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Is Furry Intrinsically Fetish art? (No wrong answers)
2 years ago
"What do you think?"----
Context.
So I've been thinking about my near 20 years on Fur Affinity.
I want to start posting again, but questions of if/how to sensor my dirtiest work came up.
It was like most people who said 'yes it is', also didn't like that i draw furry art even when it was clean.
People who said 'don't sensor!' didn't care what i drew so long as it made me happy
So Im taking this conversation to FA where it belongs:
"Is furry art intrinsically fetish art. (no wrong answers)"----
Update 13/8/23So the resounding sentiment is 'No, furry isnt intrinsically fetish', with a few really compelling arguments for yes.
An answer that got me feeling activated was 'furry is intrinsically fantasy, and fantasy has a lot of overlap with fetish.' I like this answer for my particular purposes cause I very much want to share my fantasies with the people i love, fetish or otherwise. In my case I mostly just fantasise about things being nice, and people having nice things. But that answer appeals to the notion that furry communities by default excel at making a safe semi-public space to explore weirder fantasies and by extension fetishes. That's another of many stars in the furry communities belt if you ask me!
Like with the shibari Nai-chan pictures, i feel compelled to edge into my kinks here. I know BDSM is the shallow end of fetishes, but its about what im willing to explore with others right now and it reflects the somatic space my mind is currently occupying. I feel tied up and pulled in different directions, and bondage play helps me externalise and explore that.
Another good question that came out of this was 'is fandom intrinsically fetish? And moreover, isnt it better when it is?' I like that question more than my original question, and when i get a minute to answer more of these amazing responses, im likely gonna see if i cant take things from that angle.
----
Update 23/8/23WOW this journal blew up a little. Give me a good minute to review and reply. Im enjoying the comments immensely but also this is more online than ive been in years XD The plan from here is to do Sketchtember again, posting one sketch a day through September and try my best to connect here with my furry buddies!
Seems also, no furry isn't intrinsically fetish AND a general consensus of and 'don't let the haters yuck your yum.' XD
Maybe another way to phrase it would be 'is furry fandom intrinsically fetish?'
And what's more.... wouldn't it be better if it did? *grin*
I saw the meme about the white bread commissioner and i barely believed my eyes! After posting this im really starting to see how 'its porn, and porn is bad' is too loose in definition.
This gallery was initially branched off from my AGNPH gallery, so it was all Pokemon smut cause thats what i was into circa 2006. There are still a small number of active users who remember me that way. Now days, Ive worked so hard to change the way im seen i think- no, i KNOW i overshot cause all my favourite artists and friends online are kinksters and i want back in. XD
Anything is a fetish if it gets you off. Obviously there will be a higher number of people who get off to furry art in the furry fandom, myself included in that list.
Your perspective has me wondering if part of my question is a search for who comes here for that explicit purpose of fulfilling a furry fetish.
'Any time you're playing music for the crowd instead of yourself, you're fu*&'d'
I know. I have so much to share if i could just accept that IM a fettish artist. I always have been. I just think i sometimes get dragged into other peoples fetishes when i do a lot of fet art and forget my own tastes. Like i can forget myself in either direction.
Artist like yourself who know who they are and what they want fu#@'kn inspire me so much. I want to find that in myself again to just post what i make and trust that it will attract people like me. *nod nod nod*✨
Ask me about The Golden One sometime... or don't. He's a Neo-Nazi.
I really did notice that correlation as i grew up, and wanted more than ever to move away from people who would 'Yuck my Yum.' Prudish, loud with a side of 'phobic and anti-this/that' people and i almost want to go back to uncensored just to push that type of person away. *hug*
I feel encouraged to make intelegent, but generally emboldened choices with the new generation of nai art uplods! 💙
"It isn't worth doing something unless someone, somewhere, would much rather you weren't doing it."
By my bed i have one book shelf and its mostly Pratchett and Tove Jansson. Also a touch of other classical writers Like Poe, Dumas, Shakespear collection, and collected world fables. Also a few books from contemporaries like King and Bryson,
But really, when you get right down it it, its all about Pratchett.
Buggrit millennium hand n' shrimp.
