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Why? Why do you furries enjoy being furries?
What is the appeal to you?
I just don't get it, and neither do thousands of others.
So please, enlighten us as to why you do what you do.

This thread is not meant to be hating toward furries, so you can speak freely.

Wait, there are furries here?

If there were furries here, you'd be able to smell them burning.

Furries… ARE DELICIOUS.

Hey guys, I'm just asking them a question. No need to hate.

A fetish is a fetish is a fetish is a fetish.

Why do men enjoy women? Why do women enjoy men?

They can't help it, it's just what they find attractive.

Because they constantly insist that it isn't a fetish and assume we just don't like them because they're different, when in reality, we just want them to shut up and stop parading their "preferences" around.

That being said, I don't even like when people with more normal sexualities constantly proclaim their preferences. But at least they'll usually stop if you tell them to.

HackerOnHacker, why are you referring to furries as a whole? Not all furries act in such a manner.

Because that is generally the way they are perceived in online communities. Other furries have made a choice to be associated with such people, so while they can safely assume my little explanation isn't about them exactly, they cannot truly be immune to my accusations while they still bear the label of furry.

You can't really 'choose' what you are attracted to, IMHO. So, why accuse someone of something they can't control?

No, but they are choosing to become a part of the furry "community." They choose to make their preferences known in places that it would be considered inappropriate. Very few other fetishists do that, unless they're trying to garner attention for it.

Honestly, we could all learn a thing or two from the necrophiliacs. They keep things hush-hush and classy.

necrophiliacs are amazing. Role models.

Shut up and let the furries answer my question.

I know a couple of necrophiliacs. They make beautiful works of art.

Discuss necrophilia elsewhere.

I doubt we even have any furries.

Inb4 fiery argument.
Nickoliavich: There are furries here, some of them visited the Furry entry to give advice about it.
I guess, unlike those whose people have something against, they are keeping a somewhat low profile.
That is something that seems to be expected from a majority of the "haters", not to yell out loud one's fetishes to get attention.

That's what drives many people on the net: fights against "unwarranted-attention-seekers".

But long story short, as Taryn said, this is just a fetish, the same as having a crush on anime girls/boys, Fantasy creatures (Elves anyone ?) or something like that.

But do any of them use the forums?

Who knows? Maybe they do, maybe they don't. I don't know of any specific furries on KYM, but I am still asking.

I would assume that, if furry-haters aren't too quick in jumping on them, they would be more than glad to expose their views.

Well, as long as they don't post pictures of what they beat off to I guess they're fine.

Yes, 2 well-known users are furries here.
Don't worry about them. They've been here for months.

I'm not a furry, but I know some GMod makers on Youtube who have furry knowledge + I saw a short documentary on Dutch tv, and I can tell you that the most furrys don't have fetishes and they just like to be in an animal costume for personal reasons.

That doesn't mean that I like ALL the Furry art.

I'm not a furry myself but, I think furries are who they are because of their love and interests (obsession) in animals. I know there's more to it though, leaning toward the fetish side.

This is kinda hard to explain. It's like asking a chubby-chaser why they they prefer fat people over fit.

It's OK furries, we wont bite. Well, I will, but it has nothing to do with you being a furry. I just bite.
But in all seriousness, I think Mellow is right.

Let me spin you a yarn about KYM and furries.

Once upon a time there was thread about furries, not unlike this one. It was called "Furries?".

It used to live here. https://knowyourmeme.com/forums/1-general/topics/307-furries

As you can see it was when the site was fairly small.

I think it was about whether they were a meme or not.

We pretty much agreed they could use an entry, none of us really knew that much about furries.

Then, out of nowhere some one (I'm not going to name names, because I'm not sure if it would be appreciated.) writes this:

You poor, poor people kept in the dark of the truth about furries. The media has made you people blind and one-track minded. I’m utterly insulted that you would think of us furries to only be sex-addicted people who dress in fursuits because we think it’s smoking hot to do so. I had only joined recently, so when I saw this discussion, I was facepalming all throughout reading the whole thing.

Here are a few things that furry stereotypes often tend to misunderstand about the fandom. It’s a message that one of my furry friends sent to me as a reply to some questions about the furry life (which he has been living since he was 24 (He’s 29 right about now)). His knowledge about the fandom might enlighten some of you people (I shall keep his identity a secret so as to protect him from trolls and haters). WARNING: There is a lot of NSFW material in his answers:

IS BEING A FURRY BAD?

