# Did you ever deny your furriness?



## Joey (Sep 2, 2013)

I know this is a stupid question since yeah, _everybody knows it's just a hobby_, but what was your first impression of anthro related stuff as an adult? Did it take a while to "let" yourself get involved with it? Did you ever deny you liked it?

For some furs, it just becomes a thing and that's it. But I think for others it's a little more complicated: it has to grow on them for a while.


----------



## Aleu (Sep 2, 2013)

I don't think I denied it per se. I remember someone asking me if I was a furry because of my email address at the time and I said "no" because I didn't really know what a furry was.
Then I found the fandom and browsed it around a bit. I liked what I saw, related to it and so I said "Yeah I'm a furry"


----------



## nureintier (Sep 2, 2013)

Not really. I had a furry avatar of a pink anthro cat on livejournal maybe 13 years ago, and someone on my friends list said,"you're not a furry, are you?" And I said, "Maybe  I am. What of it?" That's really the only time anyone seemed to give a damn and even ask about it. Of course, around the same time I was in college for animation, and people probably thought it was normal for me to draw cartoon animals anyway.


----------



## Seekrit (Sep 2, 2013)

Only to myself. I realised there's nothing wrong with being a furry, so now I just go with it. Same with a lot of things.


----------



## Sarcastic Coffeecup (Sep 2, 2013)

Nah, not really.


----------



## Charrio (Sep 2, 2013)

I'll admit it, At times when dealing with a client which isn't so Furry Inclined i have denied my furry love. 
I have a Portfolio which is clean of most furry stuff to show a possible client stuff that isn't furry based and that I can do normal stuff when i am paid to. 

I kinda feel bad for doing it but have to Eat too, so I do what i have to like draw porn for cash.


----------



## Volkodav (Sep 2, 2013)

The first person IRL who asked me if I was a furry asked me "do you fuck dogs" a sentence later.
Needless to say, I denied being a furry.


----------



## Rokte (Sep 2, 2013)

I'm quite shameless so no.


----------



## Neon Poi (Sep 2, 2013)

I used to be ashamed of it back in high school, but now I just don't care. Everyone can know for all I care.


----------



## Batty Krueger (Sep 2, 2013)

No, not at all.  I was a furry long before I knew what a furry was.  
Growing up I always had an infatuation with fuzzy animal head people cartoons.  If it wasnt animal head people I didnt have any interest in it.  
The furry concept has always intrigued me, but up till I was 14 or so I had zero clue that this fandom existed.  

At first it was a hobby for me, but as I grew into the fandom it became much more.


----------



## PastryOfApathy (Sep 2, 2013)

No because I've never accepted it. I'm only here to laugh at you people.


----------



## Troj (Sep 2, 2013)

Oh, definitely.

I had all the standard furry hobbies and interests, but because I'd heard that furries were sad, pathetic perverts who jerk off to Minerva Mink and throw hissy fits when people won't refer to them as Dragon-American, I distanced myself from the fandom--while still occasionally consuming their lit, art, and costuming--for over a decade.


----------



## Distorted (Sep 2, 2013)

I denied a lot of things about myself. Then I went to DragonCon.....

I came back with the realization that I was a furry, and also a very strange person. The very kind that I mocked and avoided for so many years. I have come to terms with it now.


----------



## Jabberwocky (Sep 2, 2013)

OH yes, of course!
I didn't openly admit I was a furry till last year because assholes at school would piss me off and constantly nag me to see if I was a furry. So, as a defense, I denied it. I basically told them to fuck off, and I was left alone. Then I thought it was safe to admit that yeah I was a furry. Now I don't care if everyone knows.


----------



## Alexxx-Returns (Sep 2, 2013)

*NEVER!*

I didn't have a clue about the furry fandom until a year and a half ago, but as soon as I did, I just thought "huh, I'm a furry".

And life went on.


----------



## Heliophobic (Sep 2, 2013)

To be honest, I don't really even remember _how_ I became a furry. It was all so gradual and well-paced that there was never really a definite moment where I "became" a furry. It's like when a song fades out extremely slowly and you can't really determine when exactly it becomes completely silent until like a few seconds after it does.

Hell, I can't even remember if I knew what the fandom was before I became a furry.


----------



## PsychicOtter (Sep 2, 2013)

Yes, but only for a little while.


----------



## Remba Hatari (Sep 2, 2013)

Only when dealing with the public at work. My customers, for example, and co-workers won't understand what a furmeet is. So instead of trying to explain the fandom - I say it's a giant bloc party and my friends and I BBQ in the park. I call it PitP instead of a furmeet. Party in the park.

If the same person talked to me later on, like at a bar, and furries were brought up - I'd lay it straight out, show them FA on SFW mode, and the Wikifur page. 

If my interests negatively affect this person, I rather it not negatively affect my work. So I can only hope that they can separate the two.

Other than than, I basically run around screaming FURRIES4LIFE with my rainbow paw print cape and heroic golden helmet on my 6 speed with a horn and a bell. Ching ching.


----------



## Falaffel (Sep 2, 2013)

I stayed away from making an account on FA for quite a while because I really didn't want to be sucked in. 
Now I'm here with 3000 posts.


----------



## Heliophobic (Sep 2, 2013)

Falaffel said:


> I stayed away from making an account on FA for quite a while because I really didn't want to be sucked in.
> Now I'm here with 3000 posts.



And now you're a furry waffle.


----------



## Kitsune Cross (Sep 2, 2013)

Never had to, not even online


----------



## Vukasin (Sep 2, 2013)

Kitsune Cross said:


> Never had to, not even online


Same with me. I've never been asked by anybody whether I am a furry or not.


----------



## Harbinger (Sep 2, 2013)

Yes, which is wierd. I've had furry thoughts all my life, but when i found about furries online i denied it for a while because i was introduced to it as being told it was disgusting and wrong. Didnt help that the first furries i saw were on a forum and over the top twats. But then i suddenly switched and looked at it art myself and loved it. Then started noticing decent furries. Like i said it was wierd that i thought it was wrong in the first place seeing as i've been one since as long as i can remember.

Well thats to myself at least, as to outsiders of the fandom no one knows. They know im an animal nut, but when they find out i like anthro art they would just see it that wrong way as if i liked animals in a nasty way.


----------



## Hewge (Sep 2, 2013)

No.


