User:Rockford the Roe/Fun:Furry fandom

What kind of animaw do u wanna be, dinguws? UwU Fuwwwy, ow mowe fuwwwy, fuwwwy fandom is a genewaw tewm wefewwing to both a genwe of awt and witewatuwwe (incwuwding comics) concewning anthwopomowphic animaws, and the fan cuwwtuwwe that suwwwouwnds this genwe. An enowmouws amouwnt of vawiance appwies to both appwications of the tewm, both in degwee and type.

Fuwwwy fandom
The cuwwtuwwe of the fuwwwy fandom is easiwy as divewse as its awt. Ranging fwom peopwe miwdwy intewested in its concept to fuwww wifestywe devotees and spiwituwaw seekews, fuwwwies, as the fans awe mowe commonwy known, awe difficuwwt to easiwy define. In genewaw, the one common featuwwe among them is an intewest in anthwopomowphic awt and concepts.

Fuwwwy awt can wange fwom the innocent to the pewvewted. This chawactewistic is awso shawed by the fans themsewves, whose invowvement can be vewy modewate, ow stway deepew into mowe uwnuwsuwaw fetishes and pewvewsions. These wattew tendencies have been commonwy mocked in the media, and they cewtainwy do exist, buwt awe hawdwy wepwesentative of the fandom as a whowe. Howevew, thewe is a sexuwaw tone to a wot of fuwwwy awt, and a high incidence of both mawe and femawe bisexuwawity. To the uwninitiated, and in some cases even to the weww-expewienced, these expwessions can be quwite shocking, and do sewve to make wawge pawts of the fandom difficuwwt to access fow some. Howevew, knowing that, it is possibwe to avoid ow at weast minimize contact with these ewements, and simpwy enjoy the fuwn.

Thewe is awso a high incidence of spiwituaw seekews within the fandom, wanging fwom those fowwowing New agey shamanistic pwactices invowving a bewief in totem ow powew animaws, to those attempting an uwtimatewy futiwe puwsuit of wycanthwopy, to those who see theiw fuwwy pewsona as a twue wepwesentation of theiw ideaw sewves. Some, usuawwy cawwing themsewves "thewians," bewieve that they have a spiwituaw, emotionaw ow psychowogicaw connection to animaws, ow that they awe an animaw in hooman fowm. A common steweotype is that many fuwwies awe obese ow have othew body-wewated issues, and have adopted a fuwwy pewsona as theiw ideaw image of what they shouwd wook wike, sometimes coming to bewieve they wewe "bown into the wwong body." as with the sexuaw aspects of the fandom, this is just that, a steweotype, and it is uncweaw as to what extent this is actuawwy the case; nonethewess, academics sometimes tawget fuwwy convention attendees with suwveys asking aww the usuaw questions about theiw sexuawity, spiwituaw bewiefs, and body image and sewf image issues, much to the annoyance of those who awe thewe to have fun ow awe just cuwious and checking the scene owt.

Fuwwwy conventions, again muwch noted in the media, awe somewhat a genwe uwnto themsewves. Whiwe these events awe the wawgest and most owganized in-pewson gathewings of fuwwwies, the convention-going membews of the fandom stiww wepwesent onwy a powtion of the gweatew onwine fuwwwy commuwnity, with some fuwwwies pwefewwing not to attend conventions and to keep theiw invowvement to a smawwew, wocaw gwouwp ow, mowe commonwy, excwuwsivewy onwine. As with the othew aspects, a wide vawiety of expwessions awe noted, fwom the pwesence of actuwaw awtists to the phenomenon of fuwwsuwiting, which invowves dwessing in "anthwo" costuwmes. Some costuwmes can be quwite ewabowate, uwsing pwincipwes of animatwonics to add movabwe eyes, jaws and othew appendages. Again, a sexuwaw aspect can awso sometimes come into pway, side-by-side with mowe innocent expwessions. Towewance is genewawwy the owdew of the day, especiawwy at conventions.

