Recently, I have been seeing a lot of “don’t call me a Furry” posts by alot of great artists I watch, and honestly, it’s kinda disheartening. People with great artwork being confined by the bad stereotypes that still plauge us today. Hopefully, I can help some of you realize that stereotypes are not what everyone adheres to, or even describes everyone.

Fandom is a term applied to the sub-culture and social network that ties fans of particular media, shows, artistic Aspects, books, games, ect to share a common enjoyment and love for said aspect. Trekkies, Twilerds, Otaku, Gamers, Furries, Bronies, Potter heads, Whovians, these are all brilliant examples of different fanbases. You can stretch your definition to include fans of a particular sports teams.

Each fanbase has their own unique culture, fashion, vernacular, and tons of fan generated content. Each of these also has their own taboo’s, things that might be considered weird to people outside of that fanbase. The important thing to remember is, that while an entire fanbase encompasses a broad range of cultural nuances, it doesn’t mean that every individual runs the entire gambit of the fanbase.

Let’s take, For instance, Otaku culture. Otaku is a term applied by anime fans to describe themselves. Many have spent lots of time and money to build up a collection of anime, or manga. others, create elaborate costumes and sketches, Perfecting the nuances of their favorite characters to portray them in real life. Other still, create their own Manga, they write stories and draw in amazing styles, others are crafters.

But does this mean that every individual who is an otaku does all of those things? No. not at all. Does it mean that every anime fan out there has a stash of tentacle porn or draws nudie pictures, or even creates fan-shipped comics so that their two favorite characters can have sex? Again, no probably not. While Hentai, and Yaoi/Yuri fanfics are an aspect of the fandom, it doesn’t mean that everyone in the fandom participates in every aspect, or even likes it.

For example. I love the Hetalia series. It is an awesome show, brilliantly done, and is a smart and fun way to portray history and international relationships. I know a few of you fangirls out there are sniggering. Because there is more shipping involved with the series than Fedex during Christmas. While true, while the serious does involve mistaken genders, Homoerotic gags, and one particular character who could be described as Voraciously Omnisexual, the characters, for the most part, are Canonically Heterosexual. and yet your don’t have to look too hard to find some sort of oddball love story with two characters.

Now I am not apposed to fan parings in the least. I also don’t really care if you like to ship homosexual relations, that is your prerogative. But what I don’t like is when I try and discuss the show with other fans, and I get bombarded with comments about who’s hair curls count as erogenous zones. It annoys me that something I enjoy a lot is reduced to pure smut.

Misconceptions about fandoms are bound to happen, What is worse, is when the Media gets involved, and portrays a fanbase as one particular aspect of a fandom as the entirety of the fandom. That is right, I am talking about Furry! *Dun DUn DUUUUUUUUN*! I, myself, am a furry. I portray myself as a walking talking animal with human aspects. A lot of my art is furry, and some of my favorite movies have talking animals in them. That being said. It just rubs my fur the wrong way when I see TV shows that portray “Furry” as “Sex in Animal Suits”.

Now I am not denying that it never happens. I know that there are people in the fandom that do that. and I am not denying that there are erotic aspects inside the fandom. The point is, Not every one in the furry fandom participates in those activities or makes it the focus of their fandom. What TV fails to portray is just how creative the Furry fandom is.

I have never met a fandom with a sheer amount of fan created content. This is because “Furry” which is a fan applied synonym for “anthropomorphics” is more of an Ideal rather than a specific story, or canonical world. Most fans create characters, worlds in which these characters exist, numerous stories, and all sorts of other crafts. Fursuits themselves are commissioned and can cost upwards of $3000 dollars depending on the complexity of the character being portrayed. There are puppeteers, performers, Writers, artists, animators, comickers, crafters, all of whom contribute to such a wonderful and diverse fandom.

And not only that, but the Furry Fandom has also is generous. Anthrocon, the largest furry convention, has over the last ten years,

donated more than $100,000 to various charities, $20,656 in the year 2012 alone. These same furries also donated an additional $20,000 dollars to Fernando’s, a restaurant in the Pittsburgh area, to help him keep an incarnation of his restaurant. $20,000 dollars!

The reason that this does not get out there, is sensationalism. Scandalous things sell. TV wants edginess, so it focuses on the negativity. This is probably why Gay Pedophillic Priests are still prevalent in comedy today. It’s why the stereotype of Southerners being backwards, dirty, Bible thumping inbred racists, who are dumber in mud, still sells in today’s society. It it our job, to understand that misconceptions are just that, Misconceptions. They do not accurately depict what a fandom is.

I myself have found my views clouded by them. Particularly where it came to Bronies. At first I thought that they were just people being creepily obsessed with a little girls cartoon. I started noticing a lot of pony art popping up on the art sites I post to. I admit that yes, People post up fan art of Children’s shows, especially in furry galleries. but then I started to notice YouTube clips, and more and more artists I knew admitting to liking the show, calling themselves Bronies. and to be honest, I kinda got annoyed. after all, I was still dismissing this as a little girls show, because let’s face it. I am an 80’s child, and both my sisters played with My Little Pony dolls. I even started noticing Fanart, Crafts, and costumes at Anime Conventions. I felt like no matter which fandom I belonged to, the Bronies were invading. I actually posted a comic about it.

After researching the art style to accurately portray it in the comic, I found out interesting things about who the art director was, as well as some of the voice actors in the show, previous projects they worked in, and I also started to read articles on how one brony was able to connect with a patient in the hospital he volunteered at.

I also started thinking to myself, “Dude, you like sailor moon and thatanime is totally aimed at girls. and besides, it will probably be more like Power Puff Girls, then Barbie.”

So I checked out the show for myself, and about halfway through the first season I was hooked. I found myself staying up late at night to squeeze in just one more episode. Saturdays became “New Pony Episode” day. I started to search for the music from the shows, and found fan made music, I tried to get other people into the show. I even started to write fan fiction. I had worked through my initial misconceptions of the show and actually learned to enjoy it, and become a fan. I still am being blown away when my misconceptions are proven false.

My point is, you don’t have to be a fan of every single pop cultural thing out there. But then again, it pays to learn about a fanbase rather then Basing it of off the Misconceptions of what defines a fandom, if you really want to know about a fandom. as a fan. Ask an otaku about anime, ask a trekkie about Star Trek, Ask a Sports fan about sports, and ask a Furry about Furry.