Do not meddle in the furry politics

[giza]

I saw a recent LJ entry from xydexx about how furries have problems with percieving themselves. Then, just on a random websearch, I came across this entry on everything2.com, called "Do Not Meddle In The Furry Politics". Some quotes from that link include:

Furries have bad time accepting their public image, and thus furry politics (as seen in alt.fan.furry, and alt.fan.furry.politics) are particularly fiery field to be in.

Furries should just live and let live and just silently disapprove sensationalism... for if they did, just lived onward and cared less about what other people think of them, they'd be a lot happier!

---

Worrying about "public image" of furries is pointless for a couple of reasons:

• Furrydom is so diverse that it cannot be "represented" as something.
• Stories like "hey, these folks are weird, WEIRD I tell you" sells and the Media exaggerates everything.
• Bullshit is bullshit is bullshit. =)

---

"Here's what I am going to do... I am going to do exactly what I do. Having a great time, enjoying myself, my friends, my fellow furries and all my other loved ones. When I go to cons, I'm going to do what I like, and have a great time. I'm happy, I know who I am, and where I stand on my own beliefs, furryness, sexuality and everything else.

"If you enjoy yourself by sitting around whining, bitching, griping, complaining and just making yourself miserable about all the things you don't like, then that is your choice, and a very poor one at that...

Good advice to live by, I think.

Comments

[chesterskunk.livejournal.com]

thats very interesting. my only real qualm with the fandom is a lot of furries seem to become a furry just for the sexual stuff.

oh well.

Fun links.

[cjthomas.livejournal.com]

Of more interest than the political rant were some of the fun links at the bottom. My favourite: Fuzz Therapy (http://www.everything2.com/index.pl?lastnode_id=587297&node_id=657496)

Politics of any stripe is by nature messed up. It's an artifact of the facts that a) people view the nature of the universe differently, b) even with a consistent view of the nature of the universe, people have different value systems/think the universe _should_ be different things, and c) the people who debate on the subject are the people with the strongest opinions (and so start from radically different points _and_ are more likely to be set in their ways).

This doesn't mean political debate is _completely_ useless - just that it's going to be a turbulent ride for the people involved.

[kinkyturtle.livejournal.com]

It's no surprise to me why many furries worry about their image. It's not just the sensationalist press; it's also the general internet attitude towards furries, which tends to be negative. There are non-furries who have no problem at all with furries, but of course you don't hear from them, simply because they don't have much to say about the topic; most people aren't going to bother taking the time to put up an "I'm Not Furry But Furries Are OK" website. So when all the young new people who discovered the fandom just a few months ago go reading various forums for gaming, online comics, or what have you, they soon come upon some thread titled "Furries scare me" or "Death to furryfags" or whatever, and start thinking the whole world's against them, in that naive way of theirs.

This is why a sense of community is so important! Much more important than bickering about who said what to whom and who hates whom and whatever. :}

[blaze-heartfire.livejournal.com]

hehe, nice way to take it ^-^ more or less how I've just viewed it the entire time ^-^ *goes back to doing his own lil thing*