Someone made a post elsewhere asking about how they should tell their parents about furry. Okay, that's legit. The usual helpful responses came in.
Then someone posted, "You should remind them that furry is NOT about any of the following:", and proceeded to list 5 stereotypes which had not been mentioned previously in the thread.
Your post makes a lot more sense in that frame of mind. I almost replied earlier about how all the good in the world won't change the opinion of the trolls, but it felt too negative. If you're starting with a clean slate it is better to focus on the nice stuff, saying what something isn't is a pretty dumb way to explain things.
"Can you tell me about this car?" "Well, it won't rape you in your sleep, and razorblades don't shoot out of the vents!"
Explanations like that make you think those things might just happen.
Unfortunately, we don't have auction-only totals, though the information you're looking for may be available for some conventions via the source links at the bottom. Some conventions have a habit of at least rounding up to the next thousand if they have the money spare.
As for where the cash comes from, the financial details of the three largest furry conventions are all available on the pages about the yearlyinstances of that convention, or (in the case of MFF) the page about their organizing body, Midwest Furry Fandom. We link to their public financial filings (Form 990) as a source, which you will probably want to use for more detailed information. FC attaches copies of its entire budget to the filings. MFF does not, but a summarized of information is available in the form itself. A more direct way to get these forms is through Foundation Finder's Form 990 searchTo summarize: Anthrocon currently has several expenses that appear relatively larger than those incurred by smaller conventions, even when accounting for size (larger
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yes, you are correct. but I mean talking to my friends, personally in real life. not on the internet. I'm not on cyd or sa or anything like that. See, I avoid all of that stuff. I did show up on those places about 2003ish but those guys were so messed up i couldn't hold a real conversation with them. See, you are assuming I am furry-friendly. I am not.
that very fact, the way the fandom handles itself in terms of its image, pisses me off. I went from 'on the fence' to not liking them so much. It's a deeper reason than i am letting on, it has to do with my feelings on persecution and racism. it doesn't mean i hate furries, it just means the whole situation is so messed up and handled wrong and I personally feel it's their own fault. I'm sorry if it's not the truth or if i'm misinformed, but that's how i feel.
Meh. I don't concern myself with fandom PR. I find myself alternately amused and annoyed with people who regard furry as some kind of issue that they just have to have an opinion on. I just don't say much of anything. It is what it is.
Frankly, I think the fact that people think we need PR in the first place is the problem. Treat it like a big deal and people will think it's a big deal. It's not. I think the proper way to handle any external inquiries is to ignore them to the extent possible (e.g. "no comment"/"not interested"). If you can't do that, act like it's no big deal, saying as little as possible (less is more, you know). Act like you've been caught masturbating by your parents when you are asked about the fandom, and people will think you have something you are guilty of.
Furries need to stop acting guilty about being furries. Then people won't sense that there's something wrong with being a furry when they ask about it.
For many it's not an act. To them, furry fandom - or some aspect of it that they participate in - is a guilty pleasure. They cannot help but feel bad for violating societal norms, and it shows.
I do not believe this is going to change overnight. It will have to be OK for people to look at furry porn/roleplay as a fluffy squirrel/run around in a fursuit/spend hours watching puppet shows every Sunday night for people stop feeling guilty about it.
I think this is a good insight, even though the causes of it are slightly (not entirely, but slightly) baffling to me. I've seen many discussions over the last decade or so of my time in the fandom which are framed as, "So when did you come out as a furry?" To me, the interesting question is the one behind that question: "When did being a furry start being something you 'come out as,' and why?"
Being furry is not generally believed to be cool. It's like being gay in the times gay people were the creepy guys who held hands with one another (while secretly murdering people by dropping scorpions down their backs, a-la Diamonds are Forever).
As for when it started . . . the word "skunkfucker" has been around since the foundation of furry fandom itself. No doubt a few people back then were rather sensitive about getting this kind of label, and would conceal their interest until it became impossible to hide it.
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Someone made a post elsewhere asking about how they should tell their parents about furry. Okay, that's legit. The usual helpful responses came in.
Then someone posted, "You should remind them that furry is NOT about any of the following:", and proceeded to list 5 stereotypes which had not been mentioned previously in the thread.
Reply
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"Can you tell me about this car?"
"Well, it won't rape you in your sleep, and razorblades don't shoot out of the vents!"
Explanations like that make you think those things might just happen.
Reply
Reply
(The comment has been removed)
As for where the cash comes from, the financial details of the three largest furry conventions are all available on the pages about the yearly instances of that convention, or (in the case of MFF) the page about their organizing body, Midwest Furry Fandom. We link to their public financial filings (Form 990) as a source, which you will probably want to use for more detailed information. FC attaches copies of its entire budget to the filings. MFF does not, but a summarized of information is available in the form itself. A more direct way to get these forms is through Foundation Finder's Form 990 searchTo summarize: Anthrocon currently has several expenses that appear relatively larger than those incurred by smaller conventions, even when accounting for size (larger ( ... )
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(The comment has been removed)
that very fact, the way the fandom handles itself in terms of its image, pisses me off. I went from 'on the fence' to not liking them so much. It's a deeper reason than i am letting on, it has to do with my feelings on persecution and racism. it doesn't mean i hate furries, it just means the whole situation is so messed up and handled wrong and I personally feel it's their own fault. I'm sorry if it's not the truth or if i'm misinformed, but that's how i feel.
Reply
Frankly, I think the fact that people think we need PR in the first place is the problem. Treat it like a big deal and people will think it's a big deal. It's not. I think the proper way to handle any external inquiries is to ignore them to the extent possible (e.g. "no comment"/"not interested"). If you can't do that, act like it's no big deal, saying as little as possible (less is more, you know). Act like you've been caught masturbating by your parents when you are asked about the fandom, and people will think you have something you are guilty of.
Furries need to stop acting guilty about being furries. Then people won't sense that there's something wrong with being a furry when they ask about it.
Reply
I do not believe this is going to change overnight. It will have to be OK for people to look at furry porn/roleplay as a fluffy squirrel/run around in a fursuit/spend hours watching puppet shows every Sunday night for people stop feeling guilty about it.
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As for when it started . . . the word "skunkfucker" has been around since the foundation of furry fandom itself. No doubt a few people back then were rather sensitive about getting this kind of label, and would conceal their interest until it became impossible to hide it.
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By and large, I think we're a neat group of people, and we're not doing anyone any favors if we don't even think highly of ourselves.
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