Furries in the Public Eye
The recent stories of the NY Mets staying at the Antrhocon hotel have got me thinking about how people see furries in general. At one point in time - not too long ago, i might add - the furry convention was a small private event where fans of anthropomorphics could go to get away from the real world for just a weekend. Furry's ever growing fan base, however, has quickly caught the media's attention and now every con is surrounded by newspaper and website headlines discussing the mystery that is the furry fandom.
People, and specifically the media, find it easy to look at what Joe Bunny and Jim Fox are doing to each other in the corner and ignore what the otherwise innocent dogs, cats, and bears also in the room are doing. They say "Everyone here must be into that despite the contrary. Not everyone within the fandom is into cuddling with stuffed animals or dressing in fursuits, but it is safe to say furries in general are into these things, if not implied by the name 'Furry' then by witness to such events.
This holds true to more risqué activities too. Not everyone is into being tied down or lead around by collar and leash. Nor is everyone into furry art depicting cute critters in sexual situations. However it would seem safe to assume from the content of various destinations on the Internet that such things are more then a little popular amongst the general audience. When the general public sees these things they figure "Hey, if these people are into this, then that must be what everyone in furry is into" weather it's true or not.
Being a furry in the public eye means you represent something more then just yourself, you represent the fandom as a whole: Your local convention and those who run it, your peers, friends, and everyone who embraces the name furry. I personally don't want to be labeled by the media as a social outcast or sexual deviant on national news, and I'm sure many of you do not either, but when one or two people hang out in fursuit in the lobby of the hotel grabbing on passersby everyone gets labeled by their actions - sad, but true.
The moral of the story is: Like what you want to like and do what you want to do, just do your best not to make us all look like deviants to the rest of the world :)
People, and specifically the media, find it easy to look at what Joe Bunny and Jim Fox are doing to each other in the corner and ignore what the otherwise innocent dogs, cats, and bears also in the room are doing. They say "Everyone here must be into that despite the contrary. Not everyone within the fandom is into cuddling with stuffed animals or dressing in fursuits, but it is safe to say furries in general are into these things, if not implied by the name 'Furry' then by witness to such events.
This holds true to more risqué activities too. Not everyone is into being tied down or lead around by collar and leash. Nor is everyone into furry art depicting cute critters in sexual situations. However it would seem safe to assume from the content of various destinations on the Internet that such things are more then a little popular amongst the general audience. When the general public sees these things they figure "Hey, if these people are into this, then that must be what everyone in furry is into" weather it's true or not.
Being a furry in the public eye means you represent something more then just yourself, you represent the fandom as a whole: Your local convention and those who run it, your peers, friends, and everyone who embraces the name furry. I personally don't want to be labeled by the media as a social outcast or sexual deviant on national news, and I'm sure many of you do not either, but when one or two people hang out in fursuit in the lobby of the hotel grabbing on passersby everyone gets labeled by their actions - sad, but true.
The moral of the story is: Like what you want to like and do what you want to do, just do your best not to make us all look like deviants to the rest of the world :)