----------



## DrDingo (Sep 2, 2013)

Meh, nobody's never gonna ask me anyway. If they do, I'll just make a judgement based on whether I think it'll have any negative effects.


----------



## Willow (Sep 2, 2013)

Funny story. One time when I was in seventh grade, I was staying after school for some reason and decided to sit in the library while I waiting for the bus to come. At the time I was kind of new to the whole furry thing having only discovered it probably a few days before so I was really only getting into it. 

So I'm sitting in the library minding my own business drawing Willow when one of the teachers walks by and asks what I'm doing. I think I told him I was either putting together some sketches for a costume or something like that and he just flat out asks if I'm a furry. Which was weird in itself because I really wasn't expecting him to know what that was. 

That was the only time I'd ever really denied it but that was more of a gut reaction and I almost feel like he didn't believe me when I said no.


----------



## Ji-Ji (Sep 2, 2013)

I said no before I knew it what it was, and now I know, I say no to most folk. Mainly because they don't know what it is and teaching people can get tiring when you're surrounded by idiots.


----------



## powderhound (Sep 2, 2013)

Is this thread asking if you would deny it to yourself or others?

Self: no.

Others: oh god yes.


----------



## Alexxx-Returns (Sep 2, 2013)

I never deny it to anyone.

Everyone close to me knows, because they know a lot about my hobbies - which involve drawing (mostly anthros) and of the making of a fursuit. And that always leads on to describing that one is a furry.

I told my parents, brother, close friends, even my ex who I wanted back. And I would be as open with anyone else who asked.


----------



## TobyDingo (Sep 2, 2013)

If someone asked me if i was a furry, i wouldn't deny it. I admit it would involve some explaining that i'm not into any of the weird fetish shit and i would most likely end up fighting a losing battle on how the fandom is not how it is portrayed in the media. 
Luckily this is avoidable as none of my friends know what a furry is. No one has ever asked me. They just think i enjoy drawing cartoon animals.
I suppose i still slightly deny my furriness to myself, mainly when i'm bombarded with twisted furry porn on the main site and think to my self 'do i really belong here?'


----------



## Troj (Sep 2, 2013)

I lied by omission today while suiting for the Labor Day Fair. I was resting with my head off, and a lady came over and began to chat me up about my suit, and I mentioned that other people have dance competitions and such. She seemed genuinely intrigued, and expressed interest in watching the dancing on Youtube. I gave her search terms to try, and when I mentioned fursuits, she said, "Oh, no, I don't want to see any 'furry' things. My son told me about those people!" and talked about how her son told a friend of his "what furries do" when they get together, and that friend _also_ turned out to be a furry. I joked, "They're among us!" and then joked that such 'activities' would ruin a $1,000 investment AND cause you to die of heatstroke, so no one in their right mind would do such a thing, and she chuckled and agreed.

I just found it funny how a woman basically told a furry about how gross furries are, after lamenting the fact that her son was friends with stealth furries .  Reminds me of when an acquaintance of mine told me to watch out for Satanists on Halloween, because they sacrifice babies and animals.


----------



## Judge Spear (Sep 2, 2013)

STEALTH FURRIES!?!?! ROFL!


----------



## Troj (Sep 2, 2013)

THEY DWELL AMONG US, WAITING FOR THEIR MOMENT TO STRIKE, AND YIFF US ALL!

I suppose it's a testament to my good nature, sweet face, and charisma that most people don't seem to suspect that I'm one of "those people" (whomever "those people" might be in that moment).


----------



## Hewge (Sep 2, 2013)

LORD HELP US ALL

-enters stealth mode-


----------



## Mr-Awesome1942 (Sep 3, 2013)

Yep, several times. I was worried about what my friends would think about me. Now, I wish I had not. Really, if they are my friends, they will support me anyway. If they don't want to be my friend anymore, then forget them.


----------



## Charrio (Sep 3, 2013)

The only place to Deny being a Furry is On Camera when Caught in a Barn or other Farm Like place at night. 
Doesn't have to be perverted intent but the placement and topic is bound to be a bad idea once posted online to your blog or YouTube. 

Also talking with reporters about how Furry is a good thing never seems to end well, so probably not a good idea to go on about it either.


----------



## Aulendra (Sep 3, 2013)

Yeah, for a while as a teenager. However as an adult I've since learned to say "fuck it", and while it's most certainly not advertised my closest friends and whoever I'm dating eventually find out.


----------



## Toshabi (Sep 3, 2013)

ITT: Coming out/Coming to terms with being a furry.


----------



## Armaetus (Sep 3, 2013)

I don't tell total strangers that I am, thus no need to.


----------



## Butters Shikkon (Sep 3, 2013)

Nope never. Seems sorta foolish to do so if its just an interest.


----------



## mapdark (Sep 3, 2013)

I did a number of times. 
I simply did not want to get involved with a few people who looked a bit mental , so I told them that they were mistaken and that I wasn't part of the fandom just to get them off my back.

It wasn't out of shame but rather out of necessity


----------



## MochiElZorro (Sep 3, 2013)

I was introduced to furry as a bad, sexual thing involving bestiality and fursuits. Ironically, I told two friends about this and one not only made friends with countless furries, but proceeded to go furry over night without even realizing that his friends and his interests were furry as a fox's tail. Even more ironically, what intoduced me to furry being evil was a furry comic, of all things (ya know, one of the ones that claims it's not furry to avoid being associated). So I started thinking it was bad.

Then I found out I had furry interests as well as furry-related fetishes. Queue an overly long, overly intense, overly elaborate cognative dissonance that lasted almost two years. Yeah. Two bloody years. Hard to accept something you associate with beastiality, especially when your family is all right-wing fundamentalist Christians. Eventually, my worldview ended up pretty different than before... I mean, I though being gay was a choice or some bullshit before I re-examined everything through the eyes of a furry. It was a pretty serious turning point.

As for denying to other people... yeah. Unless the other person is furry or furry-friendly, I deny it or lie via omission. Though getting to know someone who hates it and then turning their little world upside-down is always fun.


----------



## Charrio (Sep 3, 2013)

MochiElZorro said:


> Then I found out I had furry interests as well as furry-related fetishes. Queue an overly long, overly intense, overly elaborate cognative dissonance that lasted almost two years. Yeah. Two bloody years. Hard to accept something you associate with beastiality, especially when your family is all right-wing fundamentalist Christians. Eventually, my worldview ended up pretty different than before... I mean, I though being gay was a choice or some bullshit before I re-examined everything through the eyes of a furry. It was a pretty serious turning point.



