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No one really knows what Furry is -- not even those who do.
The most amazing thing about Furry Fandom... the most amazing thing about being furry... is that nobody knows what it is. I mean, really. Nobody. Not even the furries themselves. It's a mystery to us all.
Does that sound a little odd? It does to me, too. But it's true nevertheless. To the greater world outside of Furry Fandom, Furry is something of an arcane existence... if they've even heard of it at all. There are whispers of bizarre practices involving stuffed, fluffy idols... ritualistic wearing of ears and tails... souls vanishing into Virtual wells, never to be seen again by human eyes... and the occasional sacrificing of large, purple dinosaurs. It's an eerie world from their perspective, and it causes much bewilderment, humor, and even revulsion.
That's the view from outside. From the inside, we're...
Well, we're just plain undecided.
To show you what I mean, I always thought a Furry was a specific form of anthropomorphic character. One who could stand upright and talk, and was all but human. Erma Felna. Shanda the Panda. Omaha. Chester the Ringtailed Cat. Rhudiprrt. There was just the thinnest of a veneer separating them from characters like Yogi Bear and Tom & Jerry, in that, unlike the latter, they wore clothes, had an established civilization, and behaved more like humans than their genetic ancestors, and were not usually subject to the laws of cartoon physics.
But eventually I discovered that Furry was also being used to describe the fans as well. And later still, I discovered it to mean the Philosophy of Being Furry.
One word. Three meanings. Often used interchangeably, like rotating tires in a garage. No wonder we're confused.
But it doesn't end there. Oh, no; that would be too simple.
If you ask any number of furry fans, you will find almost an equal number of definitions. If there are 500 furries, there will almost surely be 500 definitions. Here are just a few of those that I've already heard:
And that's just a few definitions. Some folks even pick and choose, like it was a Chinese Menu. Yeah, I'll take one from column A, and two from column B. Some will even take the whole assortment.
Now, strictly as an observation, as definitions go, this is more than just a little blurry. Unfocused, that is. I tend to like the first item on the list, because it still includes the rest; after that, it tends to pigeon-hole the whole thing into one or more special interests, to the exclusion of the others.
But then, I hear a voice at the door screaming, What the @#!% difference does it make!? We're all furry fans!! You can't exclude people just because they got a different idea of what furry is supposed to be!!
Why couldn't we? If somebody has a different idea of how baseball is supposed to be played, do you think they're going to let him on the field? If everybody pulls and twists in different directions, we don't really have a clearly defined fandom; we have taffy. Of course we can exclude people who impose unwanted definitions and agendas into Furry, especially if a particular direction is considered harmful or unwanted. We do that already. And it'll probably continue on the clique level for some time yet to come, until peer pressures eventually forge and mold the fandom into what the majority desire of it... whatever that is.
Obviously, we're not about to hold a referendum and pass a single official definition of the term. Obviously, from all present indications, there isn't going to be any satisfactory definition of the term at all. And, just as obviously, the squabbles and marking of borders isn't going to cease anytime soon. At least, until such time as a consensus can agree to resolve their indecisions and come to an agreement as to what Furry is, and what being Furry means. Which doesn't seem to be anytime soon. The very fact that very few folks are in any sort of complete agreement seems a sure sign that nobody knows what Furry is.
Except me, of course.
I know exactly what Furry is: Furry is a box of chocolates; you never know what you're going to get.
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