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Is the furry fandom misogynistic?
2 years ago
Ten, fifteen, or twenty years ago I would have said yes, the fandom was misogynistic. A lot of the early art catered to the straight male gaze in a really objectifying way. A lot of that fell away as the fandom became a more LBGTQ+ centered space, but it just became a different flavor of “Ew, women” misogyny.
I experienced and witnessed this firsthand in the early 2010s when I and some friends were trying to establish and promote a furmeet for female-identifying people. Local event organizers called us sexist for holding such a meetup, while saying misogynistic things about female anatomy in the same breath. They posted body-shaming memes about us. It was really demoralizing for a young, newbie fur who was genuinely trying to contribute something good to the community.
I thought the fandom had grown a little more enlightened since then. I observed as the same people who once derided us and mocked females and our bodies became very outspokenly progressive. The old-boys club became champions of social justice, or at least claimed to be such.
I thought we had finally built a more inclusive fandom. I thought we, as a group, recognized that this fandom was built on the efforts of female artists and crafters.
But nowadays on Twitter, we’re in a cycle where every few months, some asshat makes a misogynistic joke and it spurs a slew of “Let’s push back against the widespread misogyny in the fandom by uplifting furry women!” posts. People act like the random guy represents a large problem in the fandom and make him and his comments into some kind of boogeyman to push back against. Often the guy isn’t even being particularly malicious, he’s just making a dumb joke in poor taste. See today’s tempest in a teapot about the cartoon of the “Boykisser” character spraying a can of “Anti-Woman Spray.”
Rinse and repeat.
Do you think there is genuinely still a widespread problem with sexism in the furry fandom in 2023? Am I naive for thinking we were out of the woods?
I experienced and witnessed this firsthand in the early 2010s when I and some friends were trying to establish and promote a furmeet for female-identifying people. Local event organizers called us sexist for holding such a meetup, while saying misogynistic things about female anatomy in the same breath. They posted body-shaming memes about us. It was really demoralizing for a young, newbie fur who was genuinely trying to contribute something good to the community.
I thought the fandom had grown a little more enlightened since then. I observed as the same people who once derided us and mocked females and our bodies became very outspokenly progressive. The old-boys club became champions of social justice, or at least claimed to be such.
I thought we had finally built a more inclusive fandom. I thought we, as a group, recognized that this fandom was built on the efforts of female artists and crafters.
But nowadays on Twitter, we’re in a cycle where every few months, some asshat makes a misogynistic joke and it spurs a slew of “Let’s push back against the widespread misogyny in the fandom by uplifting furry women!” posts. People act like the random guy represents a large problem in the fandom and make him and his comments into some kind of boogeyman to push back against. Often the guy isn’t even being particularly malicious, he’s just making a dumb joke in poor taste. See today’s tempest in a teapot about the cartoon of the “Boykisser” character spraying a can of “Anti-Woman Spray.”
Rinse and repeat.
Do you think there is genuinely still a widespread problem with sexism in the furry fandom in 2023? Am I naive for thinking we were out of the woods?
And LOL the Burned Furs! That’s a throwback! I sure as hell didn’t have an upbringing that nurtured a healthy relationship with sexuality, and I absolutely would have jumped on the Burned Furs bandwagon given the chance.
I'm a tough gruff ol bastard... And I can't stand any of the narrow minded crap some of the folks in our community do. .
Obviously we haven’t eradicated sexism or any other kind of intolerance in the fandom. We never will. But I do feel like at least we’ve made progress.
And I feel like Twitter is just reactionary as usual and putting the wrong people on the pillory. I don’t care about some random schmuck’s boykisser meme. I care about what community leaders and organizers say and do.
NO GIRLS ALLOWED, ONLY GAYS