It very commonly seems to be the case that the more interesting a question is, the more difficult it is to answer. Very frequently, shallowly conceived questions have an answer that is both not very profound and very easily attained. However, progress has never been made by avoiding the hard questions and the thought processes that those questions evoke. We must ask the interesting questions, and see where the train of thought takes us.

Based on 2014 data published by the International Anthropomorphic Research Project, a number of interesting demographic trends have come to empirically characterize the Furry Fandom. Obviously, these results are to be considered in light of the typical statistical assumptions regarding the sample and the data. As for to what extent those assumptions were met, one must look at the methodology and results and decide for oneself. A number of interesting dimensions were considered: the age breakdown of the fandom, the gender identity composition, the sexual orientation composition, marital status, political liberalism, etc.

While a number of those variables are salient to me, for practical purposes, it makes sense to just pick one of interest and develop a discussion based on it. Let's look at the racial/ethnic breakdown portion of the study in section 5. The researchers note:

"Furries, as a group, were the most predominantly white, having relatively fewer members of ethnic minorities compared to the other groups. The reasons for this are unknown, though it may be the case that the historical origins of the furry fandom (grounded in the science-fiction fandom which has also been traditionally white) may partially explain these findings."

While it would be nice to see the standard errors, I'll take the point estimate. Around 4% of the sample self-identified as "Asian." Why is this salient? Because I also self-identify as such. It can also be observed that for self-identified "Hispanics" and self-identified "Blacks," Furries rank the lowest proportionally, relative to the other fandoms in the research. The question arises: why are the proportions so different to what would be expected under the null hypothesis of proportions being the same as in the general population? Statistically, what predictors can account for the observed variation?

One can speculate whether these demographic trends have a more profound social effect on dynamics within the fandom, or whether the nature of those dynamics are matched up with what one would expect to see in the general population. Would one expect to see a higher incidence of racist behaviors in a population that is predominantly white than one that is not? I would be curious to see the sociological data if this is the case. It is probably not the case that it is entirely nonexistent: https://medium.com/@cookiecreamfox/.....58a#.jlqotmq19. The empirical question that I am interested in is: am I more likely to observe microaggressions, apathy toward the causes of People of Color, etc., from my own Furry associates than I am in my interactions with other groups?

Having formerly been more knowledgeable about the Anime fandom, it would be interesting to compare the probabilities of the aforementioned type of occurrence between fandoms, but alas, I cannot generalize from personal experience alone. Too many cognitive biases to muddy the inference. Though, I must say, it has been an interesting learning experience getting out of my comfort zone and surrounding myself with white people at furmeets. Intriguingly, there are a number of groups dedicated to particular racial/ethnic subroups (for example,  africanamericanfurs ) One must wonder why the number of such identity groups is not greater than what it currently is. It would be curious, for me, to see how many furs would join a group for Asian-American furs. I can only speculate.

References:
https://sites.google.com/site/anthr.....fandom-project