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"Why are you a furry?"
13 years ago
"Why are you a furry?"
A question my fiancée, Kris, asked me.
He completely understands my love of animals, my desire to "dress up in a giant goat costume" and that I enjoy drawing anthropomorphic animals in human settings.
No problem there.
But he asked this question of me in an attempt to legitimately understand why I am interested in this hobby of mine.
Okay, so I enjoy animals. Growing up, I always rejected the baby dolls for stuffed animals. I made my dinosaur figurines wage a war against the Pokémon plushies. I made believe I was a dragon flying around or that I was a velociraptor when walking in the shallow end of the pool. I'd be a stalking wolf in the woods or a sure-footed mountain goat hopping on cliffs.
I was always a lonely child and entertained myself in my head as an animal. When I did play with some friends, we never played house, but ponies or dragons. We were brave mice fighting off angry cats. But typically, I spent my days alone, in my room, with my stuffed animals.
Cool. That describes my love for pretend and animals. So why furry?
Or alternatively, what positive impact has being a furry had on my other hobbies?
Well, I like to draw. I love drawing anthros. I have tons of old sketchbooks all the way back from 5th grade of (albeit mostly horribly-done) drawings of wolves, dragons, cats, dogs, bunnies, etc. Are they all anthros, though? Certainly not. I have an equal number of realism drawings, sketches, and paintings. A wild pack of dogs, a horse, a fox in the snow, what have you. Are they all animals? No, I have more drawings of flowers and trees, houses and fields than any of my animal pictures combined. I just like to draw.
Would I still draw if I wasn't furry? Heck yes.
Does being a furry help my drawing? Yeah, it's practice.
So there's a plus.
I also like to make stuffed animals. Are they furry? Well, no.
I've only made one furry plush to date. That was Sh3w0lf's fursona as a commission.
All of the other plushies I have made (with the exception of a few gifts like Cupcake Koala and Beerfish), and designs I have drafted, were largely part of a line of stuffed animals I wanted to release. They have names, poems, stories, art, etc.
Do I want to make other's fursonas? Well, sure. I would like to. I'm not the best at sewing, I have very little time, and working with fleece isn't as nice for 'sonas than fur would be. But I would like to.
So is my sewing influenced by being furry? Other than creating fursonas on comission, no, not really.
Does being furry help my sewing?
No. I would still sew otherwise.
So, all of the many hours I have put into researching how to make a fursuit, the sheer amount of references, examples, tutorials, instructions, and practice with scraps I have collected together and effort put into learning, has any of that affected my ability to sew better?
Yes. I would certainly say it has.
Could I have learned proper stitch techniques, how to attach a zipper, or the workings of fur without being a furry? Well.... yes, I could have. Would I have? Yes.
"What about all the friends I have made? They are wonderful people I would have not had this connection with otherwise," I say.
And he asked my to re-consider and re-evaluate my statement.
Did I meet any of my friends from specifically being a furry.
No.... No I haven't.
I have known a lot of my friends for many years. We met and became friends because our personalities were compatible.
Case in point: Sarah. I met her many, many years ago when I was in 8th grade. That was... I think 8 years ago. Lol. We became good, fast friends. We both had interestes in animals, in drawing, etc. I think I can safely say we both knew we had an interest in furries. Even if we didn't know what they were or didn't care to learn, or knew and kept it secret (which all three cases applied to me in that order). But either was just understood and never came up or whatever the matter, we were comfortable in our knowing that we were furries. Many years later in college we openly expressed interest in the subject together. We had squeal moments and discussed the fandom in great length and detail.
Many others too. Brandon was a classmate of mine. We talked occasionally and shared similar interests. It wasn't until he commissioned me to make a plushie of his girl friend's 'sona that I became aware. Even friends I made in middle school have contacted me here and we reconnected.
I have met many great friends. One of my best friends, too, I have met on the internet. On Furcadia. At that point, I still didn't know what furries were, but thought a role-playing game where you could walk around as a dog-person was super cool. Danielle, or Hell's Offspring (Helly), as I met her, is still a fast friend that I am in close contact with on a regular basis. Even though she lives all the way in Vegas. Is she a furry? I don't think so, but she does take great interest in things furries commonly love. So maybe. But we weren't introduced to each other as such. Maybe it was just commonly understood anyone on a furry role-playing game was furry. Lol.
So, no. I have only made one friend under the sole context of being a furry. And that is Jojojoshua, who is an awesome individual that I firmly believe I would have met and befriended anyway based on our interests.
"Alright and good. But aren't most furries overweight, antisocial individuals with psychological complexes that deem them unfit for, and are generally unproductive in, society? You will pick up these traits by hanging out with these types of people. It has been scientifically proved who you associate with has influence in who you are as a person."
Well, this is rather harsh.
Every stereotype has validity, though. And, I admit, some furries are included in this description (none that I any longer associate with, and I am certain this does not apply to any of you guys, so no offense).
But I do know a lot of anti-social furries. I, for one, have extreme social awkwardness (that I am trying to improve). But no one that I know and associate with has anything worse than that. I certainly wouldn't say anyone I know isn't a productive member to society.
I know traits among people do rub off on one-another. I am a prime example of being moulded be my friends. Though I wouldn't say that is a bad thing. And I do admit that I have a weak sense of self-individuality.
But I am quick to toss this notion out the window. Being a furry doesn't make you an unmotivated, overweight loser. Being an unmotivated, overweight loser does. If you smoke pot and sit around all day or if you draw animals and sit around all day, your hobbies do not define your sense of who you are.
There are the extremes and good and bad with everything. Furries are no exception. I know some amazing, upstanding individuals who take an interest in anthropomorphic animals and I have known the other end of the spectrum.
Only if you let something consume you and negatively affect your life, it does. Otherwise, it's just that, a hobby, a passion, a way to express yourself and escape to another reality.
"So what happens when we're raising our children and our kids see mommy dress up in a giant animal costume?"
Well, this is more tricky a subject.
Of course, I want to fursuit. I want to bring my character to life. I want to dance around in public and have fun. I want to be carefree and express myself in a unique way with my friends. I want to attend a few conventions a year and I want to dress up as a giant goat/sheep.
Will I be doing this while raising kids? Probably not. Everyone moves on. Everyone takes responsibility for the important thins in life. When I reach the stage in my life where I find myself raising upstanding individuals to introduce to the world, I will have a more responsible outlook. I doubt I'll be attending furmeets and bowling in a fursuit at the age of 40. But who says I can't dress up for halloween? For birthdays? For fun. I might still attend cons. Leave the kids with grandma for the weekend. Whatevs.
But I'm not there in my life yet and when I am I'm sure I won't be galavanting around in costume changing diapers. I'm content now drawing and doing whatever it is I do. I'm sure I'll be just as content then.
"Okay, so back to the question that started it all. Why are you a furry?"
I don't have an answer for that. Just because.
It doesn't impact my love for drawing, sewing, my friends or anything else. I just like humanized animals. I like the idea of being silly behind a goat/sheep mask.
Why am I furry?
I don't know.
Just because I am.