In other words, there's not a lot of daylight between the OG Nazis being this "Boy Against The World As Political-Machine" outfit and the various attempts at fandom-gatekeeping in more recent pop-culture history. You know exactly what I'm talking about... there's an entire cottage-industry that makes money hand-over-fist by telling sad, moist Basement Dwellers that it's always 2008 here, "Angry White Dude In His 20's/30's" is still the center of the geek-entertainment universe, and all these attempts to make things that appeal to anyone NOT "Angry White Dude In His 20's/30's" is doomed to financial and critical failure... reality keeps spitting in the eye of this paradigm, but it doesn't stop these chowderheads from making money off of detached-from-reality dorks with more money from a well-paying IT job than good sense.
Furry art IS intrinsically fantasy, and the blurry lines between fantasy and fetish are an intrinsic part of the experience. Far out. That makes me wonder if there is an overlap between people who dont like furry and people who think Roleplay is also fetish and cringe. I love RP and fantasy so much, i absolutely can not take people who look down on fantasy seriously.
Like bro, fantasy and imagination is the spice of life and one of the most powerful skills us humans have! ✨
Thank you for this take so much. I love it and i feel massively emboldened to share my fantasies, Furry or not!
One thing that trips up the perception of furry IMO is that, like animation, many people, including some within the fandom, view it as a genre instead of a medium of expression, and all disparate furry works get lumped together as one thing. Furry/anthropormorphism can be applied to children's stories, workplace comedies, sci-fi, fantasy, horror, costuming, and also ... pornography.
I mean, the king of furriers himself, Disney is out there turning generations of kids on to Fox-morphs and half naked ducks. XD
Media not a genre~ *nod nod nod*
XD That came up! Bugs bunny and daffy duck, queer cross dressing icons and famous children's entertainers! Love him so much.
That said, NGL many of us had our sexual awakening with looney tunes, of which i am no acceptation. Like fifi and pepe were straight out here trying to get it and hit it 💙
Aliens, fantasy creatures (orcs, goblins, elves, etc.), furries, scalies, et. al., are within the parameters of being presented "normally" (non-kink / non-fetish situations).
To say it simply, the furry fandom exists outside of sexuality or fetish status, and its inclusion of sexuality does not make the entire fandom a fetish/kink.
Some people just like furry/anthro (like alt / subcultures, eg. Cosplay, goth, punk, etc.) - they exist outside of sexuality / fetish status.
My humble 2c
P.S. I really enjoy your art and appreciate how much you've contributed to the fandom and art world, and grown over the years in terms of talent. You are an inspiration and a role model. 🙌
Second. Help, praise as kind as that is something i both love and can barely handle XD
But most of all scarecrow, I agree! The fandom has grown so much in the years since i was a kid and i see a lot of younger members who engage with it in earnest, just enjoying furry arts and crafts and furry meet ups to watch classic movies and being nerds! That side of the fandom is one that NO-ONE talks about outside of fandom. 'And then a bunch of nerdy kids had a wholesome and fun time' doesn't sell nearly as well as 'they shit in litterboxes in class!' even if the latter is clearly false.
Furries are a subset of nerds and we're awfully easy to bully because of it. Our sexuality is put on blast just for shits and giggles, but it hurts more because more of us are coming from a good faith perspective. Again, i really love the take that furry and fetish are actually intrinsically a part of fantasy. And fantasy is something ill defend to the bitter end.✨
My time spent exploring the clean side of furry art was fun. There are some top teir SFW artists that can get buried in the sheer preferential treatment of NSFW artists. Its really worth elevating those voices.
I cant find it! You must supply the goods! You cant just say that and not supply the goods! I get the connection though. Looney tunes was so dang queer and it was a standard of child friendly comedy for a long time. Furrys in general are no more risqué than that.
After asking around, my new question is 'is fandom its self is a fetish fandom?'
Cause my experience is a high representation of fetish on FA and in many of the conventions.
Somewhere in the vicinity of 3:28, for a very brief moment.
And I think the answer to the second question would be about 50/50 yes/no.
