I often get asked what a furry is when people find out that I am one. Most folks are only vaguely familiar with the concept from television shows or news articles that have been done about the fandom. Unfortunately, like most stuff on TV or the news, it's done for ratings, not any sort of educational purpose. The end result of this being that such news and entertainment shows display the furry fandom as essentially a fetish with little, if any, attention paid to the actual substance of what furry means.

But what does furry mean, and what exactly is a furry, if those shows aren't a decent representation? I'll do my best to explain, but please understand that the definition of furry varies and each person you ask is going to give you a different answer.

Furries are people that like Anthropomorphic Animals. Any critter with human qualities would be considered furry, including talking birds, dragons, etc. Furs range from people that read or write literature involving furs; artists that draw furs, and the people that enjoy said artwork; people that role play via IRC or MUCK a character they develop, and even people that don fur suits, or mascot costumes, for fun and entertainment. Basically anyone with an affinity, be it physically or spiritually, for a particular animal, artwork depicting animals, etc is a furry.

Most furs develop a character; the two-tailed fox-wolf you saw in the about page would be mine. A lot of different factors and reasons go into developing a character. Mine is a spiritual reason, which I'll explain later to those so interested. Others create a character each time they role-play. Still others simply create their character because they like foxes, or felines, etc; and like being able to express themselves in that anthropomorphic form.

The furry community in general, and yes I say community, is a very accepting place. Since many furs meet and communicate via such things as mIRC on networks like furnet, it is difficult to pre-judge somebody based on ethnicity, age, appearance, or other usual preconceptions that occur during a usual introduction. This has resulted in a very open and accepting community, where a person is accepted for who they really are, though it takes time for new people to realize this and let their characters reflect their true self.

Which brings us to the question I get asked the most: "Why?" To which I respond; "Why not?" I Could go on for a while about how furries and furriness has existed in human history and theology, but it really boils down to this: furries are furry because they want to be. Some are furries because they identify with the people they've met that are also furries. Others are furries because of a spiritual reason. Others are furry because it's a mode of self expression that is more detailed in the virtual, faceless environment that is the internet than is available via an emoticon. After all, a wagging tail is a better indicator of happiness than a ":)".

To conclude, the types of furries are as diverse as the furs out there, so I can only relate to my own personal spirituality and the acceptance that I have found in the fandom, not to mention the interesting and unique perspectives and beliefs I have also encountered. To learn more about furries, simply log onto IRC and look around, observe what goes on... The fandom is the most accepting place you'll find, and its impossible to do it justice with such a simple perspective. I do encourage you to log onto IRC (irc.furnet.org is usually a good server) and find out for yourself!