There seem to be some people on Lemmy who genuinely believe that they are an animal. They say they are an “unperson” or discuss conversing with “animals” who “happen to be born in human bodies”. They see their struggle as on par with the struggle for trans people, and their right to be recognized as animals as a part of a broader societal struggle for queer acceptance.
Well, this is fucking stupid.
First of all, comparing “I’m a puppy uWu” to gender dysphoria trivializes what trans people go through. Furries are not struggling like trans people. They are simply mocking trans people (whether that mockery is intentional or not is besides the point).
Second of all, you’re not a fucking animal bro ffs. Being an animal isn’t a state of mind. It isn’t a vibe. It isn’t a social construct. It isn’t something you’re assigned at birth. It’s about DNA. You have 50% of DNA from a human mom, and 50% of your DNA from a human dad, so you have 100% human DNA (granted maybe you have like 0.1% Neanderthal DNA but whatever). So you’re a human. This shouldn’t be a hard concept to grasp.
If you can speak a human language, and have the mental wherewithal required to use the internet, then you have a HUMAN MIND. And if you “just so happen to be born in a human body” then you have a HUMAN BODY. HUMAN MIND + HUMAN BODY = HUMAN. IT’S ALL HUMAN. YOU ARE HUMAN. Just because you have a bestiality fetish does not make you a fucking bobcat ffs
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um there seems to be a lot of misinformation in this post. main one being furries do not believe that they are actually cats/dogs…
also as a trans person i don’t think it trivializes dysphoria? like feeling like you’re living in the wrong body is incredibly distressful, whether it’s a delusion or not. not only that but from what ive seen, there is a lot of overlap between gender queer and otherkin folks (and with autistic folks too). i think it mostly reflects the experience of feeling isolated and abnormal, to the point that you’re not even treated as human anymore. that and also wishing for a simpler life experience, as having our level of intelligence does come with drawbacks.
i also find it odd that your response to something that you think is a delusion… is anger? im not saying you should feel a certain way but like going on a rant like this just feels mean-spirited. if you truly believed it were a mental health issue, I’d assume you’d be more inclined to learn more about it and learn how to help these people instead of belittling them (i especially feel this as someone with a lot of BPD symptoms).
my final point is that i think we as humans distinguish ourselves from other animals way more than is realistic. animals are neat. other forms of life are just intriguing. idk its weird to me that people think its so absurdly weird and disgusting to even think about adopting any remotely animalistic traits
It seems more like you’re describing a specific subset of furry called a therian.
But also: Where have you even encountered therians on Lemmy? Even the therian communities here are pretty dead.
They went extinct?
Where have you even encountered therians on Lemmy?
In this very comment section, for example
I do not see a single therian in the comments actually
There is at least one. If you read enough comments you’ll find them eventually. I think it would probably be inappropriate to single them out specifically though so I won’t do that
Downvote: this is a popular opinion
The only furry I’ve known is also trans, fwiw.
I mostly agree with you that I do not get the subcultures at fucking all, only to know that they are distinct. I don’t think most furries actually think that they are actually spiritually that animal in any way. Thats otherkin; you’re conflating two weird subcultures.
So the otherkin folk are really weird to me, but I dunno that they are clinically weird unless they truly believe their own shit.
Furries who like to get into suits and party, hey, do your thing, and sorry the real perverts make your existence harder. I don’t wanna yuck anyone else’s yum, just keep them at arms length.
I barely have enough spare cash for my hobbies. I can’t afford fursuits even if I wanted them. It’s weird! (Just mostly harmlessly so.)
So the otherkin folk are really weird to me, but I dunno that they are clinically weird unless they truly believe their own shit.
If they truly believe what they say they believe, then it very well could be clinical and they could benefit from seeing a psychiatrist. Anyone who earnestly believes that they are literally a zebra is suffering from delusions
Just gonna say that a century ago the same was said about people that believed themselves to be the gender different from assigned at birth. And then science caught up.
Haven’t seen any studies on otherkin, but it doesn’t mean there won’t ever be any.
