this is the reality for a group of people who call themselves Furries. For many outsiders, the Furries are a group of animal fetish mascots who are to be avoided, but they are indeed much more than that (Herzog, 2017). So, what exactly does it mean to be a Furry? Hal Herzog explains that Furries are fans of anthropomorphic animals (i.e., animals that have human characteristics) in the same way someone can be a Star Trek fan (Herzog, 2017). Now that we have somewhat of an understanding as to “what” a Furry is, let’s look at “who” these people are, and how misguided the general population is about the Furry community.
The Furry population is comprised of mainly young white males who identify strongly with the LGBTQ+ community (Reysen et al., 2019). Hsu (2019) conducted a survey of over 300 male Furries to gain some insight on the small community. In this study, 99% of the sample reported being somewhat motivated by sexual desires. This is fairly consistent with how media portray the Furry population (Hsu & Bailey, 2019). This study discusses the topic of Erotic Target Identity Inversion (ETII), being sexually aroused by the fantasy of being the same as what sexually arouses you (Hsu & Bailey, 2019). For example, if I was sexually aroused by fire hydrants and had an ETII, then I would also be sexually aroused when dressing up as a fire hydrant, or even when fantasizing about being a fire hydrant. This may sound strange to those who do not subscribe to this type of sexual arousal, but at the end of the day, one’s sexuality is one’s sexuality, and it isn’t anything to be afraid of or discriminated for, unless it causes harm to you or those around you.
There is also something to be noted about the personalities of Furries with and without their fursuits (animal costume). To be a true Furry, one must create their Fursona, their animal counterpart. A Furries fursona is an idealized, confident, and more attractive version of their everyday human self (Reysen et al., 2019). When rating themselves on the Big Five personality traits, someone with a fursona will tend to rate their furry self higher than their human self (Reysen et al., 2019).
So why is there such a stigma towards the Furry community? A common misconception about Furries is that they believe they are actually animals that enjoy having sex with other animals (Herzog, 2017). While it is true that sexual desire is involved for many Furries, this does not mean they partake in bestiality (i.e., the practice of people having sex with animals) or believe they are actually animals (Herzog, 2017). As discussed earlier, this is a fandom, like dressing up as your favourite anime character to Comicon. If someone sees a mall Santa, I am fairly confident that they do not think the mall Santa believes he is really Santa Claus. The same can be said for Furries, but this misconception is probably rooted in the fact that being a furry is more of a lifestyle than a job (Reysen et al., 2019). As for the bestiality component, Furries enjoy anthropomorphic animals, not real animals, and sexualizing objects that are not commonly sexualized is common for some people—just think about shoe fetishes. In fact, one of the first Furries is quoted as saying, "Everything created by human beings has some degree of what people think is attractive — and attractive is a big, broad unquantifiable word — however you define that" (Patterson, 2018).
The Furry community is still very understudied and even though it may be hard to fully understand the overall phenomenon, one thing is certain, they are more “normal” than many people may think. Furries are a very interesting community who are very accepting and non-judgemental (Herzog, 2017), and it might serve all people well to adopt this approach when meeting others who may have different interests than their own.
Michael Rosenberg, Psychology BAH/4th year, Queen's University.
References:
Herzog, H. (2017, July 24). What's the Deal with "Furries?". Retrieved November 5, 2019, from https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/animals-and-us/201707/what-s-the-deal-furries.
Hsu, K. J., & Bailey, M. (2019, February 26). The “Furry” Phenomenon: Characterizing Sexual Orientation, Sexual Motivation, and Erotic Target Identity Inversions in Male Furries. Retrieved November 5, 2019, from https://link-springer.com.proxy.queensu.ca/article/10.1007/s10508-018-1303-7.
Patterson, T. (2018, November 14). Inside the misunderstood culture of furries. Retrieved from https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/14/us/furries-culture/index.html).
Reysen, S., Plante, C. N., Roberts, S. E., & Gerbasi, K. C. (2019, October 14). My Animal Self: The Importance of Preserving Fantasy-Themed Identity Uniqueness. Retrieved November 5, 2019, from https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15283488.2019.1676245.