To be intrinsically a fetish, something has to be both intrinsically sexual and significantly atypical in the realms of sexuality. Furry fails on the first point and, as a whole, is borderline on the second.
I now dont think furies are intrinsically fet, but fandom in general has a large fet sub demographic.
1: AFAICT what killed it was that FA with mature content turned off was good enough for most.
That being said, humans have been fetishizing anthropomorphic characters for thousands of years
That as an aside, i think the question has helped me tease out that the this community does engage in erotica, but that really isnt the primary purpose. Were here for FANTASY and that is something i get behind completely. Ultimately my personal fetishes include a lot of non human characters... mostly cause i have very much lived that outsider life and kind of see myself that way. The confession hidden in the subtext is that I love anthropomorphic characters, and i want to see if that can be done in an adult sense and still be appreciated as true art.
I hope so at least ~
...Yeah, pretty corny I know. XD
If furry art is fetish art, then I got one hell of a fetish drawing rats with heavy firearms.
As for the means of censorship, being one who disagrees with censoring anything, there is one acceptable means which would be creative covering in a natural way that gets away from the standard black and white bars, or blurring of a blatant image, it otherwise shows more skill as an artist to think around what you've made, still giving the appeal without being direct or frustrating.
Furry is fantasy.
And it feels amazing to see the whole community on the same page about the art first nature of our community without undermining the value of erotic work. Most of what is on FA, fetish or not, like it or not- IS ART. The real stuff that comes from the heart... and occasionally loins of people really really in touch with what inspires them. Anubis give me the strength, i am going to draw my personal furry fantasy with a new level of reckless abandon. XD
Do what speaks to you, after all it's you who determines where any of this goes!
That's called being reductionist, if not a bit snide. Binary thinking often leads to ideas that a single aspect of a diverse set simply -must- apply to the entire set uniformly.... and that's not at all how the world actually works. Just because a handful of artworks contain kink/fetish material doesn't make every individual in the entire art community a purveyor of BDSM.
Just turn on the SFW filter and you'll see over half the pool of available art actually remains!
Anyway you are behind the steering wheel. Do what makes you enjoy producing art and don't let anyone else dictate what you do.
Here is an off the wall concept. Furies are actually out here making counter cultural narratives that are more in alignment with basic human needs. Maybe it has less to do with 'porn' and more to do with the abject crush of anything but main stream approved media.
What if another lens is furry is intrinsically kind of punk by dent of being massively non conformist. We do what we want and arent afraid to imagine any kind of future we want. Were also massively grass roots, and the powers that be are really quick co-op our message to ascribe shit to us. If you look at the groups that hate furies the through line is always treating us as a 'threat against the status quo'. And like... okay, yes?
Wouldnt it be great to see people look back on furry hating the way they did the 'satanic panic' of the DND era?
Furries: the REAL counterculture :P
XD ... *makes Tshirts*
The fact that you even refer to it as furry art intrinsically should be the first give away. You would not normally refer to something like a Bugs Bunny or Mickey Mouse cartoon as furry, and you would not typically refer to something like a Peanuts or Garfield comic as furry, despite them all being based on anthropomorphic animals too. However, you just have a natural inclination to refer to works on this site, including your own, as furry.
Yes, there are plenty of SFW illustrations. However, even pornography actors and actresses in real life have lives outside of those porn videos, but they too carry the stigma of their work around with them into their daily lives. How many have been seen, on the news, publicly ostracized from their children's schools when that sex-based work was discovered by the school staff and/or other parents?
In the same way, even SFW images for the this highly sexualized fandom carry that sexual stigma with them into their SFW offerings. There is no reason to lie to ourselves about this. They way people react to it, and even the terminology we ourselves use to refer to it, are more than proof enough of this inconvenient truth.
Bugs by generally accepted definition is a furry, (anthropomorphic animals, or animals with human-like traits.) and hes also neither seen nor designed as a sex object. So furry isnt a sex thing.... However....
This website mentions BDSM, water sports, and pokemon in its upload tags. So it supports the fetish end of our community.
What i feel clear on now is that NSFW isnt unique to our community as furies, its just a stigma it carries.' Y-gallery, tumblr, deviant art, and by gods twitter also cater to their adult communities with a lot less public baggage. People on twitter upload as much porn, and do have a stigma, but a completely different one.