Take Heathcliff and Garfield, I grew up on that. Take the Native Americans wearing the skin of a wolf on his head and offering a prayer to the god of the wolf for a good hunt… and howling at the moon to be in touch with the spirit of the wolf… although I don’t BARK AT THE MOON, that’s an Ozzy Osbourne Album… Take, for example, Camel Cigarettes, Frosted Flakes with Tony the Tiger, Puma Sneakers, Star Fox and Sly Cooper games, Ninja Turtles for Christ sake… it’s all furry. That’s all furry is. Yeah, there’s probably some weirdos in EVERY walk of life. Teachers who hump students, priests who hump kids, pop singers who hump little boys – WHATEVER. Not all pop singers hump little boys. Not all teachers hump students. Not all priests hump kids. Not all furries hump ANYone. Seriously… I know some Mormon furries and they’re the biggest prudes of all time!

WHAT ARE YOUR FEELINGS ABOUT THE FURRY COMMUNITY AND HOW THE MEDIA PORTRAYS THEM?

There are quite a few transgendered furries. Just like there are quite a few baby furs. In my opinion, running around in diapers / depends with a big Clifford the Dog plush toy does NOT make you a furry… but they yip and yap and think it’s cute to have sex while wearing diapers.
90% of OTHERfurries are JUST LIKE YOU… normal guys who think it’s pretty dope to have a wolf tattooed on your back, or a tom cat flexing his muscles with a grenade in one paw, painted on the side of an F-14, or a comic about a fox, or a cartoon about a hedgehog, or a game about a raccoon and so forth. Look at the REDWALL series. They’re on the NEW YORK
TIMES BEST SELLERS list.

In 2005, the Anthro Con “theme” of the year was “heroes”. They had the co-creator of NINJA TURTLES there as a guest of honor. I doubt HE fucks little kids.

And Japanese culture has way worse shit than Furry. Look at Tentacle Porn. What about Macro? Who thinks it’s hot to shove a Boeing 747 up your ass, just to get off? SOMEONE must think it. So how about VOR? Gee, it’s so hot to be digested by your mate. Um, last I checked… if they didn’t kill the eater first, by ripping apart their esophagus, they would be broken down by their ’lover’s’ stomach acids, which can, in time, burn through solid steel… Suddenly these people pretend they have no skeletal structure, rubbing their tummies to caress their mate,
who is trapped inside, until that mate gets off and, pretty much, jizzes on their stomach lining. OOH, SO HOT. Then how do they get out? They crap out their lover, who is still alive, apparently sated and feels like he just got passed through a birth canal or something. PSHT! That’s right… a 6 foot tall person holed up inside a stomach, the size of my fist.
But then you have furries who are into all those things, too. WHY? Because the FURRY COMMUNITY is the most ACCEPTINGcommunity of all time. 97% of straight furries are COMPLETELY comfortable with their sexuality and accepting of those around them.

Now, people WILLcounter that with, “80% of male furries are bi or gay.” Well, originally, it was “80% of all furries are bi or gay” but suddenly with the fantastic influx of female furries over the last 3 years… all the gay furries are like, “GASP… VAGINA!” And… yeah. The numbers have evened out, now. They were no more gay then dudes in Jail who fuck other dudes just because there’s no pussy around. They weren’t gay, they just wanted to get off. Big difference, right? Guess what… you put female furries in the mix and BAM… they get a boyfriend, and we dudes get laid. Life is good.

Just remember, like in any fad social group, there’s a mixture of drama, bullshit, weirdos, creeps and assholes… just like EVERYWHERE… it’s like church, add the tails and ears, subtract the over zealous message about your creator.
In the end, I’ve known some pretty cool furries and some real ASSHOLES who are in the fandom… just like anywhere.

If anyone chides you for being a furry, just say, “Strange, people make a mint on Broadway to dress up in a feline costume in a musical called Cats, because thousands upon thousands of
people want to see it when a local dinner theater performs it, or they’ll travel from all over the world to see it on Broadway. Yeah, so what… they’re paid actors… they could have asked to be in ANNIE instead of Cats.”

If someone is nasty to you, instead of telling them, “Hey, blow me” or “Suck my dick,” just say, “Lick my balls… Unlike my dog, I can’t reach mine, so you’ll have to do it for me, asshole!” or you can just say, “Hey, if I wanted your opinion on MY life, I’d have asked for it, dude / douchebag / lady / loser.”

DO FURRIES HAVE SEX WITH ANIMALS?

Actually most furries are against that. They LIKE animals, they don’t like HURTING animals.

