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A question for fursuiters
16 years ago
General
This is kind of theory-heavy, but it's not complicated and I think there's a lot to relate to here. Those of you who really dig this theory shit, rejoice! Because holy crap.
So this question applies to anyone who roleplays as a furry, really, but I'm asking this specifically of fursuiters because unlike RP, fursuiting is an embodied act. What's that, you say? Ahem! An embodied act takes advantage of the physicality of the body, shining a spotlight on its weight, the fact that it can be touched, that it can touch back, that it has a smell, and makes noises unintentionally, and gives off that weird vibe of body heat that you get being near something alive. Embodiment is the difference between a real hug and me just typing *hugs* for you to read and imagine. I mean, I can only hug one, maybe two people at a time, but by typing *hugs* I'm hugging everyone who's been following up to this point, and you can even get as many virtual hugs as you care to if you reread this sentence a bunch of times. When you read *Swatcher hugs you*, you can even get a very affectionate hug from me while the real, physical meatspace me slumbers peacefully, which I hope to be doing in a few minutes. That's the significant difference between embodiment and virtuality.
So there's a few things that follow from that. Costuming is an embodied form of roleplay, where the texture and tightness of the costume, the way it might modify the way you stand, and the subtle change in the way other people act around you all factor into the creation of an alternate identity. There's a desire to physically manifest a (sometimes very abstract and archetypal) character.
But that's a very general view! It applies to all costuming, and doesn't say very much about fursuiting specifically. Yet, we have fursuiters who adopt the guise of anthropomorphic animals, but may be very disinterested in period clothing, or in the clothes of the opposite gender, or in over-the-top decorative runway fashion, all of which we can off-handedly class as "costuming". Some fursuiters' interests may lie strictly in portraying a single character. So I ask... why the preference for fursuiting, over every other form of costuming?
But don't answer that question yet! I have a theory, and it might be a bit of a swing at the fences, so don't take this the wrong way. I'll explain what I mean after this:
Fursuiters have body issues, and fursuits are kind of like prosthetics that allow them to achieve a more ideal body.
By body issues, I mean that the desire to act out in costume, being wacky, and cuddly, and the centre of attention, is hindered and undermined by the look and feel of a real, imperfect human body doing the same goofy, silly things. The human body is bad at getting that kind of affection, and the fursuit acts as a prosthetic, augmenting the human form to something greater and more desirable. It's not that fursuiters don't like their human bodies, but rather that they're not quite there yet and need a boost made out of upholstery foam and fun fur. :)
So the question is as follows: does anyone see their fursuit as a way to improve their human body?
Not everyone is going to answer yes to this, natch, and I'm interested in everyone's thoughts, but it's something that's come up recently that I'm curious about and I want to come to you guys before I talk about it to people who aren't furries.
So this question applies to anyone who roleplays as a furry, really, but I'm asking this specifically of fursuiters because unlike RP, fursuiting is an embodied act. What's that, you say? Ahem! An embodied act takes advantage of the physicality of the body, shining a spotlight on its weight, the fact that it can be touched, that it can touch back, that it has a smell, and makes noises unintentionally, and gives off that weird vibe of body heat that you get being near something alive. Embodiment is the difference between a real hug and me just typing *hugs* for you to read and imagine. I mean, I can only hug one, maybe two people at a time, but by typing *hugs* I'm hugging everyone who's been following up to this point, and you can even get as many virtual hugs as you care to if you reread this sentence a bunch of times. When you read *Swatcher hugs you*, you can even get a very affectionate hug from me while the real, physical meatspace me slumbers peacefully, which I hope to be doing in a few minutes. That's the significant difference between embodiment and virtuality.
So there's a few things that follow from that. Costuming is an embodied form of roleplay, where the texture and tightness of the costume, the way it might modify the way you stand, and the subtle change in the way other people act around you all factor into the creation of an alternate identity. There's a desire to physically manifest a (sometimes very abstract and archetypal) character.