An apt comparison would be:
Geisha aren't prostitutes or sex workers historically, but a lot of people who didn't understand it blurred the lines. Foreigners who didnt get it even ended up crossing those lines out of ignorance.
So too:
Furries aren't a fetish group historically, but a lot of people don't understand it blur the lines. People outside the community who dont get that have come into our community and crossed those lines out of ignorance.
So uh, yeah this might be a case of 6 vs half a dozen, but i think it does matter that furies aren't paying more social stigma for the same amount of adult work on every other social media site other than (debatably) facebook and instagram.
People like DF really need to stop contributing to the problem by victim-blaming, especially with that whole sex worker analogy. It's getting old.
Same as when I mentioned the porn models. They face stigma from their jobs in their every day lives, even if they keep both separate. I do not condone this happening to them, but stating it as a fact is accurate. Proof of this exact thing happening is easily observable. Their works, such as in the more recent examples of people with Only Fans accounts, are also voluntarily consumed.
One such example is the nurse who was fired when her co-workers saw the videos that she was posting to help make ends meet. She didn't force them to watch those videos either. She didn't advertise her videos at her day job, and they still ostracized her.
The real victim blaming is saying that we should try to separate the fandom for the fetish aspects like we are embarrassed by them, as if we should implicitly start ostracizing those within our own ranks for adhering to the fetish roots that have always existed in the fandom.
No, artists should not be treated like they are to blame, and that includes those embracing the fetish aspects. The fetish aspect is always going to be a stigma associated with the fandom. Rather than try to deny it, run from it, and ostracize our own in the process, we should simply accept it. Then if others take offense to it, or look down on it, that is their problem. Not ours.
And yes, NSFW content is not UNIQUE to the furry fandom, but it is INTRINSIC to it.
The argument I see in response by you is ‘it is. And please don’t erase that history or be ashamed of that.’ If that’s your point, I think that’s extremely valid.
But I’m not alone on including Brian Jacques, Beatrix potter and the whole cast of looney tunes in our ranks. Hell, most of the Disney and looney tunes crew are known for drawing porn on the side. They had a name for it like the ‘hidden vault’ or some such. (I’m sure someone here could site me.)
For clarification, I’m curious about where Alphonso Azpiri or Frank frazetta falls on the fetish to art scale for you? Cause for me their work is clearly designed to excite and is widely accepted as art.
That is a fair summary, but it really goes even one more step beyond that. It sets the stage for cutting off that part and ostracizing that part of the fandom, villainizing them really.
In essesnce, what you are saying is the same as this:
"Are eyes, intrinsic to a person's? Yes, you need them to see. Are ears intrinsic to a person's head? Yes, you need them to hear. Are a nose and a mouth intrinsic to a person's face? Yes, you need it to eat and breath. Is hair intrinsic to a person's head? NO, IT'S NOT. Many people are bald. Removing it does not harm your head or limit your functions at all. That means you can cut off that hair whenever it is convenient for you to do so."
It is setting up the NSFW artists to be somehow different and apart from the rest of the community. It sets them up to be the villains and the fall guys to be cut off later, as soon as it becomes convenient.
It other words, there is a stigma to the community because the community is heavily NSFW. Your mind set takes us down the road of trying to make the NSFW artist as a scrape goat to remove that stigma from ourselves by foisting entirely on them. This is likely not your conscious intention, but that is where this road leads. The general populace will never buy into this anyway, so it would really only serve to divide the fandom community, while not even offering any benefits.
You know Bruce Timm made NSFW art too, right? The difference is that they mostly kept that stuff private where the furry community has always worn it on its sleeve. It is a major draw of the community.
Pulp art (such as Frank and Alphonso) was also seen a low brow for the longest time. Even written fiction in the pulp style was looked down upon. Comicbook artists in general got as much disrespect too.