The struggle to exist as one’s authentic self in life is not related to the furry fetish, at all. Studies on the trans identity typically go towards the “let them live and be who they are” conclusions. Are you suggesting that 100 years from now, studies on otherkin would come to similar conclusions?
For all we know, they might. Unless there already are studies that prove the opposite that I don’t know about.
That’s absurd. The societal struggle for gender minorities cannot include fantasy. I’m not anti-furry; to each their own. Anyone who wants to be associated with the LGBTQ+ movement should be encouraged to do so and be welcomed. There are challenges that we all face together, and others that we do not. Societal integration of gender minorities is weakened when non-human identities (fantasy, barn yard animals) are included. Supporting people’s freedom to express themselves how they like, such as being a part of a community of furries, is not related to the struggles gender minorities face.
I’m open to anything that has scientific studies backing it. If there aren’t any, the only opinion I can form is blank, regardless of how “right” or “absurd” it might feel.
🙄
I would guess that the overwhelming majority of furries don’t own a fursuit or even a head/mask. Most furries participate in the fandom through media - art, fiction, and so on.
Everyone has their own reasons to be a part of the fandom, their own interests and things they enjoy. Personally I enjoy the culture of people not taking themselves super seriously, willing to act a bit goofy, engage in imaginative play, and thinking about silly what-if scenarios.
The best thing I can think to compare it to is like, if you’re familiar with the Mistborn series of books, thinking about how different metals/powers might interact, what their traits could be, and engaging with art/fiction around that, like… if wolf-people had to build a functioning society with sheep-people, what would that society look like, how would it function, how would they interact, how would infrastructure and the world have to adapt for the differences in biology and physiology? It’s kinda like fantasy/sci-fi.
You have GOT to worry less about people pretending and hurting no one when there is actual shit happening in the world.
I see where you are coming from, here’s a little tip.
- Install this extension
- On your Lemmy instance’s front page, press “Create new style”
- Add
picture:has(.img-icon) {display: none;}, save
Whoah, suddenly furries don’t exist anymore on the internet! That’s insane. And if you see contentless garbage, regardless if it’s a stupid reaction image, ragebait or (relevant here) meowing, just use the little “-” button that hides the post/reply.
Where are you seeing this and why are you not ignoring it?
IKR, I can count on 1 hand the amount of times I’ve bumped into furries online or in real life and I’m no hermit in either domain.
Not that I would care if I did, but this is a very Facebook-like, ‘I heard about a thing that doesnt impact me in any way or form, but it’s different and strange to me and that makes me extremely angry’.
“The furry bdsm crowd ruined the adults only furry event and now my gf thinks im wierd”
That it is based on a story I read but it also reads like a anime title nowadays 🤣
Lol, we had this shit going on so long ago, and now it’s circled back. Danithefox on 4chan will never be forgotten.
Never heard of this guy, guess I’ll add it to the list of internet stuff to look up
I doubt you’ll find anything. It was 20 years ago, give or take. Some dude would get on and scream and be screamed at for hours, saying that he wasn’t a person, he was a fox in a human body. I am super surprised that this post made me remember the name, and sort of the pictures of the foxes that he would always upload with his posts.
Furries don’t believe they’re animals. You’re possibly confusing furries with therians. There’s some overlap, but they’re ultimately different groups and the latter are the ones that believe they’re the animal in question. If you’re going to object to a thing, the least you could do is get your facts straight beforehand.
Please forgive me for not doing in-depth research on the subtleties of furry culture
I mean, I don’t blame you for not doing so… but your opinion is rather aggressive for being admittedly ignorant.
Most Furries are just folks in a subculture that formed around a fetish. Not really that different from the BDSM community in that regards. And, just like how in that subculture no one thinks they really are ‘masters and slaves’ and mean no disrespect towards actual enslaved people, Furries don’t actually believe they are ‘animals with species disphoria’ and mean no disrespect towards people with gender disphoria.
