Ashton Posted May 29, 2015 Report Share Posted May 29, 2015 Furries have always disturbed me... I mean, I don't really mind people dressing up in suits every now and then and meeting other people just as a hobby. It's kind of cute and fun. But when they feel like they have to dress up in order to socialize or feel "truly like themselves" that's when I'd call a psychologist. That would be a psychologal condition - "Transpeciesism". Very much like GID and Transgenderism, except the subject's "idea form" is, well, not human. Keep in mind though that not all furries share that 'issue' and even if they do, most of them are "more comfortable" wearing somethign furry (like a tail/ears/etc) and not going to an extreme, and they do 'tollerate' being 'normal' well. (A good analogy is a normal "tomboy" girl being forced to wear a dress - she doesnt like it and is not comfortable with it, but she will do it when she has to) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wysteria Posted May 29, 2015 Report Share Posted May 29, 2015 I'm thinking more along the lines of the Otherkin mentality. I do know a few people who are furries (though not to an extreme), and yes, there's nothing inherently wrong or dangerous with pinning a tail to your belt because it makes you feel better, but I still think it's strange. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ashton Posted May 29, 2015 Report Share Posted May 29, 2015 Oh geeze... Otherkin... Otherkin are actually a subset of Spiritual Therianthropy - which is a religion of sorts (simplest form: human can have the souls of animals)... and even the Therians think the otherkin are crazy... However, to distill this to as much science as I can (since religion is so subjective) It boils down to a similar issue as GID - they dont feel like who they should be, it's just a LOT more extreme than GID (which for the most part is about the body's physical sex) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wysteria Posted May 30, 2015 Report Share Posted May 30, 2015 I thought Otherkin was more akin (ha) to GID than a religious culture. Is it that they feel they have a spiritual connection to the animals? And as far as some of the more extreme furries go, would you say since it's a similar issue to GID that they should receive therapy? Again, it's not harming anyone, but do you think there's a psychological issue that needs to be addressed there or not? It's an interesting discussion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ashton Posted May 30, 2015 Report Share Posted May 30, 2015 Ok, to understand otherkin you have to first understand therians. Therians believe that every creature has a soul from insect up past human. Therians also believe in reincarnation - when you die your soul is reborn in a new body (optionally with some of your prior memories - that's not required). Therians believe that they have an animal's *soul* inside their body instead of a human soul. i.e. the soul of a fox in a human body. (To be fair, this is not unheard of in worldly religions, Buddhism (I think... might be Taoism or... well one of the far-east-monk-religions) believes that everyone reincarnates up or down a ladder based on their actions in life including animals) Otherkin take this a step further and use creatures that do no exist, did not exist, and will never exist (unless we start getting crazy with genetic engineering) like Dragons, Griffens, Fairies (not Faeries), goblins, trolls, etc... a few also claim an alien soul... There's a therian joke about otherkin who "like flying and hoarding shiny things" are not dragon-souls, but crows... Ok, This is where things get murky... you have to decide where the line in the sand is... one one side are the casual furries who are just big fans of a franchise (MLP, Spiro, StH, etc) and on the other side are the ones who appaerntly feel some deep *need* to wear their fursuits for every single moment they can because they are 'wrong' or at least 'incomplete' without them. Yes, at the far end of the spectrum, those people need some help, but where is the line that designates "needs help"? Some people obviously do, some obviously dont... some... well... it's hard to tell... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wysteria Posted May 30, 2015 Report Share Posted May 30, 2015 Ah, I must have been mixing the two together. Thank you for educating me! See, one could say that if they aren't hurting anyone around them it would be fine, but sometimes there's the case when their relationships are suffering as a result of their mentality, and in turn they themselves suffer. And then when you compare something like this with transgender people, the line really gets murky. If a person accepts transgender people, then who's to say that those kinds of furries aren't to be accepted as well? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ashton Posted May 30, 2015 Report Share Posted May 30, 2015 Glad I could help clear things up. I've been around the furry fandom for around 15 years (and arguably have _been_ a furry since birth), so I get frustrated when I see how many people are misinformed. (Rule of thumb for ANY group: If it sounds really bad, it's probably a vocal minority). If you have any other questions I'll be more than happy to answer them ^_^ This is where I stop, to properly say when there's a problem requires a LOT more study in psychology and sociology than I ahve. However, yes, I think some of the far-end-extreme Furs do need help. I also think there are plenty who *seem* to be extreme (such as those who go to every con they can and wear a fursuit despite the 90* weather --- seriously WHY cant we have any of these in the winter?!) but are perfectly fine and well-adjusted with a unique interest. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now