But that's a very general view! It applies to all costuming, and doesn't say very much about fursuiting specifically. Yet, we have fursuiters who adopt the guise of anthropomorphic animals, but may be very disinterested in period clothing, or in the clothes of the opposite gender, or in over-the-top decorative runway fashion, all of which we can off-handedly class as "costuming". Some fursuiters' interests may lie strictly in portraying a single character. So I ask... why the preference for fursuiting, over every other form of costuming?
But don't answer that question yet! I have a theory, and it might be a bit of a swing at the fences, so don't take this the wrong way. I'll explain what I mean after this:
Fursuiters have body issues, and fursuits are kind of like prosthetics that allow them to achieve a more ideal body.
By body issues, I mean that the desire to act out in costume, being wacky, and cuddly, and the centre of attention, is hindered and undermined by the look and feel of a real, imperfect human body doing the same goofy, silly things. The human body is bad at getting that kind of affection, and the fursuit acts as a prosthetic, augmenting the human form to something greater and more desirable. It's not that fursuiters don't like their human bodies, but rather that they're not quite there yet and need a boost made out of upholstery foam and fun fur. :)
So the question is as follows: does anyone see their fursuit as a way to improve their human body?
Not everyone is going to answer yes to this, natch, and I'm interested in everyone's thoughts, but it's something that's come up recently that I'm curious about and I want to come to you guys before I talk about it to people who aren't furries.
http://tanuke.wordpress.com/2009/10.....or-fursuiters/
"Who you are" isn't your body, and I'm talking specifically about the body here. The whole association of the body with self-identity is really interesting, but I'm wondering if this is more body dysmorphia than self-criticism.
I know you do a lot of non-furry costuming. With all the different manners of dress out there, what drives you to prefer one costume over another?
Also, when I walk around in Codex, I begin to develop a gait that makes my tail sway back and forth rhythmically, very close to a double bounce walk. Hehe ask anyone thats seen me suit. The thing with it tho, is feeling that heavy weight back there for many hours over the course of a weekend, when its gone, I still feel it there and I still walk that way. It lasts about a week actually, and I call it phantom tail syndrome or PTS :P
Missing Tail Syndrome/Phantom Tail Syndrome is great fun, too. Particularly when it causes noticable balance issues.
Like most that replied above I see the suit partially as something that lowers inhabitions, or helps me to overcome social awkwardness or taboo.
The largest part for me is physical anonymity. I work in a very public and reputation based field; my name and my face are my career, and even off the clock I have a very professional or "uptight" appearence that some people find intimidating. Being in suit drops that all, and lets me socially do things I can't afford to attach to my professional life.
I enjoy the escape the anonymity the physical suit grants me, but I would not call it an improvement.
Though as a side note, I find this very comparable to transgendered people, that having/removing breasts etc is an improvement as it is who they feel they are (I'm a woman in a mans body, so to have breasts is an improvement), the same way have a tail or fur is a physical improvement if you were a furry trapped in a human body.
I have felt terrified and uncomfortable in my own skin for as long as I can remember. I don't feel worth while, and I don't imagine myself to be desirable. I don't fursuit because I feel a connection to another character, I do it because I want to replace this form, this mentality with something that offends me less. this ties VERY deeply into my sexuality as well, where I really cant feel comfortable sexually unless I'm in a fursuit with most of my body covered. while Ive got various fetishes around fursuits (which I wont go into here) besides this single simple act of hiding my face, one of the most important things for me is being hidden.
Thisi s why for me, although I find TF sexy, the ultimate fantasy for me is to be stuck inside a suit or some other form. it dosent always matter what, or who I climb into and become, just the very act of sliding into that skin, the though of dissapearing under the face and foam. my body smothered by the heat, and all my senses filled with the suit, my vision and sound dulled, and my body infused with the concentrated scent of another person (its interesting, suits that alot of people have worn smell different than ones that only a small handful have worn. I can tell who owns a suit sometimes just by the sell of the suit).
and now ofr a final disclaimer. yes I feel this way. yes i have horrible self esteem problems, but this is the life I lead, and even if i try to hide from it in a fuzzy suit, Im still pretty damn proud to have come this far.
