Furry Cliques
A clique is an exclusive group of people who share interests, views, purposes, patterns of behavior, or ethnicity. A clique as a reference group can be either normative or comparative. Membership in a clique is often, but not necessarily, exclusive, and qualifications for membership may be social or essential to the nature of the clique. The term 'clique' may be used pejoratively.
Yup, today, I'm in a mood to be a gripe abit, and it really isn't targeted towards anyone in particular, but to the fandom as a whole. And, yes, I realize the potential this has to piss people off. I really do hate when people refer to people in the fandom as being elitist or forming cliques, and look at said people as if they are assholes or some other such thing.
Really, if you think about it, the whole fandom is one big clique. We have our own language to define who those that are a part of the fandom, and terms those that aren't. People will argue if someone is 'furry' enough, or is too 'furry'. Then, there are subgroups throughout the whole fandom, such as fursuiters, artists, along with all of the various fetish or almost-fetish groups, which are basically ALL cliques as well, but no one ever complains about being or not being included in their activities.
Yet, if a group of friends are sitting together at a convention and are having a conversation, and don't include someone that they have no idea who they are, they are being 'kilky'. And the fact that certain friends decide to spend a lot of time together, they are being 'elitist'. Really? Seriously?!? You know what that's call, it called being friends! If you go up to a group of people you don't know at a bar, and expect them to act as if you're all bestest of friends without ever having talked to them before, just because you are all fans of the same football team, yet they don't say a word to you, they aren't being 'kliky', they are being normal human beings.
It's asine to think that everyone in the world that has similar interests is going to like each other. One look at politics should be enough evidence to prove that! I'm a furry, it doesn't mean that every furry is automatically my friend. I'm a fursuiter, but the same thing applies. Yes, having a lot of the same interests is a great way to become friends, but it doesn't automatically mean we're going to be.
I know myself, and a lot of people that I know aren't big jerks or any other such thing. If we are having a conversation in a public place, it's not a secretive or elitist thing. If there is an open chair, come on in and sit down. You feel like joining the conversation, go right ahead as long as you are adding something to it. And, if someone asks you "Who you are?", it's not translating into, "Who the hell are you?". They are actually curious to get a name, and grabbing at conbadges can really be annoying at times. I understand why people do it, especially when it's a multi-languaged event, but really can't you just ask?
And, my biggest pet peeve of all time with the fandom. I loathe when people befriend me, and then ask me to introduce them to some of my friends, just because they actually wanted to meet them. Seriously?? Now, I'm not against saying, "Hey everyone, this is so-and-so." But, I've actually had people ask me to take them with me at a con, and introduce them to everyone I know, and that's just idiotic. You have legs and mouth, if you really want to meet someone, just go do it. Besides which, unless I'm a really weird person, people who come up to me and say, "Hi, I'm blahblah." and walk off don't exactly leave any kind of impression in my brain, good or bad.
EDIT: I should have said this beforehand, this was all inspired from reading furry forums. I really need to learn to stay away from those.
Yup, today, I'm in a mood to be a gripe abit, and it really isn't targeted towards anyone in particular, but to the fandom as a whole. And, yes, I realize the potential this has to piss people off. I really do hate when people refer to people in the fandom as being elitist or forming cliques, and look at said people as if they are assholes or some other such thing.
Really, if you think about it, the whole fandom is one big clique. We have our own language to define who those that are a part of the fandom, and terms those that aren't. People will argue if someone is 'furry' enough, or is too 'furry'. Then, there are subgroups throughout the whole fandom, such as fursuiters, artists, along with all of the various fetish or almost-fetish groups, which are basically ALL cliques as well, but no one ever complains about being or not being included in their activities.
Yet, if a group of friends are sitting together at a convention and are having a conversation, and don't include someone that they have no idea who they are, they are being 'kilky'. And the fact that certain friends decide to spend a lot of time together, they are being 'elitist'. Really? Seriously?!? You know what that's call, it called being friends! If you go up to a group of people you don't know at a bar, and expect them to act as if you're all bestest of friends without ever having talked to them before, just because you are all fans of the same football team, yet they don't say a word to you, they aren't being 'kliky', they are being normal human beings.
It's asine to think that everyone in the world that has similar interests is going to like each other. One look at politics should be enough evidence to prove that! I'm a furry, it doesn't mean that every furry is automatically my friend. I'm a fursuiter, but the same thing applies. Yes, having a lot of the same interests is a great way to become friends, but it doesn't automatically mean we're going to be.
I know myself, and a lot of people that I know aren't big jerks or any other such thing. If we are having a conversation in a public place, it's not a secretive or elitist thing. If there is an open chair, come on in and sit down. You feel like joining the conversation, go right ahead as long as you are adding something to it. And, if someone asks you "Who you are?", it's not translating into, "Who the hell are you?". They are actually curious to get a name, and grabbing at conbadges can really be annoying at times. I understand why people do it, especially when it's a multi-languaged event, but really can't you just ask?
And, my biggest pet peeve of all time with the fandom. I loathe when people befriend me, and then ask me to introduce them to some of my friends, just because they actually wanted to meet them. Seriously?? Now, I'm not against saying, "Hey everyone, this is so-and-so." But, I've actually had people ask me to take them with me at a con, and introduce them to everyone I know, and that's just idiotic. You have legs and mouth, if you really want to meet someone, just go do it. Besides which, unless I'm a really weird person, people who come up to me and say, "Hi, I'm blahblah." and walk off don't exactly leave any kind of impression in my brain, good or bad.
EDIT: I should have said this beforehand, this was all inspired from reading furry forums. I really need to learn to stay away from those.