Furries

WARNING: This is a RANT, but it has a point so if you have a strong will and a sense of humor, read on. If not, move along and don't flame it. It's my opinion and if you don't like to hear the blunt truths of the world, that's your thing not mine.

Now, for those that don't know, I am what's called an Otherkin (google it) and I am part of the Furry community. I draw Anthros, humanoid animals and Furries, more human but still animalistic creatures and eventually I plan on making what's called a Fursuit for myself. I have many friends in the community that I love and wouldn't change them for the world.

But I have a problem with those in the Furry fandom that get their panties in a bunch over what is put on TV about it.

The infamous CSI:Las Vegas episode, the Animal Planet show Weird, True and Freaky had an episode called Humanimals, the 1,000 Ways to Die clip and there was recently a episode of TLC's show My Strange Addiction that featured a furry.

The CSI one I can understand the hurt feelings, they made the entire fandom out to be nothing but devious sex fiends that get off dry humping each other in fursuits. That's not the case, few actually do that in public (though more do it in private) but of course, those that do it out in the open are the ones the media fixate on instead of focusing on the fact that a large majority of us go to conventions or parties just to meet up with friends and have a good time with like minded people. Not all of us are sexual deviants. And not all wear full suits. So get over it.

The Humanimals episode was a little more on the extreme side, focusing on people that have a strong connection to their animal 'totems' or wish to be an animal or like Otherkin feel that their souls were once something different then the human shell we wear now. But again, they sensationalised it to make it seem strange or perverse and though I love the show normally it came off more as a warning to people on what to watch for to keep the icky furriness off them then the actual educational opportunity it could have been.

The 1,000 Ways to Die show on Spike featured a clip of a man that stumbled drunkenly on a furry sex party in the middle of nowhere and died when he tried to boink an actual bear. First of all, not the furries fault and second of all, harsh as it sounds, the bear was helping to clean the gene pool. If you're dumb enough as a drunk to not notice when a bear is real, I think you kinda deserve what you get.

And now TLC has jumped on the "Let's make fun of Furries" bandwagon with a show called My Strange Addiction. Episode 7 had a woman who eats couch cushions (which in my opinion is WAY weirder then furries) and a furry named Kiira (real name Lauren A.) Now this poor girl was made out to be totally dependant on her suit to function in daily life, whereas in her own words she states to the FNN (Furry News Network): "I’d love to get my side of the story out. I have left the fandom, though I still do make costumes and occasionally go out in it with my friends who are also furs. I just don’t associate myself as a furry anymore. But they totally twisted everything, I can just tell by the preview. I told them I only go out maybe once a month if that. I never bring it out around people that aren’t furs, and I never once brought it to a gathering or social event. Yet they say I can’t stand to be without it for one minute. I know my video will just provoke the community more, but I do need to get my side of the story out regardless. I’m glad there are still some people with common sense in this world." Sounds to me like she's a normal kid who is using the suit to overcome her shyness. Not a bad thing in my opinion but she's been pretty much misquoted to the extreme on the show and that's just wrong.
(you can read what the FNN says and see a clip here: http://www.furrynewsnetwork.com/2011/01/tlc-to-show-furry-episode-of-my-strange-addiction/ )

Now, don't get me wrong, there are plenty of crazies in the fandom and I've known a few. But every convention, every religion, everything has it's own crazies, we should all be used to it. Even families have their "Crazy Cousin/Uncle/Aunt/Gramma" to deal with. So we should be used to this kind of thing, yes? We have a crazy in the midst, we smile politely and turn away...what's so hard about that? Give them attention and they'll just keep it up, ignore it and they'll leave you alone. But No, it apparently doesn't work that way with Furries since no one seems to be able to just ignore the more extreme, low minority people in it that do the kinds of things that attract attention from both Regular Joes and the media.

But I say, to all the Furs out there, GET OVER IT. You know what you are, you know what makes you happy and what makes life worth living for you. If you can be happy and live a good life the way you are then good for you! Continue that and ignore the BULLSHIT that's aired on TV or said in chatrooms or blogs (even mine if you don't like what I'm saying) NO ONE has the right to make you feel unusual or wrong, this is your life so live it as you want as long as you don't hurt anyone. That should be the rule for everything, but alas, close minded people are everywhere and again, alas, they are breeding.

This may sound harsh, but I say it out of love: Stop crying, untuck your tails and stop whining! If you don't like how the media depicts us then CHANGE IT! Quit complaining and get out there, wear your suit or tail or ears in public and talk to people, answer their questions and be honest! No one will know the truth if all they ever see is what TV execs want them to see. And this goes for EVERY group, not just Furs! Pagans, Gays, Lesbians and the like, Alternatives, Nudists, Cosplayers, Otherkin...all of us need to start talking to people and being honest with our answers then we have been, otherwise you're just whining. And no one likes to listen to a whiner.

So yes, I find the things on TV insulting at times and downright wrong in others, but unless we stop our BAWWWWing and actually start doing something about it, it'll never change and honestly I don't want to hear the complaints of "but he said I was a freak for wearing a tail" My question would be "What did you say to him to explain it?" And if you answered "Nuthin'" I would just turn around and walk away in disgust.

To change things you have to do things. Keep that in mind.