Well, not really that I need to know, just the common knowledge of how the fandom works and everything.

Yeah, that's one of the things I was wondering. There doesn't really seem to be much of a consensus on the way the fandom works, so I'm not entirely clear on what it is.
Some say if you like furry creatures, you are a furry.
Some say that if you like anthros you are a furry.
Others say you need to have a fursona to be a furry.
Still, others would say you need to fursuit to truly be a furry.

Since there are no real concrete definitions of what being a furry is I can't say with confidence whether I am or am not a furry.
By my definition, I do not have a fursona, so I am not a furry.
But, I tend to enjoy furry art more that other art, so some would say that makes me furry.

It's a self made definition. You can't really pin everyone as either furry or not. That's not fair at all. All that matters is whether YOU think you're furry or not. Not what other people try to classify you as, nor their silly definitions of what is and isn't furry. That's up to you.

I've considered myself furry ever since Sophomore year of high school. Just...no one else knows. And maybe they never will, who's to be sure. All I do know is I'm really good at hiding it.

Still can't decide what I'd be though!

Interesting, I'm in 9th grade which is sophomore here in Colombia, and I consider myself a furry O_O

Same, kind of. Even if I was into the whole fandom I wouldn't be so open about it. That's just how I am about everything, though. It's not that I'm self conscious, it's just that I don't know any other furries, and I don't think I know more than a few people who even know what a furry is.

However, if I told people I could relate to certain personalities of a particular animal and I'm interested in anthropomorphic types of art, it might make things a little more clear.

I think you're a furry, Reima. But what matters is if you think you're a furry.

It's not really important for people to know you're a furry, so there's no shame in keeping it to yourself. Just don't go around lying if people ask, or refusing to see furry movies, play furry video games, etc. just because you worry people will realize you're a furry. It's not a big deal at all to be a furry. People just don't really need to know unless you want them to. And even if you do tell people, you shouldn't be obnoxious about it.

I'm fine with being a furry, I could yell it out at the top of my lungs right now (being at school) but I'm shy and don't yell, I never yell. None of my IRL friends know I'm a furry because they never ask. My parents or the rest of my family don't now either. I won't lie and hide my furryness if someone asks though, I'm furry and I'm proud.

That's exactly where I'm at right now about the whole furry thing. I haven't told anyone that I'm a furry yet, and I too don't know anyone that knows what a furry is, of course I haven't asked if they do or not, so I'm not sure. I know that I'll eventually tell some of my family, but I'll probably explain to them what a furry is before I let them know that I am one.

Or you could just be yourself and let them figure out themselves.

True, but being a furry doesn't affect my behavior in any way, so I don't think anyone would know if I didn't tell them. I don't know exactly what to do about letting others know. I mean, should I tell them straight up, or let them know through time?

Let them know through time. Either they'll figure it out, or the question of "so what's with the thing you're interested in?" might come. Or if someone asks what you're interested in you can mention it.

If I told my friends, it would go like this.

"Guys, I'm a furry"

"...Whats a furry?"

And they wouldn't even look it up, they would just forget about it by the next day.

HP: 71% furry, 29% not furry
Earth: 71% water, 29% ground.

There's gotta be some kind of connection...

I think this connection was made in the last thread. Furries are the ocean of the Housepets! world!Bingo. The way I see it, if your behavior is befitting of a furry, people who know what a furry really is will realize you're a furry, and people who hold onto the stereotype will not, because you're not doing what they think a furry does.

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Yeah, I pretty much see being a furry as personal business. It's the same thing I tell to friends who are atheist or gay and aren't sure how their parents/peers might react to such knowledge based on presuppositions many people have about such groups. I say it's best to just live your life; no need to "come out" because it's really not that big of a deal (some people like to make it a big deal, but it's not).

If someone asks you about it, there's no need to lie, but I also see no reason to go around telling people about it.

Yeah, I think I'll probably tell some people, like my parents and some of my other family, but other than that, I probably won't tell anyone. It would probably save me some trouble... There are people out there that thrive on gaining information about an individual, and then tell other people lies about that person. I would prefer that not happen to me too soon.

Not necisarry to admit your furryness, just that you know if you are furry or not. I am furry, I am not confused about it, there are no questions asked. I AM FURRY AND I LIKE IT!!!!!!! and no it is not a fetish!

