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The Problem of "Anti-Drama"
14 years ago
General
[Disclaimer: Despite having apparent relation to recent events, this is not in reference to any particular person, nor a criticism of any particular organization. It is simply a critique of a phenomenon I’ve observed within the fandom.]
We here -- regardless of what we claim -- are all furries in one sense of the word or another. With being a furry comes an array of social issues that are involved with the fandom. What I refer to specifically is our tendency to be associated with abnormally large amounts of of drama when compared with other fandoms. Needless to say drama can make a fandom an unpleasant place for its members.
In response to this, we see a number of "anti-drama" associations pop up, such as the Anti-Drama Llama Movement here on FA and every so often we get a journal post from a well-meaning fur calling for everyone to "get along! love each other! The furry fandom should be one big family!" While this sentiment is appealing, it is naïve. The furry fandom, as wonderfully accepting as it is (and I do love how "open" the fandom is) often finds many of its problems are caused by its laissez-faire attitude when it comes to people and situations that are detrimental to its members and its image.
Take for instance, the case of TORA: despite serving a prison sentence for lewd conduct with a 14-year old, TORA has attended cons since 2008 to present day -- even after his ban from FurAffinity in 2009 when evidence surfaced on the “drama-circulating” site lulz.net that he was having inappropriate conversation with a minor. This isn’t even a one-time example! Sibe has a reputation of stirring up problems for many furry communities and conventions, including being banned from the two largest furry conventions in the US, and having distributed pirated furry artwork. Despite his repeated offenses against members of the furry community, he has been permitted to at least one convention even after attacks on several furry organizations.
In each of these situations, the prevailing idea is that said offender did not take any action against them, therefore they should not have say in the matter. The furry fandom tends to let even illegal actions pass provided it’s not an action “against them” . To step outside that boundary -- to even make a statement to rebuke the individual and actions in question -- would to be to stir up and perpetuate “unneeded drama”. This line of thinking is blatantly flawed; if someone can potentially cause problems for members of the furry fandom, by allowing said member to continue we create more drama, rather than preventing it! In this sense, neutrality is often mistakenly considered to be “anti-drama”.
An issue I notice in local-area furry social circles is that there are members that often cause some form of harm to the other members, and in spite of continuing abuse, the local furry group will tend to accept it rather than speak out to prevent “upsetting the group”. Once again, status-quo is causing more harm to the whole than any sort of action to oust the offending furry ever would!
That isn’t to say I see all furry organizations to be inactive. In fact, here at FA, I have an admiration for Dragoneer for speaking out and rebuking furries who have caused harm to the fandom’s image, or its members (in particular his actions taken against Allan -- who had many complaints against him for abusing well-meaning charity -- and TORA, both). He is aware that the PR of the entire community as well as the happiness of its individual members are depending on what we allow to happen in our community.
In a sense, the oddity of the furry fandom is a PR problem in itself; a good many of us (myself included) are guilty of the “bizarre” fetishes prevalent in the furry fandom. We need to understand that while our image will never be pristine, it will however be even worse of a problem if headlines like “Senator’s Aide Solicits Minor for ‘Furry’ Sex” continues to appear in papers!
A criticism that may leveled against my argument is where do you draw the line on who to speak out against? Child pornographers or Cub porn artists? My response is that things like cub porn will always be a point of conflict within the fandom, we’re never going to have a definitive, however the issue is when real people are exploited and harmed directly and repeatedly. I do not intend to encourage any sort of authoritarian witch hunt of “bad” furries, but when someone observes consistent harm on those around him, at a certain point he has responsibility for allowing that to happen. We can’t live in our bubbles and expect not to be blamed for the next bad thing to happen.
The fact of the matter is, I love being a member of the furry fandom, and it is important that we remain accepting of all of our members, no matter how quirky or peculiar they are. At the same time, it is also important that we protect our members’ well-being, our artists’ intellectual property, and our own image. If we do not speak out strongly for fear of perpetuating “drama”, we are responsible for drama all the same.