I know this pain well, I had to distance myself for a time when i felt so disgusted at certain aspects the fandom seems to embrace with gusto, needless to say I got over it but still find it annoying the Furry Fandom is so plagued by such things.


----------



## Mr. Sparta (Sep 3, 2013)

To be honest I never thought that furries were ever a giant hole of fetishes, even after venturing to the deepest depths of this fandom. A majority of the people i see every day are repulsed by this community and want nothing to do with it. When encountering the subject with friends, I usually take the approach of acknowledging the fact that I think furries are fine, while avoiding the truth of how involved i am with the community.


----------



## Batty Krueger (Sep 4, 2013)

Ah shit I just realized who made this thread, lol.


This dicknugget hit me up to hang out awhile ago then never replied back.
This topic fits him perfectly.


----------



## Butters Shikkon (Sep 4, 2013)

d.batty said:


> Ah shit I just realized who made this thread, lol.
> 
> 
> This dicknugget hit me up to hang out awhile ago then never replied back.
> This topic fits him perfectly.



He also made the infamous Slutfox thread. 

That was the ultimate murrypurrymcflurry fun thread.


----------



## PheagleAdler (Sep 4, 2013)

of course I have, to my unaccepting stepmother when she found out I posted support for the furry community on a news article using my facebook account.


----------



## Ozriel (Sep 4, 2013)

I do not deny it, but I don't go around telling everyone that I am an animal-headed nerd.


----------



## Alexxx-Returns (Sep 4, 2013)

Today I was talking to people at work that I've known for a month, about my fursuit. No negative reception.


----------



## Iryno (Sep 4, 2013)

Alex The Lemur said:


> _everybody knows it's just a hobby_



Everybody.

*tabs back over to e621*


----------



## Kane morioka (Sep 5, 2013)

Well I only found out about the fandom last summer and im a freshman in high school now and alot of my friends know im a fur and im alot shamless so no i never denied it but i dont just go arond telling everyone im a furry ,simply because i live in a town with maybe idk almost 20,400 people in the entire county literally so yeah i live in a hick town with very little tolerence for anything different examples: ricer, gays or just people who dont have a diesel truck that daddy bought them, so the answer, no i never denied it the other stuff isnt really relivent or maybe ot is to someome


----------



## DarrylWolf (Sep 5, 2013)

No, but I did deny my fursona for about a month, before realizing that I have an opportunity, through him, to do things that I never dreamed possible. And if it's too hot for you, you are more than welcome to leave the kitchen. 

I never denied being Furry because I was surrounded by family and friends who supported me as I made known my Furriness. Best parents a Furry could ask for.


----------



## Calemeyr (Sep 5, 2013)

I don't have to deny it because I hide it. I don't want to be associated with all the loud freaks in this fandom, minority of thr furry population or not. I didn't join the fandom as a way to end my nerd virginity. I don't want to hookup and break away in a night; that's for fratboys. Hell, the only reason I'm here is for the suits and some of the art, where the scifi fandom intersects this one. I don't get the community, since I doubt half of all the people in the fandom have an interest in anthropomorphics outside of an afterthought. EDIT: (they're here for the pornography/sexual "liberation" first, and use funny animals as a means to explore weirder kinks since funny animals aren't human. Also half might be too drastic. But I don't think that many people nowadays came to the fandom originally for the purpose of enjoying bugs bunny cartoons.)

But most of all, the people around me in college strike me as the kind of people who nitpick over everything and get judgemental about other nerds besides them in hopes of making themselves feel better. The modern 4chan types. And they would annoy the hell out of me if they knew I was a furry, even though some of them might be bronies.

Well, I'm nearly in grad school, so I'd expect people to realize I'm no obsessed fanboy since I would have to be obsessed with my doctoral work instead. No room for two obsessions, but maybe just enough for a hobby and the occasional costuming at a con. I doubt grad students are obsessed with some stupid nerd hierarchy, so I don't think I'd need to keep it a secret anymore.


----------



## MochiElZorro (Sep 5, 2013)

Saying that half of a fandom dedicated to a concept has no interest whatsoever in the concept is a tad silly, I think. Maybe just me.


----------



## Inpw (Sep 5, 2013)

If you don't ask you wouldn't know. No reason for announcing it IMO. The fandom is angled pretty badly from the public's perspective. Pathetic lonely guys fucking their pets not to mention the injustice of pony and cub porn, giving the idea that we are all a bunch of zoophilia crazed pedophiles. It doesn't help that a big percentage of the fandom are as said.


----------



## Vaelarsa (Sep 5, 2013)

I didn't even know about furry until about five or six years ago. And my information came from ED, so I thought it was strictly a bunch of weirdos with a fetish.
So I wouldn't really call it "denying" my furry-ness, so much as having a misinformed (more accurately: incomplete) impression. Because I'm _still_ not one of those weirdos who jacks it to anthro animal cock.

Strictly going by the definition of "someone who has an interest in anthro animal concepts / funny animal cartoons", I guess I've always qualified as a furry. Disney kid, right hurr. Although I didn't get involved with the fandom until fairly recently.


----------



## Fallowfox (Sep 5, 2013)

I realised I was as soon as I was introduced to the topic.

My friends have asked before and I've told them I'm not. Same about being gay, or anything personal.

Nobody I meet regularly in real life knows anything about me spare what is academically necessary.


----------



## Abbi Normal (Sep 6, 2013)

I don't deny it exactly, but I lie by omission to most of my friends, and just refrain from mentioning it because I know no one else is into it, and it would just be awkward. I guess if they asked outright for some reason, I'd probably tell them, but it never has because I don't want to go on and on about something no one else is interested in, regardless of what that thing is. 

Just like how I know that while almost everybody has played Skyrim at some point, this is not the same thing as actually being in the Elder Scrolls fandom, especially since everyone else I know only played on the console. They like playing Skyrim, whereas I'm also into the other games back to Arena, the lore of that universe, modding, mod-making, Elder Scrolls fanfiction, etc. So while I could talk about that stuff all day if you let me, I know they don't want to hear word one, so I keep my mouth shut on the subject unless specifically asked ("Hey, Abbi, point out on my map where the Thief stone is."). 