If they consenting adults and aren’t hurting anyone, then like, who care who and how they fuck?
What do you want me to do? If I had titled this “The whole therians thing is stupid” then no one would know what the hell I was talking about, because no one knows these terms who isn’t already a furry
I don’t really want you to do anything. Hate whoever you want, do so for whatever reason you like, idgaf, I’m not your therapist.
Just don’t be surprised when folks inform you that you are kind of talking out of your ass. This is the internet you know?
Fair enough
You don’t have to change the title. If you think being a furry is stupid, fine, that’s your opinion and you have the right to that opinion. It’s very hard to argue with that.
But you didn’t stop at “I think furry is stupid”. You went on to explain why it is stupid, from your understanding, and it so happens that your understanding is very poor, therefore it exposes your motivation as hate based on prejudice.
“I think this thing is stupid” is okay. “I think this thing is stupid because I don’t understand it, I don’t want to understand it, and I don’t want to acknowledge I don’t understand it” is very different.
“I think this thing is stupid because I don’t understand it, I don’t want to understand it, and I don’t want to acknowledge I don’t understand it” is very different.
And ironically enough, that attitude is, itself, stupid.
Well you seem to want to opine like you know what you’re talking about; so don’t be surprised when you get called out when it turns out that you don’t and you’re just doing main-character bigoted shit
I mean if you’re going to dislike something you should probably know what it is.
No one knows what the fuck a “therian” or “otherkin” is. People do not use these terms unless they are already a furry. Everyone outside of the community just uses the word “furry”. Is that less precise? Sure. But I’m not here to use technical jargon invented by a bestiality-centred internet community. Speak English
“everyone outside of the community just uses the word furry”
“Everyone I talked to says asians look all the same, so do I”
“People do not use these terms unless they are already a furry”
“People don’t understand what all these LGBT letters mean unless they’re already gay”
"I’m not here to use technical jargon invented by a bestiality-centered internet community. Speak English "
“I’m not here to use words invented by a pedophilia-centered community, you gays are all pedos, I am here to remind you of my superiority and any attempts at educating me are futile because I don’t need to learn anything new, I’m not ignorant at all. Speak English”
So I think it’s dumb for someone to think that they are literally a dog. And in your mind this is comparable to racism and homophobia? Get a life
Your reasoning is comparable to the reasoning behind racism and homophobia, because you are using misinformation as a basis for prejudice.
Being a hater of anyone with a non-human alter ego isn’t comparable in terms of harm and moral severity to racism and homophobia, if that’s what worries you.
Throwing a crumpled piece of paper at someone else isn’t comparable to someone throwing a rock or a grenade at someone else, if your only metric is damage. In both cases the person throwing is an aggressor though. Different scale, same mechanism.
Yeah, because if you don’t know something then clearly nobody on earth could know.
You should really reflect on why you’re so dead set on hating a group you know next to nothing about.
Do you honestly think the average person knows furry technical jargon? Touch some grass
You’re arguing on LEMMY dude. You’re a statistically insignificant outlier already. And an asshole.
You’re a statistically insignificant outlier already. And an asshole
Those are English words. They are used in conversations held in English, between people who speak English. That’s how language works. People come up with words to signify things that didn’t have words before.
It’s jargon. No one uses those words who isn’t already a furry
I’m not a furry, and I use them and know what they mean. There you go, disproven.
You are an outlier
You spit out a 4 paragraph diatribe against furries and were off the mark because you couldn’t be bothered to do the research, then got upset when you got called out on it. Do the work, show the receipts, otherwise you’re just a blowhard, and no one likes a blowhard.
Sorry for having better things to do with my time then do research into the precise academic terms people with bestiality fetishes use to refer to themselves with. In everyday speech these people are “furries”. No one knows what the fuck an “other kin” or “theradian” or whatever is. Let’s speak English here bud
I mean, you didn’t have anything better to do than post here.
You mean like bitching about things you’re clueless about?
Just making sure my notes are accurate, here.
But see, you had the time to write up a hate pieice on something you didn’t understand. Kinda makes you the asshole.
