What's so bad about Furries & Goreans anyway?

No, I'm serious. I keep hearing people whine about certain classes of residents in SL. "Oh no! This will make more Furries!" "Oh shite! Those damn Gor and having a good time in private against my Puritan worldview!" "A Furry ate my baby".

I mean, seriously. This world we created is about free speech, tolarence, and the right to get your digital freak on in the manner you choose. Why do people make such a big deal in the forums and in-word about furries, gor, jedi, nazis, and other people that just want to be accepted.

Now, I get it that some of these people are biased agaist 'non-$THEM' residents, some are complete jerks, but we have dissidents like them in the 'normal' residents.

So, what's the big freaking deal?
I mean, can't we all just get along?

Maybe its not Goreans that people hate. Its just that generally, people don't like dumb people. It just so happens that maybe many of them are Gorean.

Now, I'm sure I will get flamed for 1) comments or 2) being a Jedi at one point, but I must give some input. As noted in this closed thread (/108/ff/86619/1.html - let's not open this up again, it's just for reference), I got into it with Michi about furs. I would like to say that at that time, the experience -I- had with furries is that they were indeed here to get their freak on, and involve that "freak" in areas that did not necessarily warrant it. For example, you would not have homosexual anthropomorphic fox Jedi romping in their personal quarters a hundred meters from a great sacred Jedi temple. At the time, it just seemed that that was all the Furries were about, and it was quite disturbing given their numbers.

However, before the flaming begins, I have slowly begun to realize that this is not the whole picture. As Michi stated, there are many furs who are just here for fun. And even those that -do- want to romp around with invisible dongs, that is not of my concern. As long as they (and other avatars who act the same way, not just furs) don't interfere with the enjoyment of others. And I think we see that for the most part.

So that was my problem with them a while back. But as you can see, I am seeing more of the SL world and I hope others will recognize the diversity that is SL.

MM

I just try to show people biased is bad

saying all Goreans ar ebad is a generalization..same wiht furries.

<sighs>

Because some people can't feel like their own life has meaning without demeaning others.

In other-words, because they're people you are better off ignoring anyway.

I find the furry perversion hilarious, personally. Before I got into SL, I'd actually never heard about it, and here they are, literally in their thousands!

Is this what you get by mating around the clock Disney shows on TV with the politically correct campaign of militant veganism and fur industry hatred?

I don't know, I only know that I'll never understand the turn on about a theme park costume. Not that it bothers me, at least not since furries appear to congregate mostly within their own secluded enclaves.

I try to blend in by wearing a rabbit head when surrounded by Goreans...

"Is this what you get by mating around the clock Disney shows on TV with the politically correct campaign of militant veganism and fur industry hatred?"

*sigh*

If you're gay, you have to put up with this kind of nonsense all the time. It's a shame to see it happening to other groups too.

Hey, "Monique", try to remember a time when women were treated with little respect, and then reassess your opinions.

Musuko.

This leads to an interesting* question; would you be put out by Furries if they were not secluded? If, for instance you lived among them?

*Interesting in that i'm easily amused this morning.

I stand by my statement above, Musuko. You just have to overlook some people.

Easy to do when they're so small...

Dear Musuko, in my part of the world I don't remember such a time and I have a degree in history.
But since you ask, maybe I have my kinks too. I just don't roam around the world shouting and craving "respect" for it.

Monique

I live among them now, and it looks like I can handle it. Too many would nevertheless spoil the view.

Difference: You choose to engage in the Gorean lifestyle. You choose to be a furry.

When do you choose to be born a woman or gay?

Despite the fact women are equal now..but thats not this thread.

Well, that's the remark the prompted me to post to this thread.
The cult Gor exists and can be found on-line. It's purpose is to mentally brake women down into believing they are slaves to men. The argument that the women were not forced to join is not a good one when it comes to cults like this. I fear that this mental manipulation and mistreatment of women has taken root in some of the areas of SL.
My own comments about this and those of others can be found in this thread: /108/c3/96122/1.html

Roleplay may be fun, but being recruited to a cult for the purpose of manipulation should not be considered roleplay.

Some of the Gorean sims are privately owned and Linden Lab has allowed SL to be a place to explore alternative lifestyles. I will respect that, but anyone who expects me to tolerate their view of Gorean lifestyle, better be prepared to tolerate mine.

I've actually had the oppurtunity to explore some of the gorean sims, nice builds. It's easy to wander around when there's a bunch of lunatics storming the gate.

Don't cross the bridge...

Thats fine Call it a cult. After all you know which faith best fits the deniftion of cult?

To prevent ARs Im posting a definition.




Christianity.