My mom knows I'm a furry, but that was kind of an accident. It's probably for the best that way. Some big confession is just going to give them the notion that being a furry is something that should concern them.

I was at a furmeet and a tornado took out the power and had us hiding in the kitchen of an IHOP. I joked on Facebook that the idea of six furries, a police officer and the staff of an IHOP being trapped in a kitchen sounds like the introduction of a joke. Then my mom saw it and called me into her room...

^ Very much this.

The only reason like, none of my friends know is because every single one of them has...fairly negative attitudes towards it. Though, I don't talk to most of them nowadays (lol high school ended and I have no car so can't do anything), so I'd probably be fine telling the people I actually care about. If I even cared to tell. I know what I am, don't need to scream it at the world.

^.^

My friends are pretty clueless about what a furry really is. I wear a freaking tail around them, and several of my laptop's wallpapers are cute furry boys/girls (pick one), and I don't think too many of them have caught on to the fact that I'm actually a furry. I think they know I'm rather prudish so I could never be a furry (judging by what they think).

I was talking with some of my friends about Avatar and one of my male friends was talking about how the Na'vi could not have been attractive. I agreed and mentioned the uncanny valley, but he basically said it was the not-human thing that keeps them from being attractive. I said "never stopped me before" and he was noticeably surprised/slightly disgusted. Just goes to show how you can't assume people to know much about our weird little fandom.

Most of my closest friends know I'm into anthros, but I'm not sure any of them actually understand (or particularly care to understand) what that entails. Fortunately, that also means that none of them have tried to lump me under the media stereotype of furries. I'm also fortunate that none of my friends are ones to judge some of the less "normal" lifestyles. Though, to be blunt, if any of them actually decided to judge my character based on what the media says about furries, I wouldn't be terribly upset; if they were willing to take the media's word over mine, I can't hardly consider them "friends", and I'd probably break it off with them before they did so with me.


How many adjectives do I get? I NEED ADJECTIVES.

Some would call this petty, saying the furry fandom is not something to lose friends over. But it's not specifically that that's the problem. It's that they would trust sensational media over their own friend when it says they're not worth being friends with.You get one adjective. Luckily, "furry" counts as a noun for this sentence.

EDIT: Psykeout ninja'd me. Listen to him instead.

Can I change my answer? I'd explain the reasons, but that would lead to a GIANT tangent.
I know, because I just wrote it out and erased it after seeing how unnecessarily huge it became.

Simple Reason:
I read other people's posts (Sleet, Daggy, KJOo), liked them, reevaluated my own thoughts, and came to a different conclusion.

I guess with the one comma limit, I can't very well list many adjectives anyhow... perhaps adverbs are the more important factor to remaining verbose? This is quite the dilemma for me. :[


Precisely. Couldn't have put it better myself.

"Furries are gross and I'm one."

Am I doing it right?

"I'm a furry: an avid lover and admirer of the physique of anthropomorphic animals."

I used the letter 'e'... sorry, Psykeout. I failed. ;_;

I think admiring their physique is kind of creepy sounding. I would cut "the physique of."

I just said, "You know anime fans? We're kind of like that but instead of Japanese cartoons we like cartoons with animal people." Something like that.

It wasn't ideal because my mom thinks "anime people" are weirdos, but hey, at least she doesn't think we're a fetish group.

the two aren't mutually exclusive, Sleet.

and we think she's a weirdo.

I am a furry, a lover of anthopomorphic animals.

I used E, sorry.

Well, creepy-sounding or otherwise, saying anything else for me is pretty much lying. For me, personally, that's why I consider myself a furry. Besides, it's more because I was trying to condense into one sentence.

I'm not the type to explain something in a single sentence anyway; I'd have to go into quite a bit of detail to feel satisfied that I got the point across. And in doing so I'd clarify a lot of things that might, at first glance, turn most people off to the idea.

The problem is there's often a trade-off between correctness and casualness. You can say "I like cartoon animal people" and that's mostly correct, but then you can say "I am a fan of the attribution of animal traits to humans and vice-versa" and people will look at you funny and wonder why there's even a fandom for that. I tend towards the former, but sometimes the latter will work if the person is understanding enough.