We here -- regardless of what we claim -- are all furries in one sense of the word or another. With being a furry comes an array of social issues that are involved with the fandom. What I refer to specifically is our tendency to be associated with abnormally large amounts of of drama when compared with other fandoms. Needless to say drama can make a fandom an unpleasant place for its members.
In response to this, we see a number of "anti-drama" associations pop up, such as the Anti-Drama Llama Movement here on FA and every so often we get a journal post from a well-meaning fur calling for everyone to "get along! love each other! The furry fandom should be one big family!" While this sentiment is appealing, it is naïve. The furry fandom, as wonderfully accepting as it is (and I do love how "open" the fandom is) often finds many of its problems are caused by its laissez-faire attitude when it comes to people and situations that are detrimental to its members and its image.
Take for instance, the case of TORA: despite serving a prison sentence for lewd conduct with a 14-year old, TORA has attended cons since 2008 to present day -- even after his ban from FurAffinity in 2009 when evidence surfaced on the “drama-circulating” site lulz.net that he was having inappropriate conversation with a minor. This isn’t even a one-time example! Sibe has a reputation of stirring up problems for many furry communities and conventions, including being banned from the two largest furry conventions in the US, and having distributed pirated furry artwork. Despite his repeated offenses against members of the furry community, he has been permitted to at least one convention even after attacks on several furry organizations.
In each of these situations, the prevailing idea is that said offender did not take any action against them, therefore they should not have say in the matter. The furry fandom tends to let even illegal actions pass provided it’s not an action “against them” . To step outside that boundary -- to even make a statement to rebuke the individual and actions in question -- would to be to stir up and perpetuate “unneeded drama”. This line of thinking is blatantly flawed; if someone can potentially cause problems for members of the furry fandom, by allowing said member to continue we create more drama, rather than preventing it! In this sense, neutrality is often mistakenly considered to be “anti-drama”.
An issue I notice in local-area furry social circles is that there are members that often cause some form of harm to the other members, and in spite of continuing abuse, the local furry group will tend to accept it rather than speak out to prevent “upsetting the group”. Once again, status-quo is causing more harm to the whole than any sort of action to oust the offending furry ever would!
That isn’t to say I see all furry organizations to be inactive. In fact, here at FA, I have an admiration for Dragoneer for speaking out and rebuking furries who have caused harm to the fandom’s image, or its members (in particular his actions taken against Allan -- who had many complaints against him for abusing well-meaning charity -- and TORA, both). He is aware that the PR of the entire community as well as the happiness of its individual members are depending on what we allow to happen in our community.
In a sense, the oddity of the furry fandom is a PR problem in itself; a good many of us (myself included) are guilty of the “bizarre” fetishes prevalent in the furry fandom. We need to understand that while our image will never be pristine, it will however be even worse of a problem if headlines like “Senator’s Aide Solicits Minor for ‘Furry’ Sex” continues to appear in papers!
A criticism that may leveled against my argument is where do you draw the line on who to speak out against? Child pornographers or Cub porn artists? My response is that things like cub porn will always be a point of conflict within the fandom, we’re never going to have a definitive, however the issue is when real people are exploited and harmed directly and repeatedly. I do not intend to encourage any sort of authoritarian witch hunt of “bad” furries, but when someone observes consistent harm on those around him, at a certain point he has responsibility for allowing that to happen. We can’t live in our bubbles and expect not to be blamed for the next bad thing to happen.
The fact of the matter is, I love being a member of the furry fandom, and it is important that we remain accepting of all of our members, no matter how quirky or peculiar they are. At the same time, it is also important that we protect our members’ well-being, our artists’ intellectual property, and our own image. If we do not speak out strongly for fear of perpetuating “drama”, we are responsible for drama all the same.
topic not related: Happy Birthday Jericho!!!
I love your brain. I won't eat it, but I love it.
"The fact of the matter is, I love being a member of the furry fandom, and it is important that we remain accepting of all of our members, no matter how quirky or peculiar they are. At the same time, it is also important that we protect our members’ well-being, our artists’ intellectual property, and our own image. If we do not speak out strongly for fear of perpetuating “drama”, we are responsible for drama all the same."
God damn. You're fucking awesome.