Furry fandom
[1][2][3] Some examples of anthropomorphic attributes include exhibiting human intelligence and facial expressions, speaking, walking on two legs, and wearing clothes.
[4] In 1976, cartoonists Ken Fletcher and Reed Waller created the amateur press association Vootie, which was dedicated to animal-focused art.
The specific term furry fandom was being used in fanzines as early as 1983, and had become the standard name for the genre by the mid-1990s when it was defined as "the organized appreciation and dissemination of art and prose regarding 'Furries', or fictional mammalian anthropomorphic characters".
[9] Fans consider the origins of furry fandom to be much earlier, with fictional works such as Kimba, the White Lion, released in 1965, Richard Adams' novel Watership Down, published in 1972 (and its 1978 film adaptation), as well as Disney's Robin Hood, as oft-cited examples.
By 1989, there was sufficient interest to stage the first furry convention: Confurence 0,[11] and it was held at the Holiday Inn Bristol Plaza in Costa Mesa, California.
[13] The newsgroup alt.fan.furry was created in November 1990, and virtual environments such as MUCKs also became popular places on the internet for fans to communicate.
[14] Allegorical novels, including works of both science fiction and fantasy, and cartoons featuring anthropomorphic animals are often cited as the earliest inspiration for the fandom.
[8] A survey conducted in 2007 suggested that when compared with a non-furry control group, a higher proportion of those identifying as furries liked cartoons "a great deal" as children and recalled watching them significantly more often, as well as being more likely to enjoy works of science fiction than those outside of the community.
[15] According to a survey from 2008, most furries believe that visual art, conventions, literature, and online communities are strongly important to the fandom.
[17][16][18] Fans with craft skills create plush toys and also build elaborate costumes called fursuits,[19] which are worn for fun or to participate in parades, convention masquerades, dances, or fund-raising charity events (as entertainers).
Anthropomorphic animal characters created by furry fans, known as fursonas,[24] are used for role-playing in MUDs,[25] on internet forums, or electronic mailing lists.
[26] A variety of species are employed as the basis of these personas, although many furry fans (for example over 60% of those surveyed in 2007) choose to identify themselves with carnivorans.
[29] Another popular online furry social game is called Furcadia, which was created by Dragon's Eye Productions.
A furry convention is for the fans to get together to buy and sell artwork, participate in workshops, wear costumes, and socialize.
[30] Anthrocon, in 2008, the largest furry convention with more than 5,861 attendees,[31] is estimated to have generated approximately $3 million for Pittsburgh's economy that year.
[13][15] According to four different surveys, 14–25% of the fandom members report homosexuality, 37–52% bisexuality, 28–51% heterosexuality, and 3–8% other forms of alternative sexual relationships.
An anonymous survey in 2008 found 17% of respondents identified as zoophiles and it stated that most furries had a more moderate view of zoophilia.
[92] A reporter attending Anthrocon 2006 noted that "despite their wild image from Vanity Fair, MTV, and CSI, furry conventions aren't about kinky sex between weirdos gussied up in foxy costumes", that conference attendees were "not having sex more than the rest of us",[93] and that the furry convention was about "people talking and drawing animals and comic-book characters in sketchbooks.
[13][95][96] Milwaukee Brewers broadcaster Jim Powell was sharing a hotel with Anthrocon 2007 attendees a day before the convention and reported a negative opinion of the furries.
[99] Positive coverage was generated following a furry convention that was held in a Vancouver hotel where several Syrian refugees were being temporarily housed.
Despite some concerns and warnings by staff that there could be a seriously negative culture clash if the two groups interacted, the refugee children were on the whole delighted to meet the convention goers, especially the ones in fursuits.
[16] Furry fans' belief that they will be portrayed as "mainly obsessed with sex" has led to distrust of the media and social researchers.
[103][104][105] The International Anthropomorphic Research Project (IARP), a team of social scientists, has been collecting data on the furry fandom.
