# Am I the only furry who finds the term "Fur-Fag" offensive?



## nallstiena (Jul 17, 2014)

I mean, I know its a derogatory statement, but often I find my furry friends using it to describe themselves and our community... I prefer to avoid using it all together. I think that being a furry can be a beautiful way to live, and I don't find anything negative with that lifestyle. So why talk about it like its a negative thing?


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## Nekokami (Jul 17, 2014)

We only really use that term jokingly for gay furries. Just look at all the people who use the term to describe themselves.


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## Mr. Sparta (Jul 17, 2014)

nallstiena said:


> I think that being a furry can be a beautiful way to live, and I don't find anything negative with that lifestyle.



You must be new here...


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## nallstiena (Jul 17, 2014)

LOL yes. Exteremely. I'll be your padawan. Teach me master.


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## Troj (Jul 17, 2014)

I think the context matters, as it usually does.

I've used "furfag" in a genuinely playful, winky-winky, self-effacing way that has no anger or self-hatred behind it. 

I've also heard people use "furfag" in tones tinged with self-loathing or contempt, and it sets my teeth off.


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## Butters Shikkon (Jul 17, 2014)

Troj said:


> I think the context matters, as it usually does.
> 
> I've used "furfag" in a genuinely playful, winky-winky, self-effacing way that has no anger or self-hatred behind it.
> 
> I've also heard people use "furfag" in tones tinged with self-loathing or contempt, and it sets my teeth off.



Exactly. 

Although, I do shy away from using "fag" an any sense because you know...the de-humanizing thing.


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## alphakitsune (Jul 17, 2014)

You see son, furfag is a sacred word. Only the most hardcore furries know its true meaning. You must climb to the top of mount yiffolympus and see the rulers of the furry fandom. First the deity of vore will show you her nasty pics of people she has eaten. If you are brave enough to continue you will meet the deity of sparkledogs. She talks like a total 12 year old and uses acronyms 3 times a in a sentence and her fursona is overdesigned and stupid. Her stupidity will drain your precious energy. After the first 2 tests the other yiff deities will notice you, that is if you are still alive. They will now ask you to turn the SFW filters off and.... Ewwwwwwww furfags. And that is why the term is used so much. Because there are a lot of stupid people like that in the fandom and its fun to poke fun at them.


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## Harbinger (Jul 17, 2014)

I use it now and then, usually to describe something overly furry or tards taking it way too seriously.


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## Shadow Jaeger (Jul 17, 2014)

Its kinda like black people and the n word. they use it as a joke but if any other race uses it, it gets considered offensive. Its kinda like that, not 100% because some normal people can use it as a joke. I make fun of my friend for being a brony, and so he does the same with the furfag joke but at the end its always for a laugh, we don't say these to offend. In the end it can be a harmless meaning but can hurt if meant to hurt.


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## nallstiena (Jul 17, 2014)

Ok. I can dig that. One day I will be familiar with the fandom enough to use it maybe. Lol  ( can someone pm me and tell me how to set a photo? I may be mentally challenged slightly.)


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## RedDagger (Jul 17, 2014)

Well, to say there's nothing negative with the fandom ('specially calling it a lifestyle) seems, in no insulting way, ignorant. 

The fandom has done enough to earn a nice little badge of negativity. Sure, I may also not agree with embracing a homophobic slur, but it's one of many ways of poking fun at yourself and the fandom.


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## PastryOfApathy (Jul 17, 2014)

I use the word fag all the time, as such I also use the word furfag. It's not really that offensive.


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## Lucius_Felix (Jul 17, 2014)

nallstiena said:


> I mean, I know its a derogatory statement, but often I find my furry friends using it to describe themselves and our community... I prefer to avoid using it all together. I think that being a furry can be a beautiful way to live, and I don't find anything negative with that lifestyle. So why talk about it like its a negative thing?





Mr. Sparta said:


> You must be new here...



It's like yesterday when I was faffing about on the main site, and noticed that my birthday was set to 28 June, *2014.*  So I corrected it and OH HOLY CRAP LOOK AT ALL THE PHALLUSES.

FA is a much tamer site when you're less than a month old.


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## TrishaCat (Jul 17, 2014)

Its an offensive term yes, but like Troj said it depends on the context. Some furries will use it ironically or in joking fun.
Some who are genuinely angry or who hate furries will likely use it with offensive intent. I hate the term when its used like the latter, but I don't mind the former. It can be funny even. That said, sometimes its hard to tell the former from the latter.

Also, what about the furry "lifestyle" is beautiful? And I'm sorry if the quotes seem mean, but its just that it doesn't even necessarily need to be a lifestyle. Furries are fans of anthropomorphic animals right? That doesn't necessarily imply any form of lifestyle, though of course some people may make it such.


