# Fur Con Stereotypes vs Reality



## The Shiny Espeon (Dec 17, 2017)

Ok so I really wanted to go to a con sometime in the future when I can afford to but I had all kinds of stereotypical things about fur cons. I read an article on The Vanity that interviewed older men in the fandom and mentioned the sexual side quite a bit. That put me off because I'm only 19 and I avoid anything and everything NSFW.  I prefer to keep things G-rated. 

I know there are cons for adults only (avoiding those) but which one's are suitable for all ages? I know many are but I'm not really a furry,  I just like the costumes and making anthro OCs/fursonas. I think it'd be cool to attend a con one day but idk if all those yiff rumors are true and they are full of perverted 30-40 year old men.  I also heard that the adults there can be rude to the younger folk like me because they think it's a sexual thing. 

If I ever go,  what should I expect?


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## Ciderfine (Dec 17, 2017)

Everything and nothing.

The conventions have turned into legit irl stereotypes, annoying and trouble makers, and mayhem as an entire thing. Good luck, and pack some bear grylls tools, your gonna need it getting out of one of those places when fursuits hit the fan.


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## Liam The Red (Dec 17, 2017)

Hmm. "Believe none of what you hear and only half of what you see". An old phrase meaning: Don't believe the gossip until you've seen it for yourself.

There are "adult-oriented" cons, and there are some that are not. Anthro Northwest was a very PG-13 con. Thoroughly enjoyable and a lot of things going on, yet no public displays of that sort of thing. Friendly and fun. I was there (I'm much older than the 30-40 year old set) and I spent a lot of time visiting with and (hopefully) encouraging the younger artists and attendees. Even some teenagers. These folks are our future. 

My advice: Pick a con known for being pg-13 and go. Be friendly and participate. There will undoubtably be those who snub you for not having a top-tier suit or for being new or young. They are always at every human gathering, not just furry conventions. However they are not the majority (thank god) and are easily recognizable which makes them easy to avoid. Most Furries will be friendly and easy to talk to. Don't let fear keep you from experiencing life.


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## The Shiny Espeon (Dec 17, 2017)

Liam The Red said:


> Hmm. "Believe none of what you hear and only half of what you see". An old phrase meaning: Don't believe the gossip until you've seen it for yourself.
> 
> There are "adult-oriented" cons, and there are some that are not. Anthro Northwest was a very PG-13 con. Thoroughly enjoyable and a lot of things going on, yet no public displays of that sort of thing. Friendly and fun. I was there (I'm much older than the 30-40 year old set) and I spent a lot of time visiting with and (hopefully) encouraging the younger artists and attendees. Even some teenagers. These folks are our future.
> 
> My advice: Pick a con known for being pg-13 and go. Be friendly and participate. There will undoubtably be those who snub you for not having a top-tier suit or for being new or young. They are always at every human gathering, not just furry conventions. However they are not the majority (thank god) and are easily recognizable which makes them easy to avoid. Most Furries will be friendly and easy to talk to. Don't let fear keep you from experiencing life.



Yeah I'll be fine as long as the con isn't full of adult furs who like to pick on us.  Honestly I wasn't worried about that until I heard a story of a con goer who got snubbed a lot just for being 15.

Honestly if I do run into a lot of rude adults I wonder how many of them are perverts who are just mad they can't get someone their own age and prefer to pick on the pups ( haha cuz this is a fur meet).  I know not every older person is like that,  but I can't think of many other reasons they would be rude to a younger person unless they're just a rude human being.

If I do ever go, I'll be sure to take your advice.  And to the people who DO make public sexual displays dont they find that a tad rude considering there might be people my age or younger there?  I don't know if they do or not that's just what I heard. I mean this might just be me but people my age aren't even thinking about that stuff likely.  I'm focused on finding a job and moving into my own place and things like that


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## Simo (Dec 17, 2017)

I found them to be very tame, all in all...not nearly as wild as expected. I've been to wilder parties at the local Synagogue. I've never seen any overt sexual displays; I mean, there's room parties where people might get into sexual mischief, but nobody forces you to go to them : P

99.9% of cons have codes of conduct that prevent harassment, and I've found they are pretty quick to kick out troublemakers, if any.

I'd be more scared of, say, going to a football game, or a soccer match, in terms of unruly behavior.


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## Sabrewulf (Dec 18, 2017)

Eurofurence was very tame, even though it's age restricted to 18+. The adult section in the art show was clearly marked as well. It was really just a huge gathering of nerds and geeks. I was expecting absolute and total anarchy, but despite several thousand people occupying a hotel for nearly six days, it was actually kinda chill.

At night people would be sitting near the bars having drinks and socializing, sitting outside near the beer garden doing the same, shakin' up the dance floor, attending late panels or singing karaoke at the open stage. The wildest thing I saw all week was fursuiters just acting silly and having fun with everyone.


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## Deleted member 82554 (Dec 18, 2017)

Go to a well-established convention, find out for yourself. The staff have strict policies in place to make it enjoyable for everyone. Last convention I attended was tame and everyone I talked to seemed like normal fully functioning well-adjusted members of society. Funny thing is though, the person I met online said I seemed like one of the more normal people there. Not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing.