If I’m the asshole for pointing out that its stupid to literally think you are a zebra, then sure. Guess I’m an asshole
Correct. Glad we cleared that up.
Anyway, welcome to Lemmy. Hopefully you’ll learn to check that Reddit attitude at the door and be more positive in your future posts.
The internet doesn’t need to be a negative and confrontational place. It can be fun and diverse at the same time.
It can be fun and diverse at the same time.
Your idea of “fun and diverse” is enabling people with psychotic delusions by telling them that, yes, they actually are a zebra after all, when what you should be doing is encouraging them to see a psychiatrist
It makes you an asshole for thinking they think of themselves as zebras, which is incorrect. And you keep refusing to accept otherwise. So yeah, YTA
It would have been a better use of your time to not be mad about what other people do with their lives, but I will absolutely commend you on your work sharing an unpopular opinion. No sarcasm. I honestly think you would be better served by spending your time learning not to care about other people and instead focused on bettering yours, but I also appreciate you using the space as intended.
It’s endlessly both amusing and psychologically fascinating how you’re seemingly getting progressively more and more angry while just sharing your opinion before anyone has even had time to engage with you. It’s an objective fact that strong emotions cloud people’s judgment, so I can only wonder what it is that’s actually making you feel so emotional about it.
Clearly you’re not just a passive, distant observer to this but you’re somehow emotionally invested in it as well. It’s not really that I necessarily even entirely disagree with what I believe you’re saying - it’s just the way you’re saying it that makes me a bit suspicious about what’s really going on in the back of your head, whether it’s conscious or not.
It’s a cliché, but I feel like more often than not this kind of strong reaction to something that in no way affects your own life probably tells more about yourself than it does about other people or about what’s true in the world. I’m not sure whether you’re trying to convince us or yourself.
Edit: Okay, I read your other responses and I see what’s going on here. Bye.
Wonderful day!
Well, I do not and never understood it, too, of me being ~40 years old…
I cannot imagine my children to wish being animals… it would damage me… permanently… I believe…
It feels like a disrespect towards and devaluation of myself a human, my race, my family and parents who gifted me a life of a human…Absolutely… I do love to be a human… and I do love other individuals who adventure the infinitely magnificent world and share experiences to learn from each other…
And indeed… A human mind is so ineffably incredible that such is possible and this is how I do realize it. A person who considers themselves an animal may have desires more powerful and prioritized if compared to someone else who was raised differently and had a different life experience that did not develop such animal feelings in their mind that consume them to such a degree to stay focused on it, controllably or not.
And never I would ever consider myself anyone else but a human, and I am proud of being one! But I do also realize how incredible a mind can be, and a worldview of someone else is sure another world to discover…
There’s no chance I would ever tolerate it enough to stay always in contact with a person who believes they are an animal, where I would also be afraid it may damage my own beliefs and my plans to raise my children; and I do fear that I will make an accidental but critical mistake in such a relationship due to my lack of proper understanding of certain traits of worldviews of such people, considering my years and subconsciously rules and already developed instincts.
Meanwhile, I do also realize that there’s just 100 years maximum, and I haven’t met anyone yet who actually know the reason we appeared here. There’s a little knowledge of a human psychology and how certain life events affect people in long term to the point they find themselves better as animals. Perhaps they feel themselves safer or closer to the nature. It might be something deep that subconsciously suggests them animal desires to be into.
Not to mentioned that I do believe every single person is a whole another Universe, indeed… to always respect and celebrate their existence in the miracle known as life…
Hence, there’s nothing “stupid” in it I believe, but just us, people, being miracles and live the way we see it, striving, believing, and trying our best…
We inherit the earth, we inherit the war
I inhabit the wound, I dwell in the harm
Oh, how far we fall: we’re casualties of time
Oh, how far we fall: forgive existence~ Inherit the Earth - Silent Planet
-–
So here I float in salt water
How many times will I tell myself I’m worthy?
