My experience with Furries

Hey all,

In the past, I have not had a good experience with Furries. I am not going to bring up the threads I posted in, but I have specified several times that my experience with them was less than satisfactory as a whole. What many failed to see is that this was based on "my own experiences" and I was never generalizing on them as a whole.

That being said, my thoughts on them have changed over time. I don't attribute "invisi-dongs" to furries over any other group, as most of them I see now do not have that deal going on. Well, at least not while I see them.

So if anyone out there thinks I am a fur-hater just because I stated experiences I had with Furries, I wish you to reconsider your findings and know that I was never just hating on them, I was merely relaying what I had seen in-world (which, again, has changed).

This is not meant to start a flame-war on the topic of furries, but I am merely clearing up my experience-based statements from the past and hope that people will see that now.

MM

Well, as a furry myself, and as one who has read and participated in some of the threads you mention, I will certainly be willing to step forward and offer you a paw in friendship.

No one group can ever be categorized by the actions of individuals. It's easy to think that the first few you encounter represent the whole. It takes maturity and experience to step back from it, as you have done, and reconsider first impressions.

Peace, friend. I have no issues with you.

I only dislike people for how they behave, not for what they are......

Furry, Gorean, Goth, Sub, Tringo slut *gulp*, GothFurry, TringoGor, FurryGor (shudders), Furry Tringo slut, SubFurryGorean, There are too many combinations for me to actually keep track of whom I should I hate.....so thus it's a case by case basis

Seriously......be whom you are, if someone dislikes you for that....can I suggest that you shouldn't waste your time anyway?

I get the point of the thread was a mending type of deal and that's great....but seriously I have seen goreans that annoy me, furries that annoy me, HUMANS that annoy me, Men that annoy me...yes men annoy me a lot lmao, and some women are bitches......

But I also have Furry friends, Gorean friends, Goth friends, Sub friends, and Tringo Whore friends

You can never catagorize an entire group......well you can but that's too easy!

Why do people feel the need to stick themselves in little boxes anyway? Why say "right, I'm a furry / goth / trans-sexual John Prescott lookalike" in the first place - just be yourself.

I've always suspected that the reason we're so drawn to stereotyping is that we just don't have the time to fully explore another person and find out what their "selves" really are. So, we generalize, and fill in the blank spots with assumptions and such.

We all know who we are, personally, but it's difficult to show that "self" to another person. Some would say it doesn't matter what another person thinks, and that's true... up to the point where you have to deal with them directly.

Hm, do you think there's a demand for John Prescott avs? With realistic punching animation, copiable Jaguar and desk covered with poseballs?

My first week in SL I did not know what a furry was (seriously) or that a non-furry might not be welcome at a furry event. So I showed up at multiple furry events. I had a little cat with me every where I went attached to my leg like I was walking with it. LOL. Silly me.

No one was mean to me, no one laughed. Every one treated me very nice, let me hang around and dance. (Thank you for that) So now I have furry friends.

I had no idea anyone would hate or discriminate against furries, it never occured to me.

To me, they were just a lot of fun, friendly people with great costume skills and good imaginations and still are.

.

aw , I'm sorry the furries didn't satisfy you

hehe, "my experience with them was less than satisfactory as a whole", and "I was never generalizing on them as a whole", doh! lol sorry Marcus, I'm just trying to stir up drama

I had a similar experience, Rose... I have always been a fan of animated shows, particularily anthropomorphic characters such as the Looney Tunes gang and Tiny Toon Adventures.

I've had the nickname Jaycatt since before any of that, so when I saw that it was possible to actually look like a cartoon cat I started wearing the avatar (it was probably my second day in the game). I didn't realize there was a group called "furries" until I was at an SL bar and got a little flak for it ("Oh no, you're letting furries in now? What's the world coming to?". I had envisioned myself more as a mascot, like for sporting events.

I'm still pretty much a "guy in a cat suit" moreso than a furry, but due to my love of animated cartoons I do enjoy hanging around furries. But mostly because I love the design and image of them. I don't try to pretend I'm a cat beyond the occasional "meow" and "purr" sound effect for fun.

Hmm. If furries bother you guys may I suggest an electric razor?

All that new fangled technology...... bah!

Complaining about the "invisi-dongs" is rather silly, because the only way you're seeing it is if you went looking for it intentionally. Kind of like the busybody Parents' Television Council who intentionally watch TV shows to complain about not wanting to see those shows.

I may be a little biased in my thoughts on furries, since I do usually walk around as a nearly 2 metre tall wolf with a squirrel on his shoulder, and I'm a reqular attendee/staff member of one of the largest furry cons in the United States. I didn't log into SecondLife looking for virtual "yiffing", and I've not done any... except for that pose-ball accident the other night. Though I have helped some people find that if that's what they're looking for.

I have, however, seen a lot of anti-human bigotry in the primarily furry areas. Many times I've seen someone with the default human male avatar, or other human av cause a run of "ewww, a human" to pop up in the chat, and all sorts of extreme weirdness abound in hopes that the person will quickly port out. Even though I'm still quite the newbie myself, I like to step up and help people find out what the furries do besides the what the rumours say, and show them around the area. I've even helped sell people on some furry avs that hadn't bought one before. Even made a couple of friends outside of the furry groups so far.

The only real reaction I've gotten from anyone in SL about being a fur was the, "OMG! that dog's walking on two legs", quote whilst I was wandering about the 3rd birthday celebration area. I even checked out the dance in the Celebration Dome when I was there, and nobody complained that I, or even that other furs were around. But my squirrel did get poked quite a bit. *meep*

I will disagree here. I used to be primarily a builder and also a member of some groups known for griefing. Having "view transparent" on is a common if not necessary thing for me to do. So when people (not just Furs) would come to my sim, I could tell if they had those invisidongs on and it was just plain silly. I was never really complaining, I was just giving my experiences of Furs, as I stated in the OP. But to your point, finding the attachments was not intentional, but a side effect of one of the main thigns I do in SL.

MM

Well, having "View Transparent" on whilst building is acceptable, but using it in greifing behaviour is really just looking for trouble. I've turned it on now and then to see how some avatars are constructed, but leaving it on all the time would get annoying.

{/WHISPER} Pssst....Marcus...you know all those people you see walking around in RL...something you need to know...almost HALF of them are walking around with hidden dongs too...SRSLY! Thank god my View Transparent is disabled in RL...{/WHISPER}

Seriously though, thanks for extending the olive branch of peace. Sorry to hear you have had bad experiences with furs in the past, that is unfortunate. Hopefully it is an issue of specific individuals rather than a whole group. I think it is important that we can all talk about our particular experiences in a calm environment so that we can gain better understanding of all those who are different from us.

Just to throw my hat in the mix..
I have run across MANY furries around SL. To this day I have not met one that was rude to me in anyway. In fact, I find most times they are a blast to talk with.
I went to a costume event at The Bronze not long ago. For my costume I bought a cat avatar and wore it. You know what? I had more fun in that cat suit then most days as a human lol. No, I am not ready to join the ranks of the furries.. but I gotta give them credit for having a blast and being something other then human in a game of so many possibilities.

I still cant believe there is a rivalry going. I guess anywhere you go... even in fantasy land there are gonna be haters.