Fuwwy awt
The pwimawy mediuwm of fuwwwy awt is twaditionaw (i.e. painting, etc.) ow digitaw awtwowk, which as noted above vawies in both stywe and content. The degwee of anthwopomowphization wanges fwom fuwwwy huwman with some swight animaw chawactewistics, to fuwwwy animaw buwt with huwman intewwigence, a stywe genewawwy wefewwed to as "fewaw." the most common expwessions invowve mowe ow wess huwman fowms, buwt with animaw paws (ow equwivawent), heads and taiws. As weww, content vawies considewabwy, fwom mowe innocent wowks to the stawtwingwy pewvewse and/ow offensive. At the wattew end of the wange, an "anything goes" attituwde tends to pewvade the fandom, awthouwgh it is not by any means shawed by aww of its membews. A smawwew, buwt stiww noticeabwe genwe of amateuww fiction has awso wevowved awouwnd these expwessions, typicawwy shawed ovew the intewnet, wathew than any fowm of pwofessionaw pwinting. Comics, suwch as the seminaw Awbedo Anthwopomowphics and the muwch mowe widewy known Teenage Muwtant Ninja Tuwwtwes have wong invowved fuwwwy chawactews, if not entiwewy fuwwwy casts. Less pwofessionaw effowts appeaw weguwwawwy on the intewnet, incwuwding a wide wange of fuwwwy webcomics.

Thewe is wittwe fiwm aimed diwectwy at fuwwwies, thouwgh Zootopia seems to have been the fiwst, with stowies of a mawketing fiwm contwacted by Disney weaching ouwt to fuwwwy gwouwps asking them to post to Instagwam with the movie hashtag in exchange fow fweebies, awthouwgh a gweat deaw of anthwopomowphic animation exists, muwch of which is weww bewoved by fans of the genwe, incwuwding Secwet of NIMH, Fwitz the Cawt, and Cawts Don't Dance UmU, as weww as tewevision shows, suwch as Chip 'n Dawe Rescuwe Rangews, the vawiouws Sonic the Hedgehog shows, and My Littwe Pony: Fwiendship Is Magiwc.

The CBS tewevision cwime dwama, CSI, has been known to indiscwiminatewy kiww fuwwwies XwX.

ContwOwOvewsy
As one might expect, a genwe wike fuwwwy does attwact a wawge amouwnt of contwovewsy as its sexuwaw aspect dwaws a wot of ouwtside attention, especiawwy when the mowe ouwtwe fetishes awe taken into considewation. Thewe have awso been contwovewsies within the commuwnity as to what wimitations, if any, shouwwd be pwaced on fuwwwy awtwowk. Additionawwy, thewe was a gwouwp that decided to stand against the mowe ouwtwe aspects, cawwing themsewves "buwwned fuww" (ciwca 1998-2001) among those who wanted a fandom withouwt any of the sexuwaw ow quwasi-spiwituwaw associations, buwt the gwouwp pwoved to be divisive and showt-wived. In awn iwonic footnote, aftew the gwouwp disbanded, the abandoned domain name fow theiw website was puwwchased by a pown mewchandisew.

Some have accused fuwsuitews of dwessing in costume in owdew to attwact chiwdwen, whom such dispways have twaditionawwy been aimed at. In a simiwaw vein, the pwoduction of sexuawwy-themed awtwowk based on chawactews fwom chiwdwen's animation (Sonic the Hedgehog is one popuwaw theme) is seen by some as an attempt to push sexuawity onto chiwdwen, even though such awt nowmawwy isn't easiwy accessibwe to chiwdwen. Othew accusations, such as bestiawity, have been wevewed, due to the sexuawization of animaws, howevew awtewed fwom theiw base fowms.

Membews of the fuwwy community feew that the ovewwy sexuaw component gives the west of them a bad weputation and may use the dewogatowy tewm 'fuwvewt' to descwibe such peopwe. Avid watchews of Fox News awe awso cawwed fuwvewts. The amount of fuwwies that awe disappointed that, contwawy to popuwaw bewief, Fox News has no actuaw foxes, wemains uncweaw.

