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dressing up as a cartoon animal might
seem silly but to some it's the perfect
temporary Escape
welcome to the furry fandom
furry is someone who likes
anthropomorphic or human-like animals
think Bugs Bunny or just about any
Disney animated movie in the furry
fandom you get to create the character
that you play rather than being the
identity you're given at Birth
however not everyone understands the
fascination with anthropomorphic animals
and many outside of the furry fandom are
judgmental or carry negative
misconceptions about furries the way
they talk about furries is so like they
they say it with disgust almost so
furries are misunderstood by many how do
they protect each other that's exactly
what I want to find out in this episode
I'm gonna meet with furries and furry
researchers to better understand what it
means to be a furry
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meat Springs a furry living in the Bronx
she is known on Tick Tock as boogie down
fur and uses her platform to correct
misconceptions people might hold about
furries yeah so my name is Amanda I'm 26
and this is my girl Springs and uh we
are boogie down fur people see a furry
and they're like oh she's like you said
she's got to be a deviant for a lack of
better words the fandom is mostly about
creating a safe space for you know like
I said those who want to explore parts
of themselves that they don't normally
feel comfortable exploring or that just
want to have fun or that are into the
art
foreign
fandom is a fun hobby for many there's
still a lot of people on the outside
that don't understand it in the world of
furry you aren't strapped down to the
person you were born as you get to
create the character you want to be this
is called your fursona many phrase where
elaborate costumes called fursuits and
at conventions furries without a fursuit
will wear badges that display the
fursonas proudly to get a broader
perspective of furry I talked to Dr
Sharon Roberts a sociologist who studies
the fandom with the first science
project go to a convention and the first
thing that you're asked is what do you
want your badge name to be most furries
don't have fursuits it's about 25
percent of the fandom that has one and
the Furry fandom people Don the
characteristics of the animal characters
they're playing for many who struggle
with communication a Persona can ease
the burden your fursona helps signal to
others how you'd like to be treated for
example if I'm a nervous person that
likes head Pats I can present as a shy
or bashful puppy your fursona can also
help you you experiment with new
character traits that you might be too
shy to try in your human form like when
I put my first suit on some part of me
inside that I just can't express
normally for whatever reason whether it
be fear of judgment or just my anxiety
won't allow me because like you know I'm
just I'm a very timid person but I'm
also really extroverted
I use the fursona to engage in
conversations with each other so for
those who are shy you know those who are
autistic that this becomes a really good
point of being able to communicate in
ways that are socially supported
foreign
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I do feel that you know people get more
curious about it because everyone has
thought at some point oh what would I be
if I was an animal you know yes I have
had this conversation so many times like
what animal would you want to be like
just that question yeah like that's and
that's where it starts I've asked that
to people all the time and I've thought
about that all the time of like oh maybe
I want to be something that flies
because how great would it be to fly
like we can't fly as humans I've been
fascinated by the furry world for a long
time and I decided I want to try
creating a Persona of my own but I had
no idea where to start
so I want to create my own persona
can you like give me some tips honestly
that comes with what animal you choose I
feel like I like to go off of like what
animals I pick so like a fox and a lynx
creating a Finks like it would have the
the silly quirky nature of a fox but
also have the cunning and like attitude
of a cat and a lynx I've always had some
goth Tendencies and I've long been drawn
to the Mystique of fuzzy bats oh I love
bat fursuits a rave bat if it's a rave
bat it's either base the bat I love to
draw so I spent my Saturday working on
my fursona creating a Persona temp body
was too much fun the creative potential
is Limitless
foreign
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majority of furries identifies lgbtq and
since its Beginnings the fandom has been
a safe space for the lgbtq community
they are 85 percent lgbtq a quarter to a
third transgender
um you know bullied at proportions that
are twice the rate of population levels
you know these are marginalized and
vulnerable people who are sticking up
for each other because the furry fandom
is such a safe space and it's a very
Anonymous space at that too because when
you're in suit or when you're online
it's mostly just your character online
so like people don't have like pictures
of themselves as a profile you know what
I mean it's their character I think it's
just a safety thing I think it's just uh
you know they feel comfortable the furry
fandom branched off from the Sci-Fi
convention circuit during the 1980s and
