For one thing, only a small minority of furries own full fur suits. Swinger parties and fetishes are there, but that's not what the fandom is about." And the focus on sex in fur suits is particularly wrongheaded. While sexual activity with other furries (known as "yiffing," after the sound foxes make during sex) is part of the subculture for some, others maintain a non-erotic interest in the subject.įurries are typically subject to media portrayals that overemphasize the sexual aspect of the fandom, such as this bit from 30 Rock:įurry Josh Strom explained to Boing Boing's Lisa Katayama, "We go to conventions to hang out with friends, maybe buy something like art or badges, go to a discussion panel or see a show. No, though, like with any other fan interest (video games, comics, etc.) there are sexual themes present. 2) Is being a furry just a sexual fetish? Only 13 percent reported owning a full suit, while 34.3 percent reported wearing any clothing or accessories associated with their furry persona or "fursona" (more on that in a sec). A 2014 survey found that tails are the most commonly owned fur-suit component, with 48.1 percent of respondents at Furry Fiesta 2014 reporting owning a tail.
( Douglas Muth)įur-suiting and the furry community tend to be conflated in the popular press, but research by the International Anthropomorphic Research Project, which studies the furry fandom, suggests fur-suiters are a minority of that community.Ī 2007 survey found that only 26.4 percent of respondents at a furry convention reported owning a fur-suit and 30 percent reported wearing one. Note that most of the people on the convention floor aren't suited. 1) So being a furry means you run around in a fur suit all the time, right?įur-suiters on parade at Anthrocon 2007.
Here's a brief guide to the furry community, which hopefully can clear up some of these misunderstandings. īut survey evidence suggests a lot of these stereotypes are wrong (very few furries think sex in animal costumes is a good idea, for instance). Mainstream press accounts tend to portray furries as sexual fetishists united by a common interest in sex in animal costumes. Furries - people with an interest in anthropomorphized animals, like Sonic the Hedgehog or Pokémon - have come in for a lot of ridicule over the years from posters on sites like Something Awful and 4chan.