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## The Shiny Espeon (Dec 18, 2017)

Mr. Fox said:


> Go to a well-established convention, find out for yourself. The staff have strict policies in place to make it enjoyable for everyone. Last convention I attended was tame and everyone I talked to seemed like normal fully functioning well-adjusted members of society. Funny thing is though, the person I met online said I seemed like one of the more normal people there. Not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing.



I guess that's the only way to find out is to see for yourself.  Still, I wonder if there are any geared toward people more my age,  even if the older folk aren't perverts it'd still be kinda weird if I was hanging around a bunch of 30+ year olds? Age is nothing but a number and a lot of older folk are nice people but I think I'd be more comfortable if there were more young adults there or even teens.


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## Sabrewulf (Dec 18, 2017)

The Shiny Espeon said:


> Still, I wonder if there are any geared toward people more my age,  even if the older folk aren't perverts it'd still be kinda weird if I was hanging around a bunch of 30+ year olds? Age is nothing but a number and a lot of older folk are nice people but I think I'd be more comfortable if there were more young adults there or even teens.



I don't think that's something you need to worry about. People in their late teens and early-to-mid twenties vastly outnumber all the other age demographics at most conventions.


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## Troj (Dec 18, 2017)

You should expect to have a fun-but-sensory-overloaded weekend, so you should pace yourself and take care of yourself if you don't want to catch the con crud every time.

You should also expect the unexpected! Keep your schedule flexible, and don't expect to attend every panel or make every scheduled event. Allow ample time to just wander and socialize, and expect that you may end up on side quests or in conversations you didn't plan.


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## Simo (Dec 18, 2017)

Troj said:


> You should expect to have a fun-but-sensory-overloaded weekend, so you should pace yourself and take care of yourself if you don't want to catch the con crud every time.
> 
> You should also expect the unexpected! Keep your schedule flexible, and don't expect to attend every panel or make every scheduled event. Allow ample time to just wander and socialize, and expect that you may end up on side quests or in conversations you didn't plan.



It's like a crazy, manic, non-stop slumber party in technicolor...I mean, you don't need drugs or anything to make it one of the most crazy, surreal but fun times, ever. : )

oooh, and the random conversations, and side quests! yep...


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## The Shiny Espeon (Dec 18, 2017)

Sabrewulf said:


> I don't think that's something you need to worry about. People in their late teens and early-to-mid twenties vastly outnumber all the other age demographics at most conventions.



That sounds about like college lol in my classes it was mostly young adults like me but you'd have the occasional student who was over 30 or 50 even


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## The Shiny Espeon (Dec 18, 2017)

Simo said:


> It's like a crazy, manic, non-stop slumber party in technicolor...I mean, you don't need drugs or anything to make it one of the most crazy, surreal but fun times, ever. : )
> 
> oooh, and the random conversations, and side quests! yep...



That does sound fun!  I'd be going mostly to see all the other fursuiters and all the different animal types. Just about every suit is a different species from another or a wacky color pattern so it's bound to be fun


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## Simo (Dec 18, 2017)

Oh, yeah, that was the best part of the first time I went: I mean, just to see so many fursuiters, all in one place, and so many species. And there's quite an age range, too; I doubt you'd feel outta place. The main con I have gone to is Fur the 'More, near DC...medium size con, about 1,000 in attendance. Staff is amazing, very well run. So not too huge, but not too small. I still have yet to go to a 'huge' con, like AC, or MFF, where there's say, 6,000 to 7,000...I think I might like it a bit cozier? Well, have fun, if ya go : )


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## The Shiny Espeon (Dec 19, 2017)

Simo said:


> Oh, yeah, that was the best part of the first time I went: I mean, just to see so many fursuiters, all in one place, and so many species. And there's quite an age range, too; I doubt you'd feel outta place. The main con I have gone to is Fur the 'More, near DC...medium size con, about 1,000 in attendance. Staff is amazing, very well run. So not too huge, but not too small. I still have yet to go to a 'huge' con, like AC, or MFF, where there's say, 6,000 to 7,000...I think I might like it a bit cozier? Well, have fun, if ya go : )



Thanks for the advice! Well it'll be a while before I can even think of going lol. I have a million other things to save for,  I just wanted to get a idea of what to expect before I went to one


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## Darkbird (Dec 19, 2017)

Not sure if you have a friend who would go with you, but having someone there you already know can boost your confidence level a lot. I actually used to be a bit (well maybe more than a "bit") shy about doing new stuff like this, then I had a friend who was into anime talk me into going to acen, and after playing lost puppy for a good chunk of the con I started to wander off on my own. Now I'm that guy who won't hesitate to start or take part in a random conversation, and I practically lived for those weird little side quests and adventures. I have yet to attend a furry con, but I won't hesitate to go when I get the chance. Actually haven't been to any cons in a long time, but I think I'm going to start hitting a few again in the next year or 2.


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## KiokuChan (Feb 1, 2018)

I kind of just went to one but it was the tiniest convention of any sort you've ever seen. It was really pretty chill and people seemed nice. Also, and I"m not saying to go to one anyway, but sometimes if an event says it's adult only it's actually just because they want things to be calmer/quieter and don't want to be responsible for people's kids running around. That's probably Sabrewulf mentioned going to an 18+ event and it not really being that different from anything else. Again though, go where you are comfortable. Maybe try something small to start, or something well established. Have fun!


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