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Editorial Opinionated Entry: Put some pants on!
16 years ago
General
Okay.. 
Lei-Lani recently posted an interresting thought-provoking article on one of the main sources of furry angst in the community. Non-furries treating furries badly. It was here:
http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/1064721/
But it made me start thinking about reasons that the furry fandom gets kicked around by the media, which leads to a lot of the stereotypes that we have to deal with, and a lot of those stereotypes are undeserved because it's typical media shock-reporting. But a few are not so undeserved.
Here is one that we share with a few other fandoms, including a lot of the sci-fi and fantasy fandoms alike. Here's the stereotype:
"Those guys are a bunch off overweight, smelly, basement-dwelling slobs."
Let's break this one down.
Overweight: A lot of us do spend a lot of time playing video games, eating pop tarts, and drinking mountain dew with little exercise to speak of. Our hobbies tend to rely heavily on the computer and the like, so yes, a lot of us have tossed on a few pounds. But, it's not the whole fandom. Still, we want our furry friends to last a while, so while I have this point brought up, let's try to go outside and get some fresh air now and again. It wouldn't hurt.
Smelly: Con Funk is REAL. It's not an opinion, it's THERE. Anyone who's been to a convention knows it. Standing in long lines to buy art, trying ot go quickly from place to place, having a few drinks at the hotel bar that night, then forgetting to bother to hit the shower in the morning. This is a pretty simple equation which ultimately equals blow-fly-choking stench after a couple days. Not all of us are like this, but if there's a crowd of us walking by a non-furry, they don't CARE which one fur out of seven didn't have a shower. Let's be tidy. Also, having more than one outfit for a four or five day convention's not illegal. I promise.
Basement-Dwelling: This one's a little odd, and takes some thought. But ultimately, it's not got anything to do with where we live. It's the idea that we don't function normally in public. We "act" in a fashion that doesn't jive with the rest of the world around us. So it is assumed we live out of site of normal people, and don't learn to act in any way but how we might on the net. Sadly, I see this is the case more times than I'd like. It's alright to learn manners, habits, and behavior that's considered socially normal. The Furry Police don't break into your house late at night and cut off your tail if you go out to a mall and fail to bark at the Nextel vendor. It'll be okay. Speak Spanish with Spanish-speaking people. Act furry around furries. And eat your dippin-dots without saying "nom" for each bite in the mall. You too, could fit in nicely!
Slobs: This is one of my biggest furry pet-peeves EVAR. At furry meets, conventions, and anywhere I go where I am looking for the group I am supposed to belong to, I sadly find them because they are dressed like it's laundry day. Always like it's laundry day. And it's really just because we don't have the critical "class" system that many other groups have. No one cares in this fandom if you are rich or poor. We are here to have fun,and the amount of money you have doesn't have to reflect that. This is wonderful, but seriously abused. First impressions mean a lot. If I go out to a restaurant, I put on a nice shirt, clean pants, a belt, and I make sure I don't have dirt under my nails. My hair is neatly cut, my mustache is trimmed and even, my eyes are both on in the front of my face wear they belong. If I were to be the first one at a furry meet, chances are, no one who didn't already know me could pick me out of a crowd in a nice restaurant. There ARE furries who dress well. They show up in conventions with suits, or even just shirt and tie. They look like there are there to make a good impression on someone. And we ALL should take care to do this, especially in places where furries are being socially SEEN. It is alright if you don't care what someone thinks of you, but don't make that decision for everyone else. There are those who want to be regarded as clean and responsible and socially capable. Conventions and furry meet-ups are SOCIAL gatherings, and in those kinds of situations, it's important that you think about what impression you are creating for the entire group, not just yourself. If the fandom is important to you, socially or even spiritually, dress the part. If it makes you happy, take care of it.
Folks, It takes ALL of us to change the public opinion that CAN be changed about the fandom. I'm not talking about the narrow-minded people that only believe what an episode of CSI said. I'm talking about the people who have to visit the hotels, restaurants, and other venues where we gather. THOSE are the people who get to form REAL opinions about us, and real opinions, created by actual experience, are the only ones we have not only the ability to govern, but the responsibility.
We can't shake all of the misconceptions and stereotypes, but there is no reason whatsoever that we can't, at least a little, shake this one.
Thank you.
