2th said:
Done with furry talk now. If you want to create a thread in OT and have a discussion I am more than willing.
Well, I'm sorry to bring this up again, but being part of EuroGAF means that I haven't had my chance to get my say on the matter, so here it goes.
I think fursuiting for ends other than cosplaying is stupid. I find "yiffing", whatever that means nowadays, revolting. My opinion is that the most extreme elements of the furry subculture are in real, desperate need of psychological/psychiatric help. Even without taking that into account, many of them are obnoxious, self-righteous, needy people who I probably wouldn't be able to stand being close to, never mind being friends with. And I always thought this way.
Keep these things in mind.
However, until a few years back, I had no problem denominating myself as a "furry" (as in "furry fan" - yes, I know I have hairy forearms, but let's not get carried away). Because there was a time when the actual definition of a "furry fan" was actually worth a dime, and that definition was that of a person who nurtures a particular appreciation for anthropomorphic characters. A fan. Nothing more, nothing less.
Well, I like anthro art, as
I have already stated in this thread before. I think many times it brings something extra to a piece, be it extra cuteness, extra awesomeness, extra "badassness", and yes, even extra sensuality,
when done right, and in the right context. Of course, all of this means nothing without the human-based characteristics we use to evaluate such qualities. That's why it's called
anthro.
Somewhere along the way, I had to stuff this taste of mine deep inside my closet. I don't feel that I should have to justify this taste to anyone, or that I should be ashamed of it. However, during the last decade, the big Internet scorn machine decided that it was lulzy to portray one entire multitude of preferences, motivations, options,
human beings, as pertaining to a single caricature of its most extreme elements, and that it was alright to hate, ridicule, dismiss, spit on all those people. I no longer identify myself as a "furry fan" because the meaning of the word has been distorted by a crowd that seems more interested on finding the next "easy" thing to safely dump their scorn on, instead of actually treating each person as a human being.
Since I think that, although this taste is a part of me, it shouldn't be allowed to define me in the eyes of others (and it doesn't, in my own eyes), I obviously had to set myself apart from the label, and never bring up my association with it except in a context where it
is relevant to the matter at hand. Which is now.
Now, the thing is: what matters to you most? The things you
do know about me, or
the label that you now may feel justified to stick on me? Because you really can't have it both ways: you either judge people on their own individual merits and flaws, or based on a one-size-fits-all label arbitrarily cooked up by a hateful hivemind.
Uchip said:
he might as well be calling anime fans pedophiles, and Germans nazi's while hes at it though
Also, this.