ARE MOST FURRIES GAY?

60% of the artists and costume makers are female. That’s about 35-40% of the total population going to these cons.

HOW MANY FURRIES ARE OUT THERE?

There are about 4500 at Anthro Con. I’d say there are about 60-90 thousand world wide, with more joining ALL THE TIME.

IS ANTHRO CON ALL ABOUT HAVING PEOPLE DRESS UP AS ANIMALS AND HAVING SEX WITH EACH OTHER AND WITH REAL ANIMALS?

No, hardly. It’s basically like a Star Fox convention. No one dresses as a Klingon or a Storm Trooper, and be thankful for that. If you wanted to dress up as Darth Vader, go to a Star Wars Convention or something like that.
Of the 4000 in attendance, I think about 500 or 600 wore mascot suits, but that’s such a small fraction that you can just relax. They parade their suits, they don’t hump in them. I’m sure there ARE people who do that… there are priests who hump kids, just like there was a priest in the paper some time ago who humped some chick. But the one who humped the kids gets the big story and bad rep for all priests… not the one who humped the 30 year old hot chick on the beach. Funny how bad press is “the only press” sometimes.

WHAT IS YOUR REACTION TO PEOPLE OUTSIDE OF THE FANDOM WONDERING ABOUT SEX IN FURSUITS?

If people ask you if you like to have sex while wearing a costume, you say, “Dude, everyone else does… you’re the weirdo, man. Get with the program.” And roll your eyes and laugh and walk away. Because we ALL know we’re costume whores, right? Lol, sheesh. People, I swear.

ARE YOU SECRETIVE ABOUT IT?

I’m not super secret about it. If someone makes fun of it, I say, "Hey, I make forty grand a year at John’s Hopkins Medical University, have 3 kids from 2 different women who couldn’t keep their hands off of me one of which was 10 years older than me. Yeah, yeah… so I like anthropomorphic characters. Bite me, I don’t need your permission or your acceptance or your judgment. Blow me. I got my own place, my own car, and a girlfriend who will suck my dick at 9 AM if that’s how I ask her to wake me up… and what do YOU have, that makes you so badass? Some sports jerseys. Neat. You’re the man now, dawg. Go paint your face and stand in the bleachers with a big “80” on your chest." It’s relative… all the same shit. Just another pop subculture comprised of human beings who are misunderstood by other human beings.
I have a few non-furry friends who know me well enough to know all about it. My friend Phil, who doesn’t understand furry at all, is like my brother. He jokes about it, and I catch ‘em back. He’s like, "You called out of work for a THIRD DAY? Are you SERIOUS? Dude, I’ll just write your boss an email, “Please excuse the furries who need many days off because we are dirty, dirty freaks of nature. Please excuse our PEOPLE and our animals, which are one in the same.” And I’ll reply to him with, “Yes, and our Playboy Bunnies, and our Vogue Vixens and our Penthouse Philly Ponies. And we’re not a PEOPLE. We’re a NATION. Watch out, I’m going to send my homeboy REX348 to poop on your lawn, bitch!” To this, Phil will reply with something like, “JESUS!” I love getting a reaction out of him. He once told me, “Yeah man… I will admit, if there was this hot-ass looking chick that was meowing like a cat and rubbing up on me and shit… I’d fuckin’ NAIL that shit. Damn, that’d be like… a fantasy come true.” So, now, I always call him a furry, and when he denies it, I remind him of that statement. I’m like, “THAT’S all a furry is, dumbass. If she barks like a dog, meows like a cat… you’re fuckin’ yourself a furry, it’s as simple as that.” ….to which, again, he’ll reply with, “JESUS!”

HOW DO I TELL MY PARENTS ABOUT IT?

There is a lot of clean furry art and stuff… if your parents ever ask… show ‘em that. You don’t need to include, “I’d totally fuck that fox. That’s the hottest vixen I’ve ever SEEN.” They won’t understand that… just like their parents couldn’t figure out why they liked Led Zeppelin more than the Beatles, or why acid trips were better than a six pack of beer. Times change.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And there you have it. That’s all there is to know. If you have any questions about the fandom, just ask me and I’ll send your questions to my friend who will answer them himself. Then, in turn, I will answer you all with what he has told me.
If you want the REALinformation, get it straight from the horse’s mouth! Ask the furries what the world thinks of furries because they’ve got all the beef about it.
I’m not really angry at how the world thinks of us, I’m used to it by now. Most furries actually laugh at the “YIFF IN HELL, FURFAGS!!” comment and reply, “Sure thing! That’s where all the fun is happening, anyways!” Mostly, I’m just disappointed at how the most popular idea is what everyone listens to. Some time ago, people were sure that the Earth was the center of the universe. Some time ago, people were sure that the world was flat. Some time ago, people were sure that everything revolved around the Earth. The same thing still happens today, nobody has the facts straight. Furries are just misunderstood.
Frankly, that’s all I have to say. I’ll be around. Have a nice day.