Lei-Lani recently posted an interresting thought-provoking article on one of the main sources of furry angst in the community. Non-furries treating furries badly. It was here:http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/1064721/
But it made me start thinking about reasons that the furry fandom gets kicked around by the media, which leads to a lot of the stereotypes that we have to deal with, and a lot of those stereotypes are undeserved because it's typical media shock-reporting. But a few are not so undeserved.
Here is one that we share with a few other fandoms, including a lot of the sci-fi and fantasy fandoms alike. Here's the stereotype:
"Those guys are a bunch off overweight, smelly, basement-dwelling slobs."
Let's break this one down.
Overweight: A lot of us do spend a lot of time playing video games, eating pop tarts, and drinking mountain dew with little exercise to speak of. Our hobbies tend to rely heavily on the computer and the like, so yes, a lot of us have tossed on a few pounds. But, it's not the whole fandom. Still, we want our furry friends to last a while, so while I have this point brought up, let's try to go outside and get some fresh air now and again. It wouldn't hurt.
Smelly: Con Funk is REAL. It's not an opinion, it's THERE. Anyone who's been to a convention knows it. Standing in long lines to buy art, trying ot go quickly from place to place, having a few drinks at the hotel bar that night, then forgetting to bother to hit the shower in the morning. This is a pretty simple equation which ultimately equals blow-fly-choking stench after a couple days. Not all of us are like this, but if there's a crowd of us walking by a non-furry, they don't CARE which one fur out of seven didn't have a shower. Let's be tidy. Also, having more than one outfit for a four or five day convention's not illegal. I promise.
Basement-Dwelling: This one's a little odd, and takes some thought. But ultimately, it's not got anything to do with where we live. It's the idea that we don't function normally in public. We "act" in a fashion that doesn't jive with the rest of the world around us. So it is assumed we live out of site of normal people, and don't learn to act in any way but how we might on the net. Sadly, I see this is the case more times than I'd like. It's alright to learn manners, habits, and behavior that's considered socially normal. The Furry Police don't break into your house late at night and cut off your tail if you go out to a mall and fail to bark at the Nextel vendor. It'll be okay. Speak Spanish with Spanish-speaking people. Act furry around furries. And eat your dippin-dots without saying "nom" for each bite in the mall. You too, could fit in nicely!
Slobs: This is one of my biggest furry pet-peeves EVAR. At furry meets, conventions, and anywhere I go where I am looking for the group I am supposed to belong to, I sadly find them because they are dressed like it's laundry day. Always like it's laundry day. And it's really just because we don't have the critical "class" system that many other groups have. No one cares in this fandom if you are rich or poor. We are here to have fun,and the amount of money you have doesn't have to reflect that. This is wonderful, but seriously abused. First impressions mean a lot. If I go out to a restaurant, I put on a nice shirt, clean pants, a belt, and I make sure I don't have dirt under my nails. My hair is neatly cut, my mustache is trimmed and even, my eyes are both on in the front of my face wear they belong. If I were to be the first one at a furry meet, chances are, no one who didn't already know me could pick me out of a crowd in a nice restaurant. There ARE furries who dress well. They show up in conventions with suits, or even just shirt and tie. They look like there are there to make a good impression on someone. And we ALL should take care to do this, especially in places where furries are being socially SEEN. It is alright if you don't care what someone thinks of you, but don't make that decision for everyone else. There are those who want to be regarded as clean and responsible and socially capable. Conventions and furry meet-ups are SOCIAL gatherings, and in those kinds of situations, it's important that you think about what impression you are creating for the entire group, not just yourself. If the fandom is important to you, socially or even spiritually, dress the part. If it makes you happy, take care of it.
Folks, It takes ALL of us to change the public opinion that CAN be changed about the fandom. I'm not talking about the narrow-minded people that only believe what an episode of CSI said. I'm talking about the people who have to visit the hotels, restaurants, and other venues where we gather. THOSE are the people who get to form REAL opinions about us, and real opinions, created by actual experience, are the only ones we have not only the ability to govern, but the responsibility.
We can't shake all of the misconceptions and stereotypes, but there is no reason whatsoever that we can't, at least a little, shake this one.
Thank you.
Really, I'm VERY glad that I didn't come of age in this economy. It's not nice for anyone, especially those getting started out!
CLEAN clothes are not that much more expensive than destroyed clothes if you are going to an event you care about. I came from a very poor background myself, and still managed to make it to school looking like I cared about how clean and presentable I was. :3 Yeah, it wasn't name brand clothing, and I didn't have the most recent shoes and school supplies, but I didn't look that unlike other students around me. It was just a matter of WANTING to look presentable, and taking the TIME to do it. A lot of the issue in the fandom is that it's just too much trouble to do that when you could be online blogging or looking through art or something instead.