Again, I am so glad I opened this journal and I’m extremely grateful for your reply. It’s not just that you’re onto something, I wonder how much of my own experience from 20 years he is informed by being on the sharp side of that particular stick. I shared my art and kinks freely as a young artist back in the 2000s but again and again there would be this influx of people who came to safe spaces just to twist the knife csi stuck in our back. as an artist it hurts and after a few cycles of that my gallery was as squeaky clean as it is now.
Originally here I was a Pokémon nsfw artist. I still love it. I still draw it. I still even like it in my favourites but I’m scared to post anymore. The times when this side of who I was became a persecuted part of my irl life freaked me out.
Drawing anime and furry fantasy adventure makes my world worth living in, and when I don’t feel safe here life feels unbearable. I want to protect that original part of our community and I hope myse and others feel protected by this community to safely express our full self through our sonas. Hopefully while the younger generation is sorting themselves on paper like we did, the rest of us will be strong enough to keep this space for them to fully explore who they are.
But you take that same character, and you add to it the sexualization and fetishization (see some of BigDad 's Bugs Bunny images), and people will immediately recognize and label it as furry.
People who generally refer to characters like BB as a cartoon animal, when drawn on model, will switch to calling it furry when drawn the way BigDad draws him. This allow should help you to under stand that all furries are anthros, but not all anthros are furries. Simply being anthro isn't enough for bugs to be considered furry.
Also, anthropomorphism is attributing human characteristics to ANY non-human thing, not just animals. Seeing a car with a rounded bumper and goofy headlights, then seeing a face in that layout is also anthropomorphism. This is typically the same category cartoons like Garfield and Bugs fall into. It is the category Anubis the ancient god falls into etc. They all existed long before the furry fandom took off.
The Furry Fandom basically took off in the 1980s:
"Fans of Steve Gallacci, an artist who drew anthro characters, came together at a sci-fi convention called Noreascon II (part of the World Science Fiction Convention) in 1980. This led to informal gatherings centered around anthro characters in sci-fi, comics, and animation between 1980 to 1985.
After the initial rallying together of fans, online bulletin boards started taking off in 1983, uniting furries across the globe."
You can see Steve draws pornographic art as well:
https://www.furaffinity.net/gallery.....vegallacci/2/?
That sexual fetish part has been a part of the fandom since the beginning.
General answer: only if you choose to see it that way
But im curious about those who see furry and fetish as linked.
Got some great answers so far.
Desecrated flame pointed out that the furry community in its current incarnation is the result of a lot of NSFW content, and that its a part of the community they don't want to see ostracised by fetish work being seen as bad or optional. I'm now inclined to agree. We're not alone in kink work as a community, but we do have a long history of being the most exciting at fun kink and sex stuff.
My trick is to figure out how all this applies to my interests, but im starting to see i just have to be true to myself and that i have nothing to hide. 💙
But then, "furry art" is rather a generic descriptor, isn't it? It encompasses all levels of maturity, much like "human art" does the same. "Furry art" is only one descriptive "filter" applied to "art" as a whole. The same goes for "fetish art", but "furry" and "fetish" aren't the same. There's a lot of "furry" art that isn't "fetish."
That said, do please resume posting, but do make sure it's rated correctly. FA and artists can't do a lot with who views the work, but at least tagging it right will let FA manage those who are honest.
Now I cant wait post again! This time with a slightly clearer set of personal guidelines around my NSFW content:
1)Post regularly.
2)Tag correctly.
3)Yes this community has a fetish bend to it, one we should be proud of,
4)even NSFW isnt all that we are.
5)And do not let the haters yuck your yum.
The community doesn't have a fetish bend to it as much as all of humanity has a fetish bend to it. However, we have more of a cover for it.
That said, haters need to back up their words with proof.
Overall you should have fun and enjoy what you do.
If you want to censor your work, there's nothing wrong with it. If anything putting censoring and releasing the uncensored else where for adult viewing is one way to go.
You could even have fun w/ the censoring. One artist did a thing called "Cen-saurs" where they drew cute chibi dinosaurs covering the lewd/naughty bits.