I honestly can't say what impetus I had to step into the mascot costume at college that first time, or all the succeeding times after it for 5-6 years... I will admit that I always had a yearning for costume in general. Even with sports, heck, I played Catcher in Baseball, and then football (nuff said). Though I worked hard and felt they were more a badge of achievement than costume.
Mascotting, after doing sports throughout my adolescence and teen years, was a way to stay connected with sports (where, although I was greater than average athletic, I still wouldn't perform at a college level). Yet it also provides that anonymity for crazy, stand-out-in-a-crowd, attention getting silliness.
With that said I have to say that getting into the character is probably the biggest appeal of fursuitting (aka Character Work). That ability to become something else. Keep in mind that each costume has its own unique character (it's hard to play the same character in two different suits). Heck, even if you design a suit to have certain aspects, just by portraying the suit's character, certain things happen that just seem to click (gestures, body language, etc) with that persona.
Okay, I'm starting to babble.
I will say that I do like certain types of non-furry costumes (or even furries dressed in said costumes), which can seem to transform character further to a different personality... I suppose a human can do the same thing, but seems to be more interesting as furry.
Oh, and I'm happy with my body, not trying to correct anything about it, it's just FUN to be something else for awhile, if hot and sweaty at the end ;)
Respecting fursuits, I personally haven't gotten one, but I REALLY WANT IT. You see, the economic situtation has made it harder to accomplish. You say, "why not make one with your hands instead of buying it?" Well, I'm not good with crafts. I barely have friends out of the web (because I don't want to). So it's a bit difficult. But yes, I think a suit gives you the comfort to do things you can't do showing you face. If it is modeled after your fursona, it's because that's your ideal body. Personally if I had one...it would be hard to make me take it off.
For example, I can't dance out of suit- If I go to do it, I worry so much about how it looks or people pointing me out of a crowd later as "that flaily spazz," and I end up making forced, wooden movements that embarass me even more. But in suit, the stigma doesn't stick- If I do somehow embarass myself, I can just shuffle off the thing the stigma is stuck to, and go about the rest of the day without regrets. And with such temporary consequences, I don't even think twice about risking a reputation.
Granted, I did take a few steps into vanity by giving my character pec-and-bicep padding so that he looks more like a wrestler. So I'm not a total exception- My planned next suit isn't slated to have anything changing my body's shape though. Unless you count a beak, tail, and feathery fingers. My motivation behind that suit is to make a punk so that I can try out being mean and sarcastic to people :)
The rest jives pretty nicely with what I was thinking. Thanks!
What I really get a kick out of most are the costumes and full-body-puppets which disguise the human shape underneath.
From toony animals with absurd haunches and disproportionate limb and torso ratios to some of the costumes used for monsters (eg: Jurassic Park) where you really need to stop and think for a moment to figure out where the human is inside the suit.
I like those kinds of suits as they have little in common with the human 'silhouette' and more in common with the fantastical and mythical. Something that doesn't exist in this world except in our imaginations and cartoons and whatnot.
(The strangest bit is when you're wearing such a suit and catch a glimpse of your reflection in a window or mirror - The brief twang of confusion as your brain tries to figure out why there's a giant anthro animal standing where you're supposed to be in its mental picture of the world)
Well, ultimately I suppose I get a bigger kick out of the costumes which look convincingly and subtley like anthropomorphised animals, toony or otherwise. Bigger ribcages, sculpted haunches, changes in limb shape and relative length.
All of this means - and I suspect this is in-line with what you're thinking - that the suit becomes less humdrum human-in-a-costume and more real-live-walking-talking-anthro/cartoon-animal transformative.
(Mind you, performance can go a very long way to help divorce the suit from being a mere costume)
Also, I don't know if this is related, but I usually don't like being touched, BUT In the fursuit I didn't mind at all!! I'm not a super cuddly person so maybe the fursuit helped to bring out that cuddly/affectionate part I'm lacking, who knows? These are all theories too, I've got to think about this stuff more.