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## DrDingo (Jul 17, 2014)

To me, the word furfag has no homosexual connotations.
I'm a furfag. All of us here are furfags.

Within the fandom, it's just a lighthearted and witty way of saying somebody is a furry.


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## Butters Shikkon (Jul 17, 2014)

I'm not gonna use the word "privilege" but there are a lot of ppl who don't have a stake in any movement and who like to overlook certain things so they can have a cheap laugh. 

Fuck that.


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## Hikaru Okami (Jul 17, 2014)

I see it as a general term for furry. Just like gay is a general term for rainbows.


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## Real_Redwolf (Jul 17, 2014)

I don't have anything against the term myself. Normally it is just a term used as a joke and not meant to be taken seriously. If someone does use it in a negative way, it is just best to ignore the... or beat them with a shovel... preferably the latter.


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## Batty Krueger (Jul 17, 2014)

I say it all the time, all my furfag friends say it all the time. Straight, bi, gay, horse, whatever. It doesnt bother me in any way. Fuck, I even have a shirt that says furfag.




BAM.


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## Shadow Jaeger (Jul 17, 2014)

I want those slippers


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## Hikaru Okami (Jul 17, 2014)

That is an awesome shir---omg GIR!


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## Batty Krueger (Jul 17, 2014)

shadowsinhiding said:


> I want those slippers


Those are my footpaws and footpaw sandals for my fursuit Ã’.Ã²

Holy crap that pic is old, I havnt worn those particular glasses in like 2-3 years Ã³.Ã²

And yes Hikaru, Gir is amazing. I freaking love Invader Zim!


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## Fallowfox (Jul 17, 2014)

I thought they were novelty tennis rackets.


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## Batty Krueger (Jul 17, 2014)

Fallowfox said:


> I thought they were novelty tennis rackets.


Lol, they look a lot bigger than they really are in that pic, must be the perspective.

Anyway I've been called a furfag by random dicktits in public because I'll be wearing one of dozens of furry related t-shirts or my tail. I don't take it to heart, I just laugh and go on my merry way. If they persist to harass me I just keep laughing because I think its funny.


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## PastryOfApathy (Jul 17, 2014)

Batty Krueger said:


> I say it all the time, all my furfag friends say it all the time. Straight, bi, gay, horse, whatever. It doesnt bother me in any way. Fuck, I even have a shirt that says furfag. [That shirt] BAM.


  I'm so sorry.


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## Fallowfox (Jul 17, 2014)

I'm surprised anybody outside of the fandom knows what 'furfag' means, and it's mostly a term of self-depreciating endearment in the fandom anyway.


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## Harbinger (Jul 17, 2014)

Batty Krueger said:


> And yes Hikaru, Gir is amazing. I freaking love Invader Zim!



Gir is love...

Gir is life...


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## Batty Krueger (Jul 17, 2014)

PastryOfApathy said:


> I'm so sorry.


I'm not!It's a glorious shirt, and I shall cherish it for all of time. A lot of people think it has to do with lesbians, lol.



Fallowfox said:


> I'm surprised anybody outside of the fandom knows what 'furfag' means, and it's mostly a term of self-depreciating endearment in the fandom anyway.


Where I live, Califurnia, is known as the furry mecca. So lots of normies are aware of our precious little fandom. The main reason I got the shirt is because I love RUN DMC(a hip hop band which the FURFAG shirt is based off of) and well, I'm a furfag. Loud and proud. I honestly couldnt give two shits what people think. If you can't make fun of yourself, well, then you're not fun.


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## nallstiena (Jul 17, 2014)

Thanks for the insight. :3 No longer finding it offensive. I was just wondering. Also I never thought of it as a homosexual thing, just more of a negative view of the community. Its like... we're normal people... lol Maybe its because my non-furry friends are always poking fun. I can't tell if they're joking or not.. and usually the conversation starts with something like "what do you know you're a furfag." It doesn't help that my boyfriend has been with the community for a long time and he's completely comfortable with anything including their brutality. Sidenote I didn't necessarily mean "lifestyle" and I'm sorry I wrote it that way.. I just mean that specific hobby can be a beautiful part of your life, and that it doesn't  have to be negative. I guess now from my newly found knowlege that it is not intended as a negative just playful, which totally makes sense.


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## nallstiena (Jul 17, 2014)

Lol You're adorable. <3 Paws for life


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## Kitsune Cross (Jul 17, 2014)

It was made to be offensive toward furries, but since furries now use the word for anything is not offensive anymore, furries ruin everything!


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## monochromatic-dragon (Jul 17, 2014)

See, only a furfag would take offense to being called a furfag

Anyway if you are to survive here I highly recommend taking the fandom - you know, the cartoony talking animal one? - less seriously.