Honestly, the more i look into it, the more certain i am that im overthinking it. = w = These days what i call NSFW is so tame by comparison. If i went 100% upload of every bit of art i made id need to censor 30% of it at best. Like 'yo, calm down and draw your monster lesbians. No one cares anymore.' XD ... Thinking of... can i ... 'borrow'' Ms.Cotton >///> for... reasons... *cough politely*
You could do all kinds of silly censor antics with food. XD
Melons, Egg plants, Peach, Bacon, Tacos, and those are just the individual food bits.
Also yes, You MUST draw those lesbian monsters! DO IT!!! >:C
Also, Oh moy OwO
<//w//< Sure, I guess Ms Cotton could...lend a hand, for whatever you're scheming...planning <w<
If you need anything about her feel free too ask me on discord pm.
If the time I've spent trawling thru 4chan's /h board is any indication... name an art community dependent on user-generated content without explicitly forbidding or otherwise controlling prurient material, that is dominated by SFW content.
I know, right?
Trivia: according to Yak's server stats, 80% of FA's uploads are General, 10% Mature and 10% Adult. The numbers spelling out how much attention is paid to each category haven't been compiled as far as I can tell, but it doesn't take rocket science to guess which one dominates. FA in particular is an oddball so far as art sites go since it allows both extremes to exist side-by-side on one service.
Actually, just went to check and it seems there's also someone managing an AGNPH account for me. They redid the site back in 2015 or sometime and all the old accounts went missing. Gods, It was easier when the internet was smaller cause it just felt like a small get together of artists having dumb fun together, not like some career defining attribute of your work. = _ =
But yeah, im likely to only upload good new stuff, but there is an online trail of my old works from before the purge for thems that hunt for it.
I didn't come to any conclusion really xD
As to your question, ive been a part of furry community for decades and NSFW content has ALWAYS been here. Even traveling internationally, and state to state, the communities tend to follow similar guidelines. While we're really good at making all inclusive safe spaces for general audiences, all furry communities have an 'after-dark' presence. Back in the day there was a smaller age demographic, and it used to be much hornier XD
Now you have kids who see the really tight-knit community aspect and all the arts and crafts, and that's the major draw. The trouble is the way it attracts really young people into spaces that weren't initially built with them in mind. As a mom myself, i just wish i knew how this community could cater to all our members, young and old? The big 'make it SFW' button was a really good move, and i just wish there was more things like that.
Now, I do think the furry world has some interesting specific fetishes. Furry sex or "yiff" alone could count as a fetish. But also vore and such too are pretty specific to furry art (even if it could be done with none-furry artwork, you see it here more I feel like).
But I don't think furries or furry artwork overall are fetish material. And it's annoying to hear even furries try to act as it was. Plus, just weird, IMO. Like, I was drawing furries as a kid. I think I was probably around 10 or younger when I made my first furry character. And this was years before knowing there's a fandom for it.
I guess it would be like asking if playing video games was a fetish or something. Like, it's hard to categorize something that is well known and loved among a wide variety of audiences a "fetish."
See this was what i was thinking of when i asked, lots of people come to furriers independently of the community and there is so much historical context for anthropomorphic art. Some part of me feels like to be a 'furry' in the community you get squished through the 'furry' mould. That's fine, but i have so many questions for people who come at this community from a lateral perspective. People who are zoologists or come from an animist religious background, or authentically just love Brian Jacques and want to find more Redwall fans. Like, they're a part of this community too right? How much does our current model force them to adapt to a standard furry shape or otherwise push them away? Zootopia was furry, different, fantastic and loved amongst so many. Even Beastars, furry as it is, comes at the question of anthro's in a way that somehow barely feels squished from that furry mould at all. A perfect world for me would have more explorations of concepts that like that.
As someone who absolutely loves Furry fet, Im happy that the furry community caters to our NSFW artist, but i still think it should be easy to avoid if it isnt what you want.
Does the SFW filter help to dampen things at all? Or were you saying in context to furries irl?
It is in short, what you make of it. Is it? Isn't it? What you see. What I see. What that other Joe Schmoe over there sees. Or takes from it will all be a matter of perspective and taste. Is it intrinsically so? Hmm no. As others have said. It's not a Genre per say. It's just another medium of expression. Like writing or video and what not. And just because there is pornography within those mediums. Does that mean they are also all inherently sexually arousing?
