That's just... depressing. There's a reason I never tell people I am a furry. Instead, I say I'm an "Enthusiast of media with anthropomorphic anjmals," Especially around friends from church.

I can sort of relate. Not from a family member but from friends. I almost feel evil, when someone I know doesn’t like furries, and I just have this little kept secret stored in my back pocket. I tried casually saying “Hey they aren’t that bad.” or “They are just having fun in their own way.” But no dice, and it stings a bit when I do have to hide and lie to keep it hidden.

Mmm. : ( I'm sorry.

Parents don't know EVERYTHING about there kids. My uncle did the same thing with Furry Bashing, went to the stereotype we're all just gaylords.

Though my uncle is also a racist. The kind of guy who'd say

"See that guy over there? Y'know something about him? He's stupid,"

He's stuck in the olden days. No, lie they were beautiful. Yet you got to get with a times a bit. Doesn't mean you have to like them, but they ain't going away.

Owtch.

I'm really sorry to hear about that.

Damn, that's rough, I'm sorry to hear that your dad said that

Not gonna lie, reading this kinda pissed me off. I absolutely despise people who judge others for just expressing themselves (in a harmless way, of course). You hear it all the F-ing time about how "Kids today are monstrous and entitled brats!" or "The young people today are a bunch of sickos and perverts!". Ironic coming from gens where illegal drugs like coke, lsd, and acid were popular.

Personally, I think its a two way street. The younger gen should be held responsible for their actions/be taught that there are consequences for almost everything you do and the older gens need to get the stick out of their collective ass.

I have an uncle that thinks like your dad. When he found out I'm a furry, he started calling me just about every gay slur in the book and even accused me of "partaking in zoophilia". Needless to say, NOBODY in the family has talked to him since he effectively tried to get me arrested for being a furry. (For those who don't know, zoophilia is basically the act of having sex with real animals. I know this because I googled it to know what the hell he was talking about)

My parents kinds sorta know I am; my mom a little bit more because I'm more comfortable with her, but my dad doesn't seem to get it and generally doesn't come across as someone safe or worth telling it to. Case in point: he made some crack about the 2014 MFF chlorine release early that December, and I bit his head off (admittedly I wasn't in the best head space because this was about a month after I suffered a major panic attack and resulting depression that themselves happened/started before the chlorine release, though I still stand by calling him out).

Well you always have the nuclear trump card later if they ever find out and get mad at you: "His parents must have done a shit job"

Sometimes, I wish we could like comments. XD

*kicks down door and T-poses*
https://twitter.com/Pregfur/status/.....439808/photo/4

YOU MOVE FATHER

I know the feeling...

My brother and my aunt are the only two in my family who knows that I am a furry, I kept it quiet for years as I have been one since mid elementary, might be longer than that

Okay, but I do want a service animal patch for myself after this

Damn. I'm so sorry that you have to keep this side.of yourself from them :(

What an asshole; I'm sorry you have to deal with that.

I can understand that.

My mom would get very upset when everytime she'd catch me looking at porn, lovely ladies. ^^

Fortunately she's not found out about my love of furry art and I have no plan to ever tell her. She'd be pissed among other thing. Oo.

On some level I can understand where your father is coming from - parents generally want the best for their child, which can lead many of them to believe that anything less than that should not be worth the child's time or energy to partake in. That it can get to this degree of vanity is sadly very unfortunate.

Over the past 17 years or so of my own chats with friends and family regarding my being a furry, I've noticed that people generally don't do their homework, let alone well, when they don't have any real incentive to do so. As my father put it in later years, the Furry Fandom comes across as a contemporary to the Punk subculture of the 80s - you're either part of it, or you want little to do with it, and people usually aren't that invested in reading into the matter if they're in the latter camp. Doubly so when members of the subculture generally aren't interested in helping "normies" understand it.

I agree, I completely understand where he's comming from and his intent. His generation wasn't raised in a time so... subculturely diverse? Such as the punk scene you mentioned, in his era those individuals had negative stereotypes associated with them (unhireable, rebels, irresponsible, weird, etc) so he's taking that mindset and applying it to ALL modern subcultures.

There's probably more to it than that, but a lot of the problem stems from an overall lack of communication, even in spite of the attempts at self-expression by a given party, and the vast majority of modern subcultures (including the Fandom) take at least some of their social cues from the original punks.

Because of the rebellious counter-culture it embodied at the time, as well as the main demographics of it consisting of teens and young adults, the Punk subculture back then had developed a reputation for refusing to explain themselves to anyone who wasn't part of their clique, even when their own actions and attire were outwardly seen as confusing, immature, and/or self-defeating.

That this was also happening at a time when moral panics were all the rage didn't help matters much either.

As such, I generally have to agree with Northern-Crosshair on matters of reputation, respective attitudes, and maturity when it comes to the Fandom. Granted, how you choose to breach this subject with someone who doesn't know (let alone care) is entirely up to you, but personal experience has told me that people are generally quick to change their tune when the back-end finances and logistics are brought up, along with all the charity work, in no small part because they'll generally respect income and professions - especially those that pay well - far more than they'll respect hobbies or obsessions.
Kind of just that implication that such people have earned the right to get into weird stuff in their spare time.

The Furry community has a reputation of being a bunch of mentally ill sex addicted pests, and that's unfortunate. It's too accepting and doesn't call out cringe attention seeking behavior in public. Many Furies think that sort of stuff is cute, everyone else thinks it's a sign of someone who belongs in a mental institution.

EVERYONE is weird in some form or another. The difference is that most people have the maturity to keep that to the proper time and place. The problem with furies, and many other groups to be honest, is that they tend to go overboard. Wearing the ears, OR, the collar, OR the shirt by itself out in public would have been fine. Wearing all 3 is just a cringe cry for attention. Nobody likes attention whores and that's about the only furies people actually see. Your dad is right. people need to be taught how to maturely act in public and be taught moderation. The person your dad talked about lacked that.

Also, not everyone needs to know everything about you.

Ugh! Despicable, that man...

What year was your father born in?!