It's not that I hide either one of those hobbies. If I have friends coming over, I don't leap up and hide the Creation Kit or my latest furry-related drawing before they arrive, especially since I don't draw anything that weird, really. I was working on the pic my av was cropped from the other day, when my friend dropped by, and asked to watch me draw for a while. I have difficulty imagining he didn't at least guess I'm a furry, but the exchange was basically just, "What are you drawing?" "She's a hyena." "Who was brave enough to pierce a hyena's ears?" "Uh...maybe...the piercer was a doberman who's an experienced professional body mod artist. Even cropped his own ears." "Of course he was." 

The only reason I think of it as being hidden on some minor level from my friends, was the last guy in our social circle who was openly furry was a bad stereotype of furriness and all-round kind of a shitty person, which many people I know came to associate with furry in general, since he never shut up about it. Anything he did had to have catpeople jackhammered into it, no matter how badly it doesn't fit, and everyone resented him for it, mostly for refusing to play any race but his cat people in the D&D games (and the character had to be a kid too...:/). Hopefully me being a furry who's not a total dick might change their minds.


----------



## benignBiotic (Sep 6, 2013)

d.batty said:


> *If it wasnt animal head people I didnt have any interest in it.  *
> The furry concept has always intrigued me, but up till I was 14 or so I had zero clue that this fandom existed.
> 
> At first it was a hobby for me, but as I grew into the fandom it became much more.


I know that feel bro. 

I denied my furry-ness up until I joined FAF last year. College was a weird time for me and I wasn't ready to admit that I was a furry. But once I graduated I was like "Lets face it. I am a goddamn furry."


----------



## PheagleAdler (Sep 7, 2013)

my mother knows because she saw my Anthrocon shirts in the wash XP


----------



## benignBiotic (Sep 10, 2013)

PheagleAdler said:


> my mother knows because she saw my Anthrocon shirts in the wash XP


lol Good thing you weren't at college and a dorm-mate saw them. Your reputation would be in the toilet.


----------



## Ieatcrackersandjumpcliffs (Sep 11, 2013)

All the time. I still do. Sometimes I rent a motel room and suit up and cry on the bed.


----------



## Abbi Normal (Sep 11, 2013)

Is it too late to change my answer to, "Yes, just this morning. Three times before the cock crowed."?


----------



## benignBiotic (Sep 11, 2013)

I'm so beyond denying my furryness. It's been slowly overtaking my Tumblr and I am making no apologies.


----------



## Daryx (Sep 11, 2013)

I don't make it point of telling everyone I meet, but if someone asks I won't deny it. My immediate family and some of my friends know, and they don't care. Back when I was in High School, the background on my school-provided laptop was furry-related (a fursuiter... Skroy I believe). Only once did someone mention it. He said "you're a furry? figures...".


----------



## Xionist (Sep 11, 2013)

Denied being a furry? Oh for the longest time, yes. I started becoming very interested in the fandom 'round my middle school years, which was 'bout.. 7 years ago. I had, still do, certain anxieties about losing friends so I refused to do or say anything that would make me seem really creepy/weird. It wasn't until recently, several years later, I realized I was just being stupid and accepted my interests. If people don't like it, I am sure I will be able to find those that do 'round here. 


...At least I hope!


----------



## benignBiotic (Sep 11, 2013)

Daryx said:


> I don't make it point of telling everyone I meet, but if someone asks *I won't deny it*. My immediate family and some of my friends know, and they don't care.


That's essentially how I operate. If someone has the internet savvy to notice that I am (obviously) a furry I'm not going to say 'no'.


----------



## Torvus (Sep 12, 2013)

I was originally into werewolves, which are cool. So I wasn't shy about that.

Then I made them fat, which was different, so I was actually proud of that.

So my high school experience was actually pretty good. I didn't get paranoid until I became an adult. I'm paranoid to this day, and I only share these things with people I really trust.

It's like being gay or bi because people don't really understand it, and they fear what they don't understand.


----------



## captainbrant (Sep 12, 2013)

.


----------



## Showdog (Jan 28, 2014)

I don't really have anyone I need to tell. Most of my friends don't even know what furries are. And even then I don't really show that I am. But on the inside I label myself as a true furry. Some day hopefully ill have friends who are furry. But until then...


----------



## Halopromise (Jan 28, 2014)

Never. I live in an area no one cares. So no need to deny it? Besides, I find it kinda irritating to be honest. I can see in front of the people who're obnoxious... but to the world and other furries, kinda makes me roll my eyes. Especially when they go all out with like... parade floats to yell at people they're not a furry.


----------



## funky3000 (Jan 28, 2014)

I used to around peers. Sometimes more strongly than other times but overall I kept it with close friends. In 6th grade I did a collab comic with a friend in spare time, and it contained furries for the majority of it. In 7th I shared a furry character with what I would call a "loose friend", like used to make fun of me but has a joking relationship. He didn't really like it at all. I shared a different one with my gym teacher. He was impressed by my drawing skills but didn't seem to really care about it being a furry. Well I should probably call it a scaley instead, as it was just straight dragon, no kitty. Yep, used to be a scaley but my heart melted for the fluff. Maybe I'm a mixture of both now? Who knows. Anyway so things got really unstable with furries at school about a year ago. That kept me from speaking about it for a bit, until I decided to suck it up. I told my close friends. One turned out to be a furry, another appears to be attracted to furries but is not one himself. 2 thought it was cool or didn't react. One responded a bit negatively due to the freshman incident last year, but I managed to explain the situation a bit clearer and he was fine with it. In fact I even stealthily told a whole class this year. Giving 3 things about ourselves, we had to list 2 truth and 1 lie. I chose "I'm a gamer", "I once shot a half court", and "I'm a furry". Most people chose the second as the lie but I'm surprised they didn't react about me being a furry. Eventually I told my father, and my stepsister found out on her own. Well she probably doesn't even know that furries are a thing but she's seen my drawings and videos of suiters. I have yet to tell my stepmother. She says I should get a GF but if I don't tell her I'm a furry she'd be confused about my plans and complications. Lastly, I think final turf is my soon to come psychology class. The teacher there looked up info on furries himself but mistook the neko freshmen for furries and people are mad at furries in general now. To tell him or the class would be a spark of insanity. I feel he associates them with wierdos, and most kids I know going into psychology with me were part of the antifurry reaction last year. I'd be treading on dangerous territory. I might write it in a journal though if the topic is appropriate. He assigns us a notebook and we journal in it what he chooses the general topic to be. He also lets us write if we really want him to read it. If the subject is appropriate, I'll tell him who I really am, tell him where he went wrong, deny the fandom's stereotypes, etc.

