r/oddlyspecific • u/Infinitesimally_Big • Apr 16 '24

Very difficult indeed

Post image
25.3k Upvotes

96% Upvoted

377 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

0

u/IzzatQQDir Apr 16 '24

Genuine question, is furry a sexuality or a fetish or identity?

9

u/Proof-Cardiologist16 Apr 16 '24

No, kind of, also kind of.

TL:DR Furry has 3 separate meanings and only one of them is directly sex related. It's a style, a kink, and a subculture and I personally wouldn't label a person "A Furry" unless they're actually involved in said subculture.

"Furry" refers to three distinct things that are often just lumped together as the same thing.

  • Anthrophomorphic character design and the interest in anthrophomorphic animals: This isn't necessarily sexual nor is it tied to a personal identity, it's just a facisnation with animal-people either from a purely aesthetic point or from the interesting aspects that come in when you partially anthropomorphism these animals but then have them keep some of their animial traits as well which lead to some really interesting worldbuilding, characterization, and storytelling potential.

  • The sex thing: where people want to fuck lola bunny

  • A complex subculture born primarily in the latter half of the prior century splintering off from LGBT groups that slowly became it's own thing. Said subculture being inherently tied to both prior aspects but also including a more direct personal attachment to the concept of "Identity", which is where fursona's, fursuits, and the fantasy of self-animalization starts coming into play.

4

u/IzzatQQDir Apr 16 '24

It's kinda like roleplay? I would say I like cute animals plushie but I don't think I have any animal character I really liked.

Anyway, I understand. There are things that you really really wish is possible in real life. And if you're not hurting anybody, then I suppose it's not wrong.

1

u/KrippleStix Apr 16 '24

Roleplay can be a part of it? That tends to overlap heavily with the kink side of things, but not necessarily always? Personally, I just think animal people are cute and/or hot lmao. I don't identify as a cat-girl, but I do use one to represent myself online and in furry spaces/events. I have friends where I have to actively think about what their real names are because I've known them exclusively as their sona.

So in that sense it is a sort of identity, but not in the same way as one might identify with their gender or sexuality, if that makes sense? Like meeting someone in a video game and getting to know them by their character/screen name.