(Note: for the rest of this post, the furry in question will be called "Kobe Bryant")

Someone tl;dr-ed and here was Kobe's response.

Well, I’m not summarizing any of that. I had to suffer typing it all down, so you have to suffer reading it too. There are some odd breaks in the sentences, and I don’t know where they came from, so just ignore them.

Basically, I’m just addressing and correcting some common misconceptions about furries. Even Yatta misunderstands some aspects about the furries, from what I can tell from some of his links. It’s not ALLabout the fursuit. If you read the “Furries” entry in submitted memes (even though we’re clearly NOT a meme), only about 18% of furs even have a fursuit, let alone wear them. Mostly, being a furry is all about enjoying the anthropomorphism and the art. We just find it cool.

I know a lot more furry sites but I’m not going to reveal them because I know that there are haters and trolls who’ll be able to use to links to gladly fursecute those sites and vandalize them. If I’m sure that nobody will destroy those sites, I MIGHT just list them down. But, then again, I have to wonder if it’s even appropriate to list down these sites considering their… included material that are NSFW.

Then some questions are asked.

Kobe Bryant,

I can’t tell if you’re serious or trolling REALLY HARD. But most of your arguments seem to be reinforcing a lot of misconceptions.

Now, people WILLcounter that with, “80% of male furries are bi or gay.” Well, originally, it was “80% of all furries are bi or gay” but suddenly with the fantastic influx of female furries over the last 3 years… all the gay furries are like, “GASP… VAGINA!” And… yeah. The numbers have evened out, now. They were no more gay then dudes in Jail who fuck other dudes just because there’s no pussy around. They weren’t gay, they just wanted to get off. Big difference, right? Guess what… you put female furries in the mix and BAM… they get a boyfriend, and we dudes get laid. Life is good.

There’s no need to make up stories about magical females who turn gay men straight. If there are gays among your group, maybe you should try excepting that they’re there instead of acting like it’s a temporary condition. But, if what you’re saying is true, then you’re implying that most male furries are straight men who were at one time sexually confused, experimented with gay sex, and then decided to stop once the females started to show up. You don’t seem to realize that homosexuality and furry fandom aren’t mutually exclusive. Regardless, you’re not helping to build the case that furries AREN’T sexually obsessed, despite orientation.

They parade their suits, they don’t hump in them. I’m sure there ARE people who do that…

Okay, so now you’re saying that the fetishism of furry fandom is just for weirdos, not something you would ever do.

I’m like, “THAT’S all a furry is, dumbass. If she barks like a dog, meows like a cat… you’re fuckin’ yourself a furry, it’s as simple as that.”

So it IS all about a sexual fetish?

There is a lot of clean furry art and stuff… if your parents ever ask… show ‘em that. You don’t need to include, “I’d totally fuck that fox. That’s the hottest vixen I’ve ever SEEN.” They won’t understand that…

I can’t tell. Are you saying that our furry article focuses too much on the sexual aspect or not enough?

More questions are asked and our pal Kobe Bryant defends his statements.

An interesting link pops up.

O hai gaiz.
I just popped in cuz I think this may be relevant to your interests.
http://www.furrysociology.net/report.htm
It’s the Furry Sociology Survey. It’s about a year old, so some of the data might be off. Still, it should offer some helpful insight.:)

There is talk about said link and then accusations that Kobe is taking this too seriously.

“(I’m trying to say you should all try to avoid leting the subject change from “What is a furry” to “Is a furry bad”, because the latter is all opinion)”
Everything’s said here.
But, Kobe Bryant, your last posts here and in the Furries entry make me think that you want, maybe a little desperately, to defend at any cost the Furry community, despite whatever you might say or argue.
I believe that you’re overreacting too much when it comes to something you like.
Please, I don’t think that the Furries need that kind of thing, especially here.

And others echo this sentiment.

The response?