1 - many other faiths consider it false, many nonfaiths as well. Little documented historical evidence of its claims. None of its major claims.

2 - no explanation required

3 - see 2

4 - faith healings (claims at least), references to Jesus healing

5 - Jesus..devotion to..

6 - the only nonrelated definition contained

Maybe we should watch how we use the other 'c' word now, eh?

Actually, all kinds of roleplaying groups get their nuts and flakes who can't tell reality from the game anymore. It's up to the game master to weed them out. I don't know what the Gor and Furry groups have for the equivalent, but... I'm not sure it's enough.

Here, I'll also counter this by saying, If the person allows themselves to be recruited without doing any research into the group they are wishing to join, then maybe they are also at fault. I'm going to assume that if one can access SL, then one also has access to the vast resource that is the internet. I /always/ check roleplay systems and groups before I even seriously consider joining them. I type the word Gorean into Google and find, *gasp* that it is not the rp system for me. So, I'd politely turn down the recruitment. If after that they kept on, then I'd simply AR them and slap them with my ignore. This covers any RP system, not just Goreans.

And also, if you can't tell where the character ends and RL you begins, then it's time to seek professional help. (If you are a roleplayer. I realize that some people are just here as their idealize selves.)

Furry, Star Trek, vampires, Harry Potter, Tolkien, anime... it's the same story. There are the majority of casual fans and the minority of obsessive fans. Casual fans always suffer the ridicule of being in league with obsessives.

Even though the vast majority of casual fans lead normal lives enriched through the common sharing and community being in a fandom can bring, the general public prefers instead to explore only the darker side of the obsessive fan. Ultimately, these obsessives become the unwitting and unflattering stereotype by which all other fans are compared.

So the point is this: Don't believe the hype and to each his own.

<~ Agnostic.

I don't begrudge people with organized religions, I just don't well with crowds and I like to sleep in. I'm at peice with God, and he apparently likes me enough to have hooked me up with my present job, and possible my last job as well.

As for cults, Gor's not a cult. It's an RP social class from what I understand. The whole D/s is acceptable for me, if that's how they want to play it. Some people like be looked after.

Nor do I Burke.. but to compare gor to a cult when it meets one part of 6...and ignore the one that matches the other 5..

Doh!

Another way SL society runs parallel to First life...

People are always looking for a demographic to hate.. RL it's the gays most prominantly at the moment, closely followed by those of Jewish descent.

Second Life, it's the Goreans and the Furries being exiled and discussed over the tabletop.

Seriously, their human right is that of preference. Let them have it. They're enjoying their Second Life, and a good many of us could do well to take their cue and do the same instead of coming here complaining about anyone and eveything else different.

It seems to be a problem on both sides, actually. Those, who want to hate a group of people will do so, no matter if it's justified in any way or not. Those, who want to feel hated will find someone who does.

I don't feel hated myself. And I don't hate anyone, just because he belongs to a certain group of people. I spend a good deal of my time in SL at one of the Welcome Areas, so I get in touch with a lot of different people. Some of them are stupid, sure. But that's not dependant on their social group. Most are friendly, getting along fine with others. Again, not dependant on social groups.

One time I followed a landmark on a list I found and ended up on a Gorean sim. I was prompted with a notecard, saying: "If you want to be here, you must be in human form." Good, clear words, I like that. So I left.

The bottom line? Don't hide away amongst your own kind if you want to find out how people really are. Try mingling with the other folk, diversity is beauty. Learn the way other groups see their world and you will understand them eventually.

I knew it was pointless to get involved in this thread. I only wanted to say that I found the one poster's comparison of criticism of things gorean to the discrimination and mistreatment of women to be rather ironic and laughable. I'm always amazed at the passion displayed by defenders of gorean lifestyles whenever I express my own concerns about it.
Once again, SL allows explorartion of alternative lifestyle. I respect that.

Silly lass! How can we have a society without someone to nail to a cross for all our perceved sins! Remember: D&D gamers are satanists, Video gamers are violent sociopaths... Anyone remember when Commies had to be hunted and exiled from the US? Anyone remember caging Japanese citizens during a certain world war?

Hey, let's yell at people for for wearing black and reading bad poetry! They're differant! They deserve to be mocked and ridiculed!

Ohhhhh. Geeks! They know too much about technology and should be shunned from polite society! Since we are dependent for them for our technology, they MUST be put in their place!

<long stare>

Hate is a pervasive thing. It's easy to do. It's easy to think you're just saying what everyone is thinking. It's easy to think it's just in fun. It's easy to tale the lone target and beat on him like a pack of rabid wolves.

So go for it! You're in good company! And when you find yourself in a group that other's start hounding, just sit there and take it like a good little victim, because it's all in fun!