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Furries have trouble respecting disagreement
11 years ago
General
By now, my remaining +watchers know that I'm opinionated. People have pulled me aside and told me, "Don't be opinionated around furries because you're going to stir up 'drama,'" but I believe drama exists because there are some people who are incapable of handling disagreement in a civilized manner. Instead of, "You know, I disagree with you, and here's why," I see this constant, visceral disdain for ideas and topics that fall outside of their comfort zone.
So last night, I was on Twitter and I saw one of my followers post a series of photos that appeared on my Twitter feed. All I can comfortably say is that the photos depicted a young man fondling a dog's genitals and coaxing the dog into oral sex. This really bothered me, so I unfollowed that person, tweeted that there were these photos floating around and wrote the word, "Yuck!" While I was asleep, about a dozen people wrote to me privately and publicly to condemn me for being intolerant. Some have said that bestiality is completely fine as long as it was "controlled." I've received a great deal of comments from people supporting me for condemning what was posted, but others who didn't had a very strong, visceral reaction.
This morning, I woke up and I see all these messages, so I took to Twitter to express my point of view. Then some people on my IM buddy list started going offline in rapid succession. Blocked, blocked, blocked. It was like I was denying the Holocaust. As it turns out, a quarter of my contacts were into bestiality and felt I was attacking them personally for being "anti-zoo." Some people wrote to me and said, "It wasn't that you're 'anti-zoo.' It's the way you presented the message." Others compared bestiality to ageplay fetishism and said the two fetishes were similar. I saw so many people, bending over backwards to justify a globally condemned act. Why?
I already said what I had to say on the subject on Twitter, but I take exception to people who fail to recognize how a majority of the fandom recognizes such an act as unconscionable -- and to go as far as to harass me through every contact medium in existence to profess their love for bestiality. I felt like I woke up in Bizarroworld today. Why do people feel compelled to squash dissent and force dissenters into mindless complacence? People outside the fandom believe we're a bunch of dog-fuckers. The fandom collectively says, "No, no, no. No we're not!" and yet when an individual opposes it, it's total anarchy. What's the point in that? Seriously, tell me.
So last night, I was on Twitter and I saw one of my followers post a series of photos that appeared on my Twitter feed. All I can comfortably say is that the photos depicted a young man fondling a dog's genitals and coaxing the dog into oral sex. This really bothered me, so I unfollowed that person, tweeted that there were these photos floating around and wrote the word, "Yuck!" While I was asleep, about a dozen people wrote to me privately and publicly to condemn me for being intolerant. Some have said that bestiality is completely fine as long as it was "controlled." I've received a great deal of comments from people supporting me for condemning what was posted, but others who didn't had a very strong, visceral reaction.
This morning, I woke up and I see all these messages, so I took to Twitter to express my point of view. Then some people on my IM buddy list started going offline in rapid succession. Blocked, blocked, blocked. It was like I was denying the Holocaust. As it turns out, a quarter of my contacts were into bestiality and felt I was attacking them personally for being "anti-zoo." Some people wrote to me and said, "It wasn't that you're 'anti-zoo.' It's the way you presented the message." Others compared bestiality to ageplay fetishism and said the two fetishes were similar. I saw so many people, bending over backwards to justify a globally condemned act. Why?
I already said what I had to say on the subject on Twitter, but I take exception to people who fail to recognize how a majority of the fandom recognizes such an act as unconscionable -- and to go as far as to harass me through every contact medium in existence to profess their love for bestiality. I felt like I woke up in Bizarroworld today. Why do people feel compelled to squash dissent and force dissenters into mindless complacence? People outside the fandom believe we're a bunch of dog-fuckers. The fandom collectively says, "No, no, no. No we're not!" and yet when an individual opposes it, it's total anarchy. What's the point in that? Seriously, tell me.
Personally, I detest zoophilia/bestiality. It's disgusting, and it's a crime against nature - animals are not capable of understanding consent in human terms, so I see no defense for a form of sexuality that is not clearly consensual. But even if there are those who disagree with me, it's like you said - that's an almost universally condemned thing. I think a lot of the people who are jumping on your case for your post on Twitter are probably facing a dilemma. Their sexual fantasy is one that almost no one accepts, so when you come out and say what everyone else thinks, they take it personally.
You had every right to unfollow that person, and to inform people that those photos were going around (does Twitter even ALLOW that kind of content without the user automatically getting banned? ). However, since you said "Yuck!" you kind of lit a match under everyone's asses after they just finished eating chili loaded with beans. And now there's fire everywhere. I know. It's only one word. But this is the Internet. People make a big deal over baby shit all the time. You have every right to express your opinion and do whatever you want to do online, that much is true. But sometimes, expressing your opinion can cause a huge "debate," and most of these "debates" tend to be over bullshit or end up with people committing stupid actions.
So yeah, I agree that you did the right thing. But keep in mind that what you say on the Internet can piss people off for stupid reasons. The best thing to do is to not say anything, or to be prepared for the ensuing stupidity. Again, not saying you shouldn't have said "Yuck!" because it's your opinion on the matter. But if you say something (especially on the Internet), you need to prepare yourself for the stupidity that people may or may not say, or may or may not do, in response to your comments.