with the growth of the internet the
fandom has continued to grow
I don't think it's a bad thing that the
furry fandom has a reputation that makes
vulnerable people want to be a part of
the group word gets out I think the
fandom May grow in that way in that way
as well
now furries across the world Yap Yao and
squeak about all their favorite
anthropomorphic animals both online via
social media and in person at
conventions I've even befriended many
furries in the virtual reality spaces
I've been exploring for subculture well
I guess I wanted to start talking about
how you knew that you are a furry how
did you discover the world and then how
did you know that you were wanted to be
a part of it I actually was furry before
I knew about the furry fandom we end up
creating our own characters sort of role
playing as them and then we find out hey
there's a bigger Community out there
what are the biggest misconceptions that
you think the public has about furries a
lot of people think furry is about the
fetishes furries actually think that
other furries are more into the sexual
components and the pornographic
components of the furry fandom than they
actually are I do want to make sure that
we correct misconceptions that are
commonly held so if that is a big
misconception that people kind of
overestimate the amount of sex in the
furry fandom then I think that's
important to know some of these factors
get a lot of attention in the media I'm
not you know I'm not saying suggesting
that that's not a thing that that it
never happens but the people that we've
studied and we have studied over 40 000
furries from 70 different countries so
you know can you find instances of it
sure and what happens between consenting
adults is consenting adults business but
that does not represent the vast
majority of the fandom
it's possible that this misconception of
furries has come from early portrayals
of the fandom and media for example in
2001 Vanity Fair published an article
that focused on the sexual aspects of
the furry community a few years later a
popular CSI episode called fur and
Loathing was released that portrayed a
group of furries in a sex scene
today phrase are negatively stigmatized
by the public and they face threats to
violence online
laughs
furries have been targeted by anti-furry
groups that harass them it's not hard to
find furry hate pages on social media
and posters on sites like 4chan and
something awful have organized trolling
efforts against furries
furries face danger in person too in
2014 a suspected chlorine gas attack
sent 19 Midwest furfest attendees to the
hospital police investigators said the
gas may have been released intentionally
and while no suspects have been found
Chicago Police say they still consider a
criminal investigation
we generally keep an eye on their the
chat rooms of hate groups so we have to
watch hate group chats 24 7 pretty much
all time for years and years and years
uh furries have been doing this since
dial-up internet is funny that furries
have to watch hate groups but hate
groups have tried to ruin furry events
for decades it's crazy but
um yeah furries are very protective of
their friends because generally furries
have chosen
the community as their family
and we don't want our family to get hurt
this information about furries has
spread across social media sites a
Nebraska lawmaker even fell for one
rumor when he claimed that schools were
providing litter boxes for children that
self-identified as animals little little
student identified as a cat
and wanted a litter box
the school didn't provide the litter box
so the student went and defecated on the
floor later bosselman contacted the
school districts and the district
leaders confirmed the rumor was not true
bosselman apologized for publicizing a
false story because furries faced
stigmatization and are misunderstood by
many the phrase I talked to say it's
important for the community to protect
each other when it comes to the fandom
and stuff like it's it's really such a
safe space and that's why we protect it
so hard because you know we're dealing
with you know sensitive people the big
things that are intolerated are
generally
uh hardly others uh abuse that's not
tolerated so abuse whether it's physical
or verbal harassment is generally not
tolerated at all bigotry is certainly
not tolerated because it goes against
the core values of furry trying to be
your true self I feel like it's not my
place to judge anybody especially since
I'm a furry like that's that's as weird
as it gets in terms of the eyes of the
public the furry fandom is growing fast
fursuiters are spotted in more countries
all the time and some hope that this
will help reduce the negative stigma for
his face
for a long time furries have been
misunderstood by media and the public
but the furries I've talked to are
hoping to change that so more people can
feel safe having fun how they want to
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if you've been enjoying exploring
subcultures with me I'm sure you're
going to love the newest show in the PBS
family America Outdoors understory with
bear tune-day Thurston it's a show that
explores the unique way people interact
with the natural world in it you're
going to meet everyone from surfing
scientists to Fossil Hunters so check
out the link in the description and
don't forget to tell them that
subculture sent you