Nope. And the same applies to Furry. It may just seem weighted that way, as I suspect it's become an easy out to explore fantastical fantasies of that nature. Express things that one may not attempt or consider acting upon, but still feed that little voice of vice in the back of your mind.
So as to you. Post if you want to post. Share what you will. The viewers will take what they want from it. Just like they always have.
So, post away as the muses and your whims dictate.
That entirely depends on the person in question as a fetish is something that makes you aroused/horny or some form of sexual interest. It can be a kink, in that you like it a lot, it's just not sexual. Or you could just enjoy it. If you think about it, literally everything can be a fetish.
On the other hand most people find any form of porn, human, furry, etc to be a kind of fetish. It's implied in the word porn. Heck, There are people who find car magazines to be their fetish. Does that make it wrong or porn? yes and no. obviously there are people to whom it is porn. of a sort.
the true answer is yes and no at the same time as a general question. On a personal level, we must all decide if for ourselves if the answer is yes or no. me? I've been watching Disney movies and shows for years. Is it furry? A fairly large amount of Disney art is furry. from the dragon in Mulan where it is on or two of the characters to movies like Robin Hood where its the entire movie, millions of people do not consider it fetish art. But some people do.
“When properly viewed, everything is lewd.
Look at Peter Pan and the Wizard of Oz,
Now there’s a dirty old man!” Tom Lahr.
But there are plenty of animal and furry content which are not fetish and safe for all ages. Lots of classic cartoons and movies. And it is certainly safe for children to go to furry conventions that allow all-ages and have dress codes.
But when I browse FA with the SFW filter, all I can see is fetish art most of the time lmao xD and this is where I spend most of my furry time.
So, I guess it depends where you are! Like having a drink of alcohol with the family at a restaurant, vs partying it up at a stripclub drunk.
There are tiers to lots of things ;D furry, too.
Making something an anthro is not inherently fetishistic. Just look at Sanrio. Even the most adult of their creations, Aggretsuko, is political and pedagogical in nature, a farce taking on social problems in Japanese society.
The furry fandom is generally just way more relaxed about accepting that people like stuff that is not 10000% wholesome and innocent. Someone can make a whole career out of drawing sexy werewolves on this site, and I for one am all for it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colargol
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_C.....cles_of_Narnia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pom_Poko
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egyptian_mythology
...Okay, that last one may be a bad example.
I'd put the question to the following test: Does the subject matter stand on its own merit without erotic intent?
Oddly enough, I have never seen SFW work as fetish; look how much there is in the outside world. Mascots, advertisments, and more, is furry.
So, I guess my answer is: sometimes?
Also, I agree with the tail end of the previous post: Does the subject matter stand on its own merit without erotic intent?
If you're concerned about your main account in that respect, one thing I've seen a few other artists do is make a second account specifically for their more extreme / fetishy art. Your main audience still sees what they want, while not being exposed to what they don't. Those that want more follow the second account too.
Therefore: Space Jam should be age 18+
On the other side, some people think "Fetish" means Genre. *shrugs*
We tend to be kinky though! Mwah ha ha ha!
Moving to the realm of NSFW furry art, I would still say it's not inherently fetishistic, unless you consider anthropomorphic animals a fetish on their own. Which I don't; at most, anthros are a meta-fetish.
but as many have stated already, if you go by the broad definition, pretty much ANYTHING could be a fetish...heck GOD could be a fetish XD
Also...looking over like 90% of your art and stuff in the FA gallery you've posted....honestly...i dont think i could classify almost any of your art as even 'fetish' related :/
I feel that more often than not the people who say something is sexual when it's not are the kind of people that have only had sexual experiences with the subject matter. Like, sorry to get political for a second, the people who say that teaching kids about Gay and Trans people is sexualizing them only think that cuz to them Gay and Trans are categorys on Pornhub that they "accidentally" clicked.
that's my 2 cents any ways
Of course you can create fetish with furries, but they themselves aren't a fetish on their own.
But I really don't believe it is a fetish. But that's me.
But I think it does foster an environment where it's easier to explore concepts and discover fetishes.