Overall I'm presently open about me being a furry. I won't go shouting I am one, but if someone who isn't a friend asks, I won't deny it.


----------



## DarrylWolf (Jan 28, 2014)

There never really was any doubt about my Furriness. As soon as I found out about the movement in high school and went to the first convention while still a community college student in 2009, the same year I joined FurAffinity. There was a bit of a problem accepting my fursona's coloration; I struggled for months trying not to believe what I had just done. Then, I realized that turning all the self-hatred and jealousy into something productive and beautiful would be a worthwhile endeavor.

My question- if you saw me in fursuit, and a red, black, and green ensemble would you recognize me as a "dissident"?


----------



## DrDingo (Jan 28, 2014)

I know I made a post on here when the thread was first set up, but I'm gonna change my answer. 
If a friend asked me directly, I'd say yes. I don't make an effort to hide it away from people, but I don't tell 'em for the hell of it. That'd be strange.
Since my previous post, one of my friends found out about my involvement when he asked me about a guy I added to a Skype call with him. And to think that I said that'd never happen! Pfft.


----------



## Kragith Zedrok (Jan 28, 2014)

I wouldn't say I'd deny it, If I was asked by someone randome I would beat around the bush yea but I really want to tell my best friend of 12 years, part of me is holding that back. No one knows what I do, kinda sucks that I don't speak out but part of me likes it I guess. I don't do a thing to suggest that I have a sona., no rp nothing. I drop my Sona's name by my friend a lot now, he still doesn't know, or atleast he acts that way. Once he does ask I hope he says he's here lol. Never have I expressed anything to family either. Call me cautious so yeaaa...


----------



## Karuvatto (Jan 28, 2014)

Hm, I suppose I did. I went full furry for sometime _(under a year)_ on some old forums, to the point where I would imagine myself _(on the internet imagination land, of course)_ with a tail and being like a cat. 

Over time though it just kind of dropped out of my head and I didn't think a thing of it, I suppose because at that point the internet people I was around always portrayed furries as being nothing but disgusting degenerates who are all idiots and into disgusting things like diaper scat porn. Everyone's different so I couldn't believe that at all, but around that time the idea of my fursona just dropped out of my head.
Though adding someone at that time who would always push real hard with RP-Furry stuff was kind of... off-putting, as well. Since he would always 'swipe my tail' and 'nuzzle my fur', the imagination of it was cute but I'm just not an RP'er, I don't mind the off-emote for it here and there but he did it consistently.

I like the whole fursona thing, and I love the art community furries have, but my friend always told me that just by looking through the art work of the furry community and having a fur friend that still makes me a furry. I have a fursona too so I guess there's no excuse to deny it.
I wont be making fur costumes or ordering any though. I'm fine with keeping it on the internet solely. Only time I'd bring it into reality is if that's what my boyfriend wants.

Though if anyone ever asked me if I was a furry in the future, I wouldn't know how to respond honestly. I'd probably deny it just because I'm afraid of the person saying _'ew gross bestiality humper'_ then walking away.


----------



## Toboe13 (Jan 28, 2014)

I still don't know if I consider myself a furry. I like anthro art but I feel no need to dress up, RP, or pretend in any way that I'm an animal (not trying to offend anyone), it's just not my thing. I do, however, love the artists on this site and I enjoy drawing furry art. Not sure if that makes me a furry, but that's what it is.


----------



## DrDingo (Jan 28, 2014)

Toboe13 said:


> I still don't know if I consider myself a furry. I like anthro art but* I feel no need to dress up, RP, or pretend in any way that I'm an animal* (not trying to offend anyone), it's just not my thing. I do, however, love the artists on this site and I enjoy drawing furry art. Not sure if that makes me a furry, but that's what it is.


Not many of us here do that kinda stuff. I don't. You're a furry when you like anthros or anthro art and call yourself a furry. That's it in a nutshell.


----------



## IAmTheFatman666 (Jan 28, 2014)

I wouldn't deny it, if someone asked, but I don't run around screaming it.


----------



## Sar (Jan 29, 2014)

No one asks me and I don't bring it up every sentence I speak. So no one asks me and I don't need to care.


----------



## Crystal_the_Vixen (Jan 29, 2014)

It was more like I stopped being a furry.
I discovered the furry fandom when I was a freshman, I stopped for 3 years because the furry porn disgusted me.
But I became a furry again my senior year.


----------



## LadyToorima (Jan 29, 2014)

Considering I'm a relatively new fur, no I haven't. I've told my boyfriend (non-fur), my parents, my friends, and some co-workers. I haven't denied it because I don't see it as that big a deal.


----------



## Mekali Kaga (Jan 29, 2014)

I've only been in the fandom for 6 months. I ended up accepting the fact that I was a fur after I had to explain what #CheetahNOMs was to my co-workers and my growing interest of furries since going to AC 2013, my first ever con. My boss at work found out and asked me about it; now I think she's encouraging me to save some money to get a fursuit in the future. Other than that, I don't really talk about it and will continue to do so until someone asks me about it. I see no rhyme or reason to advertise it to the world.


----------



## Andy Dingo Wolf (Jan 29, 2014)

Many times xP I eventually just stopped denying.


----------



## Joey (Jan 30, 2014)

Crystal_the_Vixen said:


> It was more like I stopped being a furry.
> I discovered the furry fandom when I was a freshman, I stopped for 3 years because the furry porn disgusted me.
> But I became a furry again my senior year.



Hahahaha story of my life.


----------



## funky3000 (Jan 30, 2014)

Lol, I was totally a furry almost naturally. Seriously how many people have drawn furries in elementary school? About 9 years from my first picture I could be considered a furry but maybe 5 years ago I jokingly called myself a furry. Just last April I joined FA to basically say "what the fuck lets make this official". My sona is a 3-4 year old character, just refurbished. I might do some minor tweaking still but I'll see. I'm not too happy with his transition of black body to gray legs, it doesn',t feel right.

Bleehh, I'm rambling now, I should be off to bed. Its almost 12:30, I wake up at quarter to 6.


----------



## DrDingo (Jan 30, 2014)

The stuff in the furry fandom isn't the kinda stuff I always liked; I'm not one of those guys that has been fascinated with anthros since I was a child. I just learned to like it, I suppose. 
When I started looking at the fandom, I denied myself the thought that I was or could be any part of it. Then one day I thought 'screw it' and joined.


