Is Now A Good Time to be Furry?
It seems like a silly question, right? But, it seems to be one that is always in the background of the fandom.
The media has been going in cycles every since I first joined the fandom. Back in 2000, it was the notorious Vanity Fair article and Sex2K that most were talking about. How these news outlets, that were looking for strange and interesting things about sex, stumbled across the fandom and slandered the 'fandom's good name' as labeling it as a sex fetish, and nothing more. The term fursecution was born shortly afterwards.
Fast forward a few years, and we have Season Four of CSI, which starts deloving into subculture groups as inspiration for new episodes. Lo and behold, 'Fur and Loathing' hits the airs and people go nuts again. Even though the episode was probably the funniest episode ever to come from CSI, people still take this as a personal attack against the fandom, and start (digitally) screaming about how the media and television are completely against the fandom.
Now, imagine the far distant past of... 2006. It was around this time that local network were slowly starting to realize, holy crap, there are these huge conventions that are going on in the US, let's start making PR reports about these crazy people and what they are doing in our cities. This is really the first time that the public gets a look at what happens at conventions, and more and more networks are starting to pick-up on the craze that is known as 'furry'. Over the next couple of years, television shows start popping up all over the globe, that are centered on the fandom, and for the most part, only showed the good sides of the fandom. Why? Because they started to talk to members that were active in the community, instead of someone that was simply seeking out fame and 15 minutes on television.
Then comes the beginning of 2009, and certain criminals start getting caught, a good majority of them where adults that were trying to illecit sex from a minor. However, it was the WAY that they were doing it that started to catch the medias attention again. Because, these adults are furries, and are trying to 'lure' their younger victims via furry social networks. Now, anyone that is a furry (or an online user) can simply understand that online, you can never really be sure how old someone is online, however, seduction of a child over the internet is still a huge crime. So, the local networks start to pick up these stories as well as the PR stories about the convention and fursuits and such like that. Right now, I've never seen the media so mixed about how they present furries.
So, is now a good time? Well, today a BBC article was published, and many are already calling it the best piece of news reporting about the fandom, and the article quickly hit #1 as the most e-mailed article from the site. However, only a couple months ago, a couple furs when on a national talkshow to talk about how they have sex in fursuits, and were quickly banned from FA as a result. People will talk on and on about how things should be handled in the media, but it really isn't just the media that determines how people will think and react to furries.
The matter also falls to each and every fur out there. I am openly (I hate that term, btw) furry, as in, if anyone asks me if I am a furry, I don't deny it. Instead of trying to hide the fact, I openly talk about what we, as a fandom and community, do. All of the good things are talked about, and I even hit on the things that most people want hidden. Avoiding the fact that sex, does in fact, have a part in the fandom is never a wise idea in my opinion, simply because one google search will proven you wrong.
So, can anyone answer the question if NOW is a good time? Simply put, no. But, since for a good part of the fandom, being furry somehow incorporates itself into your identity. Does it really matter if it's a good time or not? Instead of hiding behind computer screens and false statements, now really should be a good time to put a foot (or paw) forward, and try to lead by example. Because, the public's opinion might change from month-to-month about us, but we never really will.
The media has been going in cycles every since I first joined the fandom. Back in 2000, it was the notorious Vanity Fair article and Sex2K that most were talking about. How these news outlets, that were looking for strange and interesting things about sex, stumbled across the fandom and slandered the 'fandom's good name' as labeling it as a sex fetish, and nothing more. The term fursecution was born shortly afterwards.
Fast forward a few years, and we have Season Four of CSI, which starts deloving into subculture groups as inspiration for new episodes. Lo and behold, 'Fur and Loathing' hits the airs and people go nuts again. Even though the episode was probably the funniest episode ever to come from CSI, people still take this as a personal attack against the fandom, and start (digitally) screaming about how the media and television are completely against the fandom.
Now, imagine the far distant past of... 2006. It was around this time that local network were slowly starting to realize, holy crap, there are these huge conventions that are going on in the US, let's start making PR reports about these crazy people and what they are doing in our cities. This is really the first time that the public gets a look at what happens at conventions, and more and more networks are starting to pick-up on the craze that is known as 'furry'. Over the next couple of years, television shows start popping up all over the globe, that are centered on the fandom, and for the most part, only showed the good sides of the fandom. Why? Because they started to talk to members that were active in the community, instead of someone that was simply seeking out fame and 15 minutes on television.
Then comes the beginning of 2009, and certain criminals start getting caught, a good majority of them where adults that were trying to illecit sex from a minor. However, it was the WAY that they were doing it that started to catch the medias attention again. Because, these adults are furries, and are trying to 'lure' their younger victims via furry social networks. Now, anyone that is a furry (or an online user) can simply understand that online, you can never really be sure how old someone is online, however, seduction of a child over the internet is still a huge crime. So, the local networks start to pick up these stories as well as the PR stories about the convention and fursuits and such like that. Right now, I've never seen the media so mixed about how they present furries.
So, is now a good time? Well, today a BBC article was published, and many are already calling it the best piece of news reporting about the fandom, and the article quickly hit #1 as the most e-mailed article from the site. However, only a couple months ago, a couple furs when on a national talkshow to talk about how they have sex in fursuits, and were quickly banned from FA as a result. People will talk on and on about how things should be handled in the media, but it really isn't just the media that determines how people will think and react to furries.
The matter also falls to each and every fur out there. I am openly (I hate that term, btw) furry, as in, if anyone asks me if I am a furry, I don't deny it. Instead of trying to hide the fact, I openly talk about what we, as a fandom and community, do. All of the good things are talked about, and I even hit on the things that most people want hidden. Avoiding the fact that sex, does in fact, have a part in the fandom is never a wise idea in my opinion, simply because one google search will proven you wrong.
So, can anyone answer the question if NOW is a good time? Simply put, no. But, since for a good part of the fandom, being furry somehow incorporates itself into your identity. Does it really matter if it's a good time or not? Instead of hiding behind computer screens and false statements, now really should be a good time to put a foot (or paw) forward, and try to lead by example. Because, the public's opinion might change from month-to-month about us, but we never really will.