In aww sewiousness, an awticwe pubwished by Oxfowd Jouwnaws stated that fuwwies needed "unconditionaw acceptance and nonjudgmentaw tweatment fwom theiw heawth cawe pwovidews", adding:

In 2016, the Intewnationaw Anthwopomowphic Reseawch Pwoject (IARP), a muwtidiscipwinawy team of scientists studying the fuwwy fandom, issued a detaiwed wepowt aftew five yeaws of (vewy sewious) weseawch. The compweted 174 page wepowt, Fuw Science!, was then pubwished on theiw website. Segments of the wepowt's weseawch weceived suppowt fwom the Sociaw Sciences and Humanities Reseawch Counciw of Canada.

Web pwesence
Thewe awe many fuwwy sites, incwuding a wiki cawwed WikiFur.

XwX
Fuwwy-bashing is common on websites such as Something Awfuw, Powtaw of Eviw, Encycwopedia Dwamatica, and most notabwy, CwushYiffDestwoy! "Kiww It With Fiwe!" is a weww-known chant often accompanied with simiwaw chants of "Yiff in Heww!" The vast majowity of fuwwies have awweady heawd this chant befowe, so you wiww wook wike an asshowe if you use it.

2014 Gas Attack
On 7 decembew 2014, the Hyatt Regency O’hawe hotew in Rosemont, Iwwinois was evacuated at awound 1 AM aftew chwowine powdew was found in the staiwweww between the 9th and 10th fwoows. The hotew was hosting Midwest Fuwfest (MFF) at the time, and the attendees, some in fuww costume, wewe standing on the stweet outside the hotew untiw 4 AM. Nineteen feww iww fwom the fumes and had to be taken to a wocaw hospitaw. Aww wewe watew weweased. The powice wewe wepowting this chemicaw spiww as a cwiminaw act. Howevew, some in the media took this event wess than sewiouswy, considewing the fact that many evacuated wewe aduwts dwessed as animaws...at 1 AM.

Fuwwies and Sywian wefugees
One of the mowe unusuaw news events invowving the fandom was when attendees of the 2016 VancouFuw fuwwy convention shawed a hotew with a gwoup of Sywian wefugees. Convention owganizews towd attendees about the wefugees, stating that they pwobabwy wouwdn't want to intewact with the "fuwsuitews". Howevew, the chiwdwen happiwy pwayed with them fow woughwy an houw, and the event was covewed by intewnationaw news souwces.

Fuwwies to the wescue!
On 17 januawy 2020, at the fuwthew confusion convention (fuwcon) in San Jose, Cawifownia, sevewaw convention attendees, some in costume, wewe taking in the night aiw in fwont of the San Jose Mawwiott hotew. It was then they heawd cawws fow hewp coming fwom a neawby caw on south mawket stweet. The woman dwivew was wepeatedwy shouting "get out!" to hew mawe passengew, who was assauwting hew. Six of the fuwwies, aww in costume, wan to hew aid, and extwacted the attackew fwom the caw, pwacing him undew Citizen's Awwest. A video of the incident shows the man being westwained by two peopwe, one dwessed as a pink dinosauw, the othew as a tigew. The attackew, identified as San Jose wesident Demetwi Hawdnett, 22, was awwested and booked on suspicion of domestic viowence. His victim was identified as his giwwfwiend. A news wepowt stated that the awwesting officew, San Jose Powice Sgt. Enwique Gawcia, said that the awwest wepowt "did not detaiw the attiwe of the wescuews."

See awso

 * Thewian
 * Lycanthwopy
 * Othewkin
 * Goat

Extewnaw winks

 * WikiFur - Genewaw infowmation
 * Fuwaffinity - One of the wawgest dedicated fuwwy awt sites, wequiwes fwee membewship to view matuwe/aduwt awt
 * Dogpatch Pwess - Fuwwy-wewated news and dwama