----------



## Tamara of Tammyland (Jan 30, 2014)

I never denied it, im just more of a low-notch furry since I don't like the creepiness and fetishes. Ive always liked animal-ish creatures anyway, so it didn't make a difference to people around me.


----------



## DeCatt (Jan 31, 2014)

Connoisseur of anthropomorphic artworks here. I do not know of this "murry furry" you speak of. :V

But if I was actually asked I would honestly answer "yes". I draw this crap in class and just about everyone sees me drawing it, and absolutely no fucks are given. I'm putting this down to the fact that I am an obvious hobbyist and not a lifestyler (e.g. I don't write "furry pride" on my folders, talk about it all the time to people I know, don't introduce myself to new people as one...etc). One time someone asked me to draw a "hot foxy girl (foxy as in human) with hairy legs tied to a post". I took it literally, delivered with giant cleavage/eyeshadow/the usual, and everyone thought it was a great laugh. "Scientifically" I conclude that what most people dislike about furries is simply the whole "attention whore" or "drama" stereotype rather than what they actually produce. Because I don't behave like that I have never felt the need to hide or deny it in anyway, but I am rarely asked anyway.


----------



## Sweetheartz22 (Jan 31, 2014)

I haven't denied it once. It's who I am, so why should I hide it?


----------



## Kazooie (Jan 31, 2014)

It almost never comes up, unless people look at my porn folder/internet history.

If I end up moving into the furry house in march, however, I'll probably have some 'splainin' to do to the people I _don't_​ show my porn to.


----------



## Armored Chocobo (Jan 31, 2014)

I don't. I don't find the fandom as a whole all that interesting.

I have a interest in transformation and was into a little bit of RP, the furry fandom has a copious amount of both.


----------



## Shoiyo (Jan 31, 2014)

Luckily, I live in an isolated corner of the world where next to no one has heard of Furries, and if they have, they're under the impression it was made up for an episode of CSI. That being said, I don't parade around or make my interests known to others. It's none of their damn business. If anyone does ask about my latest writing project, I generally state that it's Redwall-esque, with talking animals as characters. Or I just talk about my sci-fi novel.


----------



## ArmorcladCoyote (Feb 1, 2014)

I've never denied that I'm a furry to myself. I did keep it a secret from everyone else for about a decade. It was only about a year ago I did anything more than anonymously stalk about the edges of the furry fandom.

Since I'm just a hobbyist (although I'm not the most subtle) and most people around here don't know what a furry is, I've only been asked directly once. I admitted to it and braced myself for the negative reaction but fortunately she knew that not all furries are the CSI type since her boyfriend at the time was also furry. 

I was indirectly asked by a different friend when he pieced together I might be a furry after I seemed to know a lot about them during an argument earlier that day. Problem was that he was on of those educated about furries in the CSI school of thought. I was able to laugh it off and he hasn't asked again.


----------



## kairi920 (Feb 3, 2014)

I denied a lot of things about myself for a long time, and whereas I didn't talk about it for a long time, I never actually denied being a furry.


----------



## Inpw (Feb 3, 2014)

I still do.
Wait?
WTF am I doing here!?
You guys are all retarded!!!


:V


----------



## Duality Jack (Feb 3, 2014)

I strongly question the concept of having anything more to do with this fandom besides snarking at/flirting with people from it.


----------



## Ozriel (Feb 3, 2014)

Mokushi said:


> I strongly question the concept of having anything more to do with this fandom besides snarking at/flirting with people from it.



And you do it so well.


----------



## Kitsune Cross (Feb 3, 2014)

Never had to, probably would change the subject


----------



## Auramaru (Feb 4, 2014)

I don't meet people and say "I'm a furry", nor do I meet people, going on about what I like to an extent that is unnecessary and creepy.  "I like art, reading, and writing."  That's all I should have to say, ever.  

Did I ever deny it?  Well... when you see the fursuiters... you gotta feel sorta /facepalm if it isn't your thing, ya know?  I don't want to be a close-minded person about it... but fursuiting has always seemed weird and just dumb in my opinion.  And I hated to even think that fursuiting = being a furry.  That was the most trouble I ever had with being "in denial".  Second most trouble: I just stay quiet about it.  

It's a weird hobby of mine that I like to keep to myself.


----------



## emikochan (Feb 4, 2014)

I did for a while, when I was much younger, I was trolling my friend with "furry accusations" because the only site i'd visited was 4chan...

Turns out after looking into what a furry actually was, I was one. c'est la vie I guess


----------



## gwenlynnova (Feb 4, 2014)

I don't ever deny it. My parents aren't fans of my collar, but they're okay with me wearing a tail around the house. As long as I don't draw yiff, they're alright with my being a furry.


----------



## Batty Krueger (Feb 4, 2014)

My parents put my yiff drawings on the fridge.
So proud they are.


----------



## Falafox (Feb 4, 2014)

Yes, and sadly, I still do it.


----------



## TheMetalVelocity (Feb 4, 2014)

I will deny it since I am just about ready to leave this fandom.


----------



## emikochan (Feb 5, 2014)

TheMetalVelocity said:


> I will deny it since I am just about ready to leave this fandom.



What's to deny, if you're not a furry anymore  It'd be the truth.


----------



## Aleu (Feb 5, 2014)

emikochan said:


> What's to deny, if you're not a furry anymore  It'd be the truth.



...you do know what deny means, right?


----------



## Auramaru (Feb 5, 2014)

Aleu said:


> ...you do know what deny means, right?



Does she mean denying his denial... which would make his denial be the truth...?  
*has a brain aneurysm*
@_@


----------



## emikochan (Feb 5, 2014)

If you say "I'm not a furry" and you're not a furry. I don't think that counts as a lie


----------



## Duality Jack (Feb 5, 2014)

emikochan said:


> If you say "I'm not a furry" and you're not a furry. I don't think that counts as a lie


Denying vs being in denial eh?
"I am not a smoker" vs "I am not a smoker *puffs smoke*"


----------



## mysticfyre (Feb 5, 2014)

Nope, never. I am finally making my first fursuit, too, and I'm so darn proud of it that I'm posting it all over the internet.