As I soak the salt water
I feel it sting the places I need it most~ Salt Water - Portair
-–
I’m holding out for something real
Something I can touch and feel
On the bright side of the moon
Looking for the bright side of the moon…~ The Moon - Cinders
Absolutely… I do love to be a human…
Ngl I kinda wanna just be a human mind in a body of a cat…
So I can look beautiful and also have intelligence
(also immortality so I don’t just die in about a decade… I’d run around as a cat and mess with people till the end of time xD)
Like maybe like a werewolf (were-cats?) ability, but I can choose to activate it at will… I can just live another life in case my human identity is fucked up, then I can just fake my death and live life as a cat (or rather, a were-cat)
If you enjoy imagining what life would be like as an animal person with intelligence… boy, have I got the fandom for you!
TIL I’m a furry 😳
Sounds like a plan, you can enjoy cleaning your arse with your tongue 😛
I dunno man, tonguepunching someone you’re into’s fart box is fun.
Humans have a lot of sexual hangups lol.
it’s dumb but what can we do? furries control 99% of all digital infrastructure, mess with them at your peril
Having read all the comments: you have the IQ of a french fry and yet regard yourself as somehow more intelligent than literally everyone in this post, while they are merely trying to inform you on what you are blabbering on about. You’re like a Karen, but somehow like 3 rungs lower on the education factor. Without a doubt, Homer Simpson would regard you as an idiot.
I’ve known a couple therians, and they truly believe they are born into the wrong form. I don’t share the feeling, but it’s no different in my eyes than being straight, bi, gay, trans… Believe it or not, humans - not even you, it’s shocking I know - possess all information possible regarding the world and our bodies within it.
It’s alright though, the furry (and by extension, therian and otherkin) community will have the last laugh: I’ve been here 22 years, and time and time again, the people who bash these communities the hardest, are in denial the deepest.
Cya around soon~ ♥️
Wow, this entire comment section. As a transspecies therian myself (and also a furry, therian furs do exist!), thank you for not therian-bashing like so many of the other supposedly “pro-furry” people downthread.
(“Oh it’s not like real transgender people, that’d be ridiculous!” Bite me. :V Surprise, the supposedly made-up strawman actually exists and we’re collateral damage.)
I don’t know if OP’s likely to be a closet furry/therian or not, they’re deploying a lot of random cluelessness, but y’know… who knows, they could be. Don’t have to be, though.
But yeah (and this bit is more for OP in case they’re thinking “oh no I’m a failure for wanting to be an animal”) – you can just, be an animal if you feel like it. It may be unusual, but it’s not Bad Weird™, and it doesn’t Hurt Real Transgender People™, or whatever. And also a surprising amount of furries aren’t, and are totally human, and I honestly don’t understand them at all (why would you say you want to be an animal and then not actually mean it at all?), but they’re a thing too.
And you don’t have to do anything special to count. Want to be an animal? Then you get to be an animal. We don’t gatekeep. We don’t go “you must have this much dysphoria to qualify!”. Just like with transgender, if you want to be, that’s all you need. 🐺
– Frost
Recently was watching something with Andrew Callahan, and he brought up that most furries are completely misunderstood. He assumed the entire culture was a sex thing when he started interviewing at a convention, and was pulled aside by someone there. They explained that while yes, there are definitely some that are into it for the sex, the vast majority of folks are on the spectrum and use that suit to help them loosen up in social situations. Made a lot more sense to me hearing him speak on it.
They explained that while yes, there are definitely some that are into it for the sex, the vast majority of folks are on the spectrum and use that suit to help them loosen up in social situations.
And to ‘the suit’ point – only ~15% of furries have ever worn a fursuit.
If you’re only looking at the ones in the suits, then you’re only looking at an outlier of an outlier population.
Wonder if because the suits are pricey. My old roommate paid pike 1000$ usd for hers and i heard they can go much higher.
That’s one part, sure … but also many furries have no interest in fursuiting and wouldn’t do it even if it was free.
You should be fine since you didn’t bring up dragon kin