@ The people who say I'm overreacting

‘Salright. I understand. ED might be right after all with this statement: “Furries suffer from an acute victim complex. This makes them very easy to torment.” I’m just probably overreacting on the whole subject. I understand that in order to document something, you have to add ALL the facts about it, even the negative aspects. I don’t mind anymore if you still document the parts the I feel uncomfortable about, but at least take heed on some of the things I’ve mentioned. I don’t want the furry fandom to be tarnished anymore than it already is.

@ This one guy who was wonder whether I was a troll or not, then talked about drums

I’m not a troll. I’m just a guy who’s overreacting just a tad too much to all the negative views about furries that are mentioned in the first few parts of this discussion.

I’m actually quite thankful that KYM isn’t a furry bashing site like Something Awful, 4chan, or ED.

Nice graph, by the way. It’s the first thing that made me laugh the whole day. lol. I’m not sure if it’s the fact that the ridiculous answer was the most favored choice, or the fact that I’m a furry AND a drummer and that this survey has both of my aspects! I actually know a fellow drummer who has a Roland TD-9 drum set! XD

Some talk of drums then more talk of furries (I have pretty much the whole thread archived in my inbox, for those who care to see almost the whole thing) then it winds down.

Someone brings it up again a week later to this response from an admin.

This thread was done serving its purposes a long time ago.
This thread is now about Brett Favre.

Then, it became the greatest thread ever.

The thread name changes from "Furries?" to "Furries? No, Brett Favre"

Then Laurence Parry posts:

That was way more Brett Favre than I cared to see.

(picture of a disco furry, which has been lost)

Also, WikiFur has moved to wikifur.com (or just en.wikifur.com if you only care about English)

Then the thread disappeared.

What was my contribution to that thread?

This:

This has been a KYM Forums history lesson.

EDIT: tl;dr: there has been a thread not unlike this before. (The two threads DO have important differences)

@Blubber.

Well, not exactly.

While the previous thread (from the info you posted, yes, I read it all) seemed to be about the furry article, this thread just seems to be reaching out to the furry community of KYM as a whole, in an attempt to understand the subculture.

That being said, although I do have a bit of a distaste for furries (five years on /b/ does that, I can't really help it) I would welcome any furries using the forums to answer the question, if only in an attempt to better understand the personal reasons that can lead someone to furrydom.

It's just a psychological thing. I can tell you're honestly asking, because most that are trolling can't help but bash the furries.

Not much more can be said after Blubber's post(good find, btw, I remember that thread. Everything you want to know should be in there. But if it's a tl;dr, it's psychological. Can't be said if it's natural or not, because there's no definition of "natural".

EDIT: Before it's asked, no, I am not a furry. However, close friends of mine are, so I have something of an experience.

Did Somebody Say Furry?
Glares
nah Just kidding as long as they don't get creepy with it I don't mind…
Pizzow you hear that? A christian who didn't Furbash!

You know I don't care about furries a whole lot.

The only people I have issues with is people that act stereotype.

I sort of agree with Sweatie Killer, I hate it when people try to act a stereotype.

Huh?

I just hate Stereotypes as a whole.

The thread Blubber is referencing was the first instance of threadjacking on KYM, instigated by me, using the Brett Favre image I posted above. You kind of had to be there.

There will always be stereo types since people fear what they don't know. I say before hating something, lurk on it… then you can hate it. Other than that, You're just going off other people's opinions and made up explanations. Some misconceptions are down right silly and common sense is thrown out the window.

It is human nature to want to hate something and make it sound worse than it really is.
I Have plenty of friends on DA that are furry enthusiasts. I myself am not. When I was younger I would draw characters half animal and not think anything of it. I didn't know what furry was, I was just drawing a cool character. Judging before knowing something is not a wise idea.

On the other hand, there are some people who take their obsessions so far that it hurts other people in the process. This is when it gets dangerous. Never should your obsession make some one smaller or less significant. Flame wars start because of misunderstandings and people easily taking offense.

Some Flame wars I laugh at because the war itself is dumb and I'm on the outside. However, if I was in one, I would be defending my beliefs and lifestyle too. Even criminals do it. Instead of saying "oh, I did bad things and it's all my fault." They try and justify as much as they can. But what are we to judge on what is bad and what is good? Something is good to one person and bad for the other. In real life wars, each side is fighting for what THEY think is best.

Even though Trolling can be fun sometimes. It does go over board. I guess what I'm trying to say is "let people do what they do, it's not up to you."

@Karnella
All jews are nazi's.

(Actually this was intended a joke, but I actually found some Jewish-Nazi organizations.)

o.O
furries? here?
ah, well.