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## Batty Krueger (Jul 17, 2014)

Kitsune Cross said:


> It was made to be offensive toward furries, but since furries now use the word for anything is not offensive anymore, furries ruin everything!


I have that shirt too!


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## PastryOfApathy (Jul 17, 2014)

Batty Krueger said:


> I'm not!It's a glorious shirt, and I shall cherish it for all of time. A lot of people think it has to do with lesbians, lol.



I've heard a lot of weird euphemisms for lesbians but furfag makes the least sense out of anything.


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## monochromatic-dragon (Jul 17, 2014)

those cats tho


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## Armored Chocobo (Jul 17, 2014)

I usually only regard the term "furfag" when it's targeted to maliciously obnoxious porn-loving furries.


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## Lucius_Felix (Jul 17, 2014)

Batty Krueger said:


> I have that shirt too!




Hey hey hey, is that Grant Imahara?  And cats with laser eyes?


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## Nekokami (Jul 17, 2014)

Lucius_Felix said:


> Hey hey hey, is that Grant Imahara?  And cats with laser eyes?


Holy crap. It looks like it...


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## Machine (Jul 17, 2014)

Only whiny srs bsns furries with victim complexes are offended by this joke of a slur.


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## nallstiena (Jul 17, 2014)

oh noes im sorry I said anything, I dont wanna be srs bsns.


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## Batty Krueger (Jul 17, 2014)

Lucius_Felix said:


> Hey hey hey, is that Grant Imahara?  And cats with laser eyes?


Why yes it is!


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## Sar (Jul 18, 2014)

This would make pretty hilarious bait for other Furry boards if people were stupid enough.


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## Sarcastic Coffeecup (Jul 18, 2014)

Ninten said:


> We only really use that term jokingly for gay furries. Just look at all the people who use the term to describe themselves.


Furfags are all furs in general.

At least I call everyone furfags


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## Ayattar (Jul 18, 2014)

Batty Krueger said:


> I have that shirt too!



You fucking maniacs! What have you done to those kittens!!! You poked their eyes out with some kind of sticks! JESUS! Horrible!


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## Sar (Jul 18, 2014)

Sarcastic Coffeecup said:


> Furfags are all furs in general.
> 
> At least I call everyone furfags



I'm pretty sure that is the agreed term. There was like a Furry UN meeting on this. It was a slow week.


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## Hana-Nezumi (Jul 18, 2014)

I do find it offensive, because I find the word "fag" offensive, because it's a slur. No, being gay yourself does not give you the right to use a slur as a term of "endearment". Just like being black doesn't mean you get to use the N-word freely, in my eyes. Good luck finding someone who cares about not being offensive on this forum, though.


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## Lucius_Felix (Jul 18, 2014)

Words are not magic.  A slur is only a slur if it is intended as such. They're just sounds or strings of letters.  Treating them with holy reverence is what gives them the power to hurt.  Oppression is fueled by dignity and awe.  Laughing at it is one of the best ways to hurt it.

Of course, it is important to understand the difference between laughing at the foolishness of oppression, and laughing at the oppressed.  That concern is part of why Dave Chappelle quit his show-- your audience has to be smart enough that the joke is on the person stupid enough to be racist, not that racist caricatures are comedy gold.



Sarukai said:


> This would make pretty hilarious bait for other Furry boards if people were stupid enough.



People are stupid enough, somewhere.  You just have to find them.




Ayattar said:


> You fucking maniacs! What have you done to those kittens!!! You poked their eyes out with some kind of sticks! JESUS! Horrible!



They knew what they were getting into when they signed up.  I have no sympathy.


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## Troj (Jul 18, 2014)

I would agree that "furfag" at this point just means "furry," and has little-to-nothing to do with sexual orientation. I'm mostly-heterosexual, and I've used "furfag" to refer to myself, after all.



> Words are not magic.  A slur is only a slur if it is intended as such.  They're just sounds or strings of letters.  Treating them with holy  reverence is what gives them the power to hurt.  Oppression is fueled by  dignity and awe.  Laughing at it is one of the best ways to hurt it.
> 
> Of course, it is important to understand the difference between laughing  at the foolishness of oppression, and laughing at the oppressed.  That  concern is part of why Dave Chappelle quit his show-- your audience has  to be smart enough that the joke is on the person stupid enough to be  racist, not that racist caricatures are comedy gold.



Well said, Lucius.

Many of my social-justice-oriented friends treat slurs like the wizarding community treats Voldemort's name, and I think that's the wrong approach to take. If someone drops a slur in the forest with no one around to hear it, in my book, it doesn't mean a thing.

My preference is to employ slurs in such a way so that their ability to actually hurt people is gradually sucked out of them.