----------



## MochiElZorro (Feb 6, 2014)

When I'm feeling dangerous I'll drop a shitload of hints all in the same conversation and be amused as nobody gets a single clue or remotely tries putting two and two together... nobody's even bothered to ask why I know so much about the fandom, and they all still think I'm not a furry. I mean really, most normal people are just really dense or something. Who asks why you know so much about MLP and not why you know so much about the Furry Fandom? I mean dang... 

When I'm not feeling dangerous and someone asks me...
"Are you a furry?"
"No... then again if I was a furry, I'd probably deny it anyways so you didn't react badly and reject me, so really, it just comes down to if you want to believe that I am or am not, and whether or not you take my word that I'm not. Plus, that leaves room for ambivalence. I like ambivalence, it makes way for loads of interesting. Without interesting there would just be boring, and that's no fun." *half-mad Doctor-esque rant goes on for half an hour*


----------



## Batty Krueger (Feb 6, 2014)

TheMetalVelocity said:


> I will deny it since I am just about ready to leave this fandom.


You do that,  find another forum to brag and bitch about your shitty new TV.


----------



## Pepe le Chew (Feb 7, 2014)

You know, I'm not sure I could have ever been considered a "furry". I've always been interested in the thought, but it wasn't until recently that I became comfortable with the idea of it. I'm guessing it's better spoken that I'm an appreciator. Does that make any sense? I'll flaunt wearing the tails proudly, but at it's most basic form, it's an ideology that I've been most curious about.

I'll try to explain myself if necessary, but forewarning: I am a complete dunce. >.>;


----------



## Tica (Feb 7, 2014)

I don't have to deny my furryness because I don't advertise it to people. My non-furry friends usually don't know that I'm a furry, or don't find out until they've known me for years and I finally show them some art or my fursuit or something. While I love going to conventions and fursuiting, and of course 95% of my art is animal-related, I still don't consider furry to be a major part of my life. 

That being said, if people are, like, talking shit about furries around me, I might defend furries while making it seem that I'm not one myself. Or, I might just keep my mouth shut and let them talk shit. No skin off my back.


----------



## Hewge (Feb 7, 2014)

I have a rainbow birthmark that says "Furry 'N' Proud". :v


----------



## Blake_Foxx (Feb 7, 2014)

I never really necessarily denied it. When I was around 14 I actually embraced it with open arms. I loved everything about it. 

I sort of got depressed for awhile though and I sort of let myself feel belittled by being a furry for a long time. Lately though I've just kind of accepted that I enjoy this and I have no real desire to cut back. Couldn't necessarily call myself proud of it or anything though. More or less just sort of not in any kind of denial that it's a thing I enjoy


----------



## Xioneer (Feb 7, 2014)

I may be denying it now...

What makes someone "furry"? Just because I like animals and am here on FA/FAF?


----------



## sniperfreak223 (Feb 7, 2014)

yes, it's been my dirty little secret my whole adult life.


----------



## MochiElZorro (Feb 7, 2014)

Xioneer said:


> What makes someone "furry"?


How to be "Furry" in 30 easy steps:

Like anthropomorphism.
Obey Rule 1.
Obey this Rule along with the first two Rules.
Smoke weed everyday
Nachos
Nachos
Nachos
Nachos
Yiff in Hel, Poland.
Don't be a Drama Llama
Eventually you're bi/omni/pansexual and have every fetish because the fandom made you that way.
F*ck all the things that move.
F*ck all the things that don't move.
Get a time machine and f*ck everything else.
F*ck the time machine.
F*ck yourself.
F*ck the police.
Nachos
Get a Job.
Get fired.
Set your boss's house on fire.
Get thrown in jail.
Get out of jail.
Get a life.
Only this rule and rules 1, 2, and 3 are should be followed under any circumstances.
Rule 26 is a liar.
Rule 28 agrees.
So does Rule 27.
I am a stegosaurus!
This is the end of the list.

:V

Okay, I may have not been being serious with that list. But yeah, generally the only rule is "like anthropomorphism". I mean, we have MACHINE-furs and aliens and stuff in this fandom for God's sake. I'm not even sure if we're limited to animal people anymore...


----------



## Falafox (Feb 7, 2014)

MochiElZorro said:


> How to be "Furry" in 30 easy steps:
> 
> Like anthropomorphism.
> Obey Rule 1.
> ...



Sh**, I was doing every step until I saw rule 25. Now I got tons of already extinct sexual diseases, a pregnant time machine, all the police force after me, and a wife and some lovely kids.


----------



## Blake_Foxx (Feb 8, 2014)

MochiElZorro said:


> How to be "Furry" in 30 easy steps:
> 
> Like anthropomorphism.
> Obey Rule 1.
> ...



Rule#11 

So true -.-'


----------



## Kitsune Cross (Feb 8, 2014)

MochiElZorro said:


> How to be "Furry" in 30 easy steps:
> 
> Like anthropomorphism.
> Obey Rule 1.
> ...



Best comment ever, I want nachos now


----------



## FatalSyndrome (Feb 8, 2014)

Naaah, I've always loved animal people and the whole concept. I didn't know the word furry til I was thirteen but I've always been into it. Nothing really kept me from embracing what I like, then and now. 

I don't really use the term 'furry' around nonfurs, unless they are familiar with it, though. Not worth explanation.


----------



## Carnau (Feb 8, 2014)

I've never needed to. If someone didn't like me being furry then they could either take it or leave it honestly. Sometimes I think furries overestimate how badly society reacts to them.
Edit: It also helps to not go around announcing it and/or drawing attention to one's self on behalf of the fandom.


----------



## Blake_Foxx (Feb 8, 2014)

Carnau said:


> I've never needed to. If someone didn't like me being furry then they could either take it or leave it honestly. Sometimes I think furries overestimate how badly society reacts to them.



You must be from somewhere awesome cause around here it'd be a dumb idea to tell people you're a furry -.-'


----------



## Carnau (Feb 8, 2014)

Blake_Foxx said:


> You must be from somewhere awesome cause around here it'd be a dumb idea to tell people you're a furry -.-'



I should have made this clear in my previous post, but I don't go around announcing it :U
I mean if someone where to skim through my sketchbook and the thought of asking about it would occur to them, then no I wouldn't deny it. This has happened before and nothing bad ever happened. Where I live it's only a big deal if you make it a big deal.