Again, it's not everyone, it's just embarrassingly common, and very REAL.
I can accept that not all people care if they look nice. I draw the line when the decide that they don't care if they SMELL nice. :p
At one point I was smelling something NASTY in one of our rooms, and I was looking for a spot where my dogs had made some sort of a mess...but eventually I traced it to a futon that I'd loaned a roomate, that had been moved back to a public area. A roomate who thought that body spray was a substitute for bathing. Who had not washed the futon liner since using it for months. BLEH. I threw it away and bought a new one.
We no longer have Mr. Stinky as a roomate. :)
I'm fanatical about not going out in public unless my whole self is washed, hair is combed and I'm wearing clean clothes. And as much as I can, I make sure my beard and mustache are neatly trimmed, and the rest of my face and neck are shaved. Am I still short and somewhat heavyset? Is my hairline receding? Am I stiff and awkward in social situations? The answer to all of these is "Yes." But I do my best to make a good first impression by being well-groomed, and wearing clothes that look good on me. (I'm told what I wear is the "American Conservative" uniform: jeans, srs shoes, and polo shirt.) And generally, I try to act like a gentleman. Fortunately I have good role models.
By the way, I suspect you can remove the miasmic stench from otaku-tainted fabrics by giving the article a cold-water rinse, washing it in a warm acidic solution (read: add a lot of white vinegar to the water), and then washing it in cold water again. If it still smells, either of stench or of vinegar, wash it in warm water again.
If that doesn't work, of course, use it to wrap up the corpse of whoever tainted it. >:|
It didn't go over too well, as some of them were entirely to socially inept. Not in the ways you mention, but just obvious that they didn't have any clue how to act around other people.
I wouldn't say I'm an authority on looking nice, but I always wear clean and boring clothing. At least I can maintain a professional appearance. Just never really bothered to invest much in designer clothing and fads, I'm not in highschool any more. And I doubt the middle aged people I work with are going to take notice, nor would I want them to.
Now, I personally have never been to a con. I was a choir boy for many many years, and I got very turned off group travel after sleeping in the same room with three other dudes. It's hard enough to sleep in a foreign environment; with people who snore like freight trains, it's bloody impossible. But in choir, presentation is very much a factor, so I never once had a complaint about slovenly behaviour. And y'know what? It's really not that hard to do. Sure, you have to plan a little for who showers when and where, but it's not that arduous a task.
On the net, any negative factors about appearance never come up, since it's never out of anyone's paws what they look or smell like. Online, you can be impossibly thin without any of the health repercussions, or a foot tall, or a thousand feet tall; hair stays right where it's supposed to and never needs to be washed; clothes never get dirty or ragged no matter how much sweaty, eager, clawing yiffing you indulge in; and if there is a smell to be had, it's either something 'nice' like perfume or an aphrodisiac. It's a role-playing cliche that no main character ever gets sick, and if they do, it's an absolutely debilitating illness that the rest of the party must find the rare and presumed non-existent cure for them. In the same way, a lot of us spend our days in an idyllic world where size, sweat, and scent are never beyond our control, and only cause problems if we think it'll contribute to the scene. But the internet is not real life, and we cannot apply the rules of our beloved fictitious reality to that of the one we are actually a part of—and especially not if you're actually trying to be a part of it, going into public to do all this stuff.
Now, I myself have a rule. "People who are worth my time will accept me for who I am." I get a similar vibe from a lot of people, and I think that's a good thing. But there is a big difference between accepting a social preference and accepting a physical characteristic. If someone is repulsed by your being a furry? That's at the intellectual level. That's an opinion, and if they're not willing to budge on it, then why bother trying to interact with'em? But if someone is repulsed by your scent, that's at the physical level. That is their body giving them the signal that "Hey, this person reeks, stay the fuck away from them." I'm under the impression that furries are very physical people as a whole, so if someone's body is telling them to dislike you, then maybe it's time to look in the mirror. And take a bath.
Hope to see ya at Furry Fiesta!
Plus, lots and lots of clothes! ^^
Oh, and I own a house.
I don't fit in at all. *mock pout*
All kidding aside, let's try to take better care of ourselves, people. It's NOT about image anymore, and how you look. It's about health. It's UNHEALTHY to live the way Sarsis has mentioned above. ^^
I'm not trying to wax superior here or something, honestly.