Furryness

[bladespark]

And now, number three.

I want to know what "furry" means to you. I've heard a lot of different definitions, and no two ever seem to agree. So I'd like to get your version. This is open to people who identify themselves as furry, and to those who don't. It's even open to those of you, (and I know I have a few reading this,) who don't like furries. Just try and stay calm, and remember I'm after a definition, not a trolling.

Also, please answer before reading everyone else's answers. I want your first, uncontaminated, thoughts on this. Feel free to comment and add addtional thoughts again later, however.

Thanks!

Comments

[starkruzr.livejournal.com]

I'll be frank - my knee-jerk reaction to the term is to think of someone who "yiffs" in fursuits.

The more general, less reactionary definition then quickly settles in because of my Boardie re-education. :)

[jordanis.livejournal.com]

Hmm. The ever-so-broad collection of folks who have an animal alter ego, quadrupedal or anthro, Anime ripoffs excluded.

HMMM

[susie-que.livejournal.com]

Well sadly enough what furry means to me is not exactly matching idea to what pops into my head when i first think about it. Furry means to me a semi sorta way of life or prefered way of life by some individuals who liek to be a lil more then vanilla when it comes to their life and life style. For me it means i don't have to act perfectly sane or as the norm should be. it means I have an excuse to costume, be weird and show off my weirdness and love for a certain animal. For my fursonna/anthroness is a rabwolf. I see this because I am bouncy and hyper liek the rabbit, but the wolf is social as well, but my more loyal side and how I would liekt o see more live their life, that of which in a pack, lending a helping hand and such.


Though when I first think of furries unfortunately bad furry animal porn and sickos who want to F*** or aka yiff comes to mind X_x

[talas.livejournal.com]

Furry to me means all things that are only part human — be it also part animal, part tree, part inanimate object… and there is more to being human than simply looking partially human. Personality, emotion, thought, understanding: all of these go into making someone at least partially human. I know that the term "furry" doesn't fit a lot of my thoughts of furries very well, but it's the most inclusive term I have. As a whole, or at least in the parts I seem to end up interacting with, furries also seem to be some of the most inclusive people I've met.

I can't help it.

[poncelet.livejournal.com]

Furry. First mental translation? Fuzzy.

I can't help it. I'm just too innocent to associate it with much else. I'm so bad that my first Mud, which was FurryMuck, saw me choose a human character. I didn't even figure out what the furry phenomenon was for years. Years.

Yep. Hopeless. :-)

Mark

Re: I can't help it.

[lin-chan.livejournal.com]

Haha! I had a fiction writing teacher who called them 'fuzzies' after I had to explain what they were to my class one day.

Umm... I have to agree with JJ. A furry is anybody with a half-animal alter ego. By that definition, I think even Jim Henson could (debatably) be considered a furry, because he had Kermit the Frog. Kermit, as far as I understand was soft-spoken, a good leader, kind, thoughtful, and clever, -not altogether different from his creator.

Man, I love Jim Henson.

[fishbulb42.livejournal.com]

*ponders* As an umbrella definition, I'd say a furry is someone who identifies with a particular animal or animals.

But I think there are various degrees. One person might just feel inclined to purr and bat at shiny objects, and there are others who actually get whisker implants and such things.

[nsdragon.livejournal.com]

Hm. To me, "furry" means crossing a certain threshold, one I find quite blurry and that depends on each person. To me, for example, someone who just happens to have an antropomorphic avatar and/or identifies in some way with an animal isn't a furry (but is certainly closer to being one than those who don't), but they might as well consider themselves to be.

So what's my threshold? Well, it does start at the identifying-with-animal, and gets clearer the more "furry" things I do like hanging around with furries and actually pretending I'm an antropomorph instead of just a "normal" person (so to speak) and sometimes even wishing to be that avatar. And even further into "furry" territory, the cons and the yiffing and the fursuits (well, not really. It might as well be for an ordinary costume party, but generally I find that if one makes such a costume and thinks it's "furry", it most certainly is).

So, based on that definition and considering that I've been recently starting to do that (though out of curiousity, mostly), I think I'm something like 35% furry. And I could probably tell who is and who isn't a furry to me.

Of course, I can think many things and most of them are wrong, but that's the best I can explain right now. Your Mileage May Vary.

[aurora77]

Someone who identifies with animals. They see in themselves characteristics of one or more animals alongside their own human characteristics. Some use that to create a second (or more) persona where they can display these personality characteristics.

I'm not sure that came across right. Since I've never thought about defining it before, I had a hard time getting my thoughts out. (And, no, my first thoughts weren't anything to do with yiffing. There's always a percentage of prevs in every group, anyway.)

[laundreu.livejournal.com]

Honestly? My kneejerk reaction is 'yiffers'. Which is wrong, but still.