While I have reservations about fursuiting -- costuming in general, really -- I've stood on the sidelines and watch it happen without much issue. I don't fully appreciate it, even though I've taken a liking to the more visually appealing and innovative ones. (Maybe someday I'll meet the right friend who'll be able to ease me into it, so I'll finally find it enjoyable like most furries seem to, even those who don't wear fursuits nor wish to own one.) However, I don't feel incredibly optimistic about much of the public's perception.

I usually make it a goal to watch videos of furies 'coming out' to their parents and friends. In most, if not all, of the videos I've come across, the furry is dawning a full or partial fursuit of their character. The video comments usually indicate that the person had a positive experience and their audience took the news well. I'm happy for them, but I still have a hard time watching. When on the computer, for example, my cursor hovers over the video and I instinctively click the video to pause every few seconds. I get too anxious.

A long while ago whenever I watched any video with fursuiters, I always felt someone staring over my shoulder and giving me a disgusted or disturbed glare: people at school, friends, parents or relatives, and the like. Whether they were mocking and pulling a tail, purposefully distancing themselves, or wishing they had a son that wasn't interested in such foolish things, I never felt courageous enough to stand up to them, either in that image alone or the real world.

All of these things have happened to one of my friends from high school, with the exception of the last one.

While that picture of someone standing over me doesn't come clearly anymore, I still get that overwhelming feeling of anxiety, even if, according to other commenters, there is a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. I don't believe them. Fear of rejection remains, something I am unable to bear, even if it is other people going through it.