----------



## Blake_Foxx (Feb 8, 2014)

Carnau said:


> I should have made this clear in my previous post, but I don't go around announcing it :U
> I mean if someone where to skim through my sketchbook and the thought of asking about it would occur to them, then no I wouldn't deny it. This has happened before and nothing bad ever happened. Where I live it's only a big deal if you make it a big deal.



Oh I see. I'm more of a writer than an artist so there's no sketchbook to flip through. Though I suppose it's entirely possible someone could stumble upon something I've written *shudders* that'd not be good >.>


----------



## RedLeFrench (Feb 8, 2014)

With the exception of situations where people were overly mean, no, never had to do it. That said, I guess most of my readers have/will take a hint with all the stuff I write about, be it games or fiction, but very few have paid any real attention, so it's cool ♪


----------



## Jags (Feb 8, 2014)

*Shrug* I don't really make any sort of deal after it, but for those who look at the signs it's probably pretty obvious. Doesn't bother me, to be honest.


----------



## Kailombax (Feb 9, 2014)

Um well it's kind of a gray area for me. I mean, I've always liked anthro type characters since I was little. A Goofy Movie, Gargoyles, some of the PBS shows like Arthur and whatnot. I always liked the appeal of how people gave animals human characteristics and had them interact so I guess that was my gateway (as like everyone).

I'm not sure if I full on believe I am a furry. I do love the art and I like the tv animations/movies that feature them but I don't think of myself as a real animal, want to get a fur suit, or think I have an animal spirit inside me. I mean, I do have a fursona but I just use him for fun and as a sort of mascot. 

So yeah, I'm not sure if I really am one. I''ve only been asked by one person IRL and I just told her, I really like anthropomorphic art and animation. lol


----------



## Kamek_Sans (Feb 9, 2014)

Of COURSE I did! :V I have no idea why I denied it, though.


----------



## FurryFoxFriend (Feb 10, 2014)

In my experience nobody in life outside the internet seems to know what a furry is, with few exceptions. Never had to deny it.


----------



## Hooky (Feb 11, 2014)

I think I was a furry even before I joined the fandom. If people ask, I will deny it. If another furry asks, I won't. It depends on the type of person that I'm speaking to.


----------



## BigwiggingAround (Feb 11, 2014)

At first, yeah. I found the fandom via nsfw material (what a shocker), so at first it didn't mean anything to me. There was a point though when I suddenly started watching a lot of animated movies, and I wound up backtracking and started teaching myself to draw better, using a lot of fandom material and Disney stuff for reference. Then I had a lot of memories come flooding back of how I used to imagine myself as a cartoon character in disney movies when I was a little kid, and that idea became appealing again. So now I have a fursona a lot of ideas for comics to use it in (though I won't have anytime for them for a while).

As far as telling people, no one knows, though not because I'm "closeted" or anything. My parents don't really know what it is (accept as a fetish) and, although I'm sure they wouldn't care at all if I took the time to describe the fandom to them, I don't really have any reason to tell them because my drawing just isn't something I discuss a lot. My friends don't know for the same reasons. If anyone asks me about it, I don't see any reason to deny it: it's no different than my other hobbies, and if they're confused about what it is, I can just explain it.


----------



## KAS3519 (Feb 12, 2014)

I never have. It just sort of became a thing, and I accepted it. 
If someone reacted hostile towards furries if I told them, well, haters gonna hate.
The way I see it: If you judge me based on one interest, I really don't care about your opinion.


----------



## MochiElZorro (Feb 12, 2014)

> I'm not sure if I full on believe I am a furry. I do love the art and I like the tv animations/movies that feature them but I don't think of myself as a real animal, want to get a fur suit, or think I have an animal spirit inside me. I mean, I do have a fursona but I just use him for fun and as a sort of mascot.



Haha, none of those things you just described make people furries... you're describing fursuiters and therians/otherkin. A furry is just someone who enjoys anthropomorphism, no weird kinks or funky beliefs required.


----------



## Fallowfox (Feb 12, 2014)

Fallowfox said:


> I realised I was as soon as I was introduced to the topic.
> 
> My friends have asked before and I've told them I'm not. Same about being gay, or anything personal.
> 
> Nobody I meet regularly in real life knows anything about me spare what is academically necessary.



Well, this has certainly changed since I started university. Hardly anybody in real life knows what furries are, and I don't bother bringing it up, but people sometimes ask, and they're always positive when I say yes.


----------



## Piroshki (Feb 12, 2014)

Not exactly. I've never outright denied it, but I either ignore the topic or kinda talk around it with my non-furry friends. Most of my friends are really into anime and we go to several local cons, so furries do come up every now and then, usually in the context of 2 or 3 of my friends disliking them strongly (the rest are fine with them), and I either just sit there quietly or keep talking to someone else as if that conversation isn't happening, haha. Most of them already know I am one anyway, though, because of all the furries I've invited to play League with us.
If someone were to directly ask me if I'm a furry, I would tell them, though. When I went out of town for MFF, I just told all my friends I was going to "a convention," and only one of them asked which one, so I told her the name, she was like, "Furries?", I said "Yup." and then we proceeded to play Killing Floor. And another one of my friends caught me sneaking off to the fursuit panel at an anime con, asked where I was going, so I told him. His reaction was kinda funnier, he said something like, "I don't really know what to think of that."


----------



## SouleALT (Feb 13, 2014)

I never denied because I never had to, I take my privacy very seriously lol. But if I had to then yes, because in the actual stage of my life it would suck to have to explain everything and people would kept saying that I'm crazy.


----------



## charlescharleycharle (Feb 13, 2014)

I knew I wanted to immerse myself in the culture as soon as I learned you can pretend to be an animal, _*AND*_ there's a ton of people who pretend to be animals too. It's lead to a lifetime interest in art and passion for animation, a want to create fursuits and costumes, and a hobby that keeps me busy and happy.

I'd never, ever, ever, tell anybody I'm a furry. Never. There's a huge furvert that went to my school and I don't want to be thought of in a similar manner; because everybody mostly focuses on the open sexuality of furries and not the culture we've created around us. I go so far even to keep it away from my boyfriend. He really doesn't 'believe' in furries, and I don't want any drama.


----------



## Connor J. Coyote (Feb 13, 2014)

Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't, it depends on whom I'm dealing with.

Definitely not at work though.


----------



## Inignem (Feb 15, 2014)

Where I love noone knows what a furry is. So I have never had to hide it. When I say people I am a furry they dont know what it is.


----------