_But_, you also have to be on the lookout for people who are using "irony" as an excuse to be genuinely bigoted and shitty, and it can be tricky at times to differentiate between genuine irony or satire, and this false "irony."


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## Batty Krueger (Jul 18, 2014)

Ayattar said:


> You fucking maniacs! What have you done to those kittens!!! You poked their eyes out with some kind of sticks! JESUS! Horrible!


Its lazer cats!


Hana-Nezumi said:


> I do find it offensive, because I find the word "fag" offensive, because it's a slur. No, being gay yourself does not give you the right to use a slur as a term of "endearment". Just like being black doesn't mean you get to use the N-word freely, in my eyes. Good luck finding someone who cares about not being offensive on this forum, though.


This is america, I have the right to say whatever the fuck I want.
Fascist.


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## Butters Shikkon (Jul 18, 2014)

Troj said:


> _But_, you also have to be on the lookout for people who are using "irony" as an excuse to be genuinely bigoted and shitty, and it can be tricky at times to differentiate between genuine irony or satire, and this false "irony."



This is where I become suspicious of the word. There are people who don't use the word fag to intentionally separate people and ingrain ignorance...but then there are those who hide behind "its just a joke" to spread it. 

And language does have a power over people, even if they wish or think it doesn't. The absolute magic of communication is just something to awe at if you really do think about it. And Troj, I rather think you are one who can appreciate it. 

There are people who will use these techinques (if you will) to sort of "covertly" ingrain hatred or even apathy in the populous. We've come a very very long way. And I'm not falling for this cheap trick. Fag and "thats so gay" are rather clever because so many people don't even notice how much they affect people's thinking. Hatred is so common they don't even know what they are doing. 

As this thread has proven I dare say.


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## Hana-Nezumi (Jul 18, 2014)

Batty Krueger said:


> This is america, I have the right to say whatever the fuck I want.
> Fascist.


Ouch, you got me.


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## Lucius_Felix (Jul 18, 2014)

He was not the most diplomatic, but he's not the only one to find "people don't have the right to say [something, anything]" alarming.  The answer to bad speech is good speech, not censorship, and the right to offend is fundamental to a free society.


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## Inpw (Jul 18, 2014)

Batty Krueger said:


> Why yes it is!



That is pretty fucken epic! The Purple Bat is epic!

Plus I want those shirts....


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## Hewge (Jul 18, 2014)

This thread is _fur-fagalicious!_


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## jmac32here (Nov 1, 2018)

You see, after reading this.. It makes me wanna do something fun.

Recently, the domain to one of my sites (which is only a redirect, mind you) was being blacklisted by google for "deceptive actions"  (yet, the website itself that I run has not)

So, I was looking at a new domain to use as a redirect, and found furfag.net.  So I'm thinking of creating a drako.furfag.net to goto Drako's Den - which is an adult furry kink site.


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## Fallowfox (Nov 1, 2018)

Oh my goodness, a 4 year necro.


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## Jarren (Nov 1, 2018)

How do people even dig deep enough to find these?


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## Yakamaru (Nov 1, 2018)

Jarren said:


> How do people even dig deep enough to find these?


They dig thoroughly deep.


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## CertifiedCervine (Nov 1, 2018)

Jarren said:


> How do people even dig deep enough to find these?


Maybe stumble across it by search? Idk


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## Zehlua (Nov 3, 2018)

I don't like being called a fag in any regard. I am a person, not a cigarette.


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## Yakamaru (Nov 3, 2018)

Zehlua said:


> I don't like being called a fag in any regard. I am a person, not a cigarette.


You furcigarette. :V


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## Zehlua (Nov 3, 2018)

Yakamaru said:


> You furcigarette. :V


This is only acceptable if someone is complimenting my highly addictive hot butt.


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## Toby_Morpheus (Nov 3, 2018)

*coughs*
What did I... *cough* walk into?
This place smells like mothballs.
*cough*
Anyways.
Only time I see the term used is for self-deprecating humor.
Like gays calling themselves or each other derogatory things.

It removes the power of an insult to own it and use it yourself.


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## Infrarednexus (Nov 3, 2018)

I personally don't like the term. I used to be really bothered by it, but after being in the fandom longer, I just stopped getting offended by it, especially since furries sometimes use it to describe themselves.

If you remove the word "fur" from the term, then that's a whole different story, especially if you live in the United States where it's used as an insult almost all the time.


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## Zehlua (Nov 3, 2018)

Prometheus_Fox said:


> *coughs*
> What did I... *cough* walk into?
> This place smells like mothballs.
> *cough*
> ...


Reclaiming words is a very real thing, and I applaud it! But for me personally, I prefer not to use it.


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## SSJ3Mewtwo (Nov 4, 2018)

Closing this due to necro


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