Why all the furry hatred?

I don't really see why people view them as "disgusting" or creepy as such. I mean, when you were a kid didn't you sometimes pretend you were an animal or something? It's mainly because all that people hear about from them is the whole "yiff" thing, and so then they decide that all furries yiff, which they don't. Only a handful do. And it's really no different than looking at regular porn, so I don't see why everyone thinks its so disgusting.

Here are some good articles/rants on this topic (written by furries for non-furries to clarify things)

Originally Posted by Hibbary

Source: http://hibbary.deviantart.com/journal/15924140/

I honestly don't know if I'm a 'furry' or not. First and foremost, I am an artist. I work all day, I love all kinds of art. I slipped into the anthro artist category because I really like animals, I like anthro art, and it seems a lucrative place for me to be. Besides that, I've met a lot of furries and other anthro artists who are great people. I attend cons in order to sell artwork and powow with artists and friends, but am otherwise not a part of the society. I suppose this makes me a furry friend or a furry supporter. I'm not sure.

Regardless of what I am, I find arbitrary furry ridicule to be somewhat depressing. There are some facets of the fandom that sincerely deserve some fun poked at--all the really ridiculous kinks and rather poor artwork, and especially the unethical things like the wishful-thinking cub porn and animal harassment and who knows what else. But largely, the group just seem to be a lot of peculiar but benign people who like anthro animals or whatever, and certainly don't deserve to be called pedophiles or animal-fuckers.

Now, I can totally understand if someone just doesn't get it, or is really sick of seeing mediocre anthro art all over the place (hell, sometimes even I get tired of it), or if someone has had a really bad experience with some people who identify with furries, but I have witnessed a number of people with an arbitrary and all-encompassing distaste for the art and the culture. I don't know who or what is to blame.

I've noticed the trend that the people who are most likely to ridicule furries without just cause are extreme nerds themselves who don't seem to get very much accomplished. So I wonder if it's some kind of insecurity, a need to poke fun at someone they perceive to be lower on the totem pole in order to cover up their own deficiencies. Surely they'd have to spend a LOT of time on the internet to cultivate such a strong distaste. Most normal, hard-working people don't even know what the hell a furry is.

I bring it up, because some people can't seem to get past that hurtle when viewing my artwork. They say: This would be good, if it weren't furry. Or, as I got from some of my acquaintances tonight, that the subject matter doesn't deserve the work and talent that went into it. Which is a compliment, I suppose, to my skill, but didn't make me feel very good regardless.

It hurt my feelings, to tell the truth. It's a real pity that some people have been so soured on anthro that any image that contains an anthropomorphic being, no matter how well-executed or potentially meaningful, is lame just by virtue of the subject matter. It also hurts my feelings that I need to be on the defensive around people who have irrational furry hate. I am annoyed when these same people indulge in hours of videogames, television-watching, internet-surfing, or any number of extremely unproductive activities, and are obsessed with anime, lousy television, or some other thing that doesn't seem any more cool (or less uncool) than liking animal people.

I, personally, like animal people. It's totally cool with me if other people don't, so long as they aren't irrationally hateful about them. It's totally cool with me if people are freaked out by some of the nastier furry stuff that winds up on 4chan or ED or whatever. (I will interject to say, also, that anime contains some pretty fucked up stuff, as well as just human sexual deviance in general. It's not just furries, guys). I can understand if someone's had a run-in with some stupid, childish, self-absorbed furries and have fled screaming from the culture.

But guys, that doesn't make every furry drawing lame, or every furry person a sexual deviant or a loser. Those sentiments, I am not cool with. I get the feeling a lot of the people who believe these things are just sheep that blindly dig whatever is on 4chan or who knows what other website that needs someone to pick on, or because it's the in thing to do on the internet by virtue of said websites. In reality, the label 'furry' or 'anthro' really doesn't count for much in terms of quality or personality, but somehow they've become the dredges of the internet.

A few have mentioned the strong sexual connotations in a lot of furry artwork. That's very true, a lot of furry work has sexual themes. But consider that the human erotic video industry makes more money than the regular film industry. That the internet is positively swarming with pornography of the 'regular' variety. Human beings are sexual animals. The vast majority of them have sexual thoughts, urges, etc. This is totally normal. Furries are not and should not be excepted from this. The subculture is not, as some people think, about an attraction to real animals, but an attraction to some fantasy person who happens to be covered in fur. It comes from the same place as people attracted to an anime character that doesn't exist, or a movie star that they couldn't possibly meet, or elves, or Klingons or whatever. Doing this to an obsessive degree is not healthful, no matter what the object may be, however, a lot of furries have normal, happy relationships with other human people. It's just a different kind of fantasy. Many many people have those in many different forms, and it doesn't point directly to a harmful subversion. Unless, in a few unfortunate cases, it really DOES, but again, there are more non-furry animal and child molesters, rapists, sadists than furry ones.

Exactly why all the kinkiest, wierdest, most disgusting fetishes seem most prevalent in the furry culture isn't something I really understand, but aside from the things leisure websites tend to dig up, most furry erotica is pretty tame and 'normal' by most people's standards.

I, personally, think people should be more responsible about the way they perceive and portray sexuality, in all aspects, not just the furry, but that is another rant entirely and something I won't get into at present.

I realize that I am always going to be misjudged by a lot of people on the internet, and that some loser's opinions of me are unimportant, if they are, in fact, a complete and total loser. The trouble is, I refuse to label anyone who dislikes furries as losers. They're just ignorant or insecure or hateful, or any number of things that a lot of people are or have inside of them. I also know that there's little I can say to change everyone's mind. I also know that it's silly and pointless for me to get depressed. I'm far less depressed about people on the internet. It's not serious business, especially such silly drama stuff perpetuated by preteens and persons with nothing better to do.

But what I am depressed about is the people in real life that I interact with, and want to get along with, adult people who ought to know better, misjudging myself, my work, and the subculture I groove on just because it's hip to do so.

And that's all I have to say, really.

Also another one:

Originally Posted by Skifi

Source: http://news.deviantart.com/article/34733/

Too many people has the wrong idea about what does "Anthro" mean... even before deviantART created a whole gallery devoted to this special kind of art, there are still too many doubts about this category, and maybe that explains many of the mistakes when uploading pictures, images or drawings to our section.

Even when I was still not the Anthro Gallery Director , I tried to explain this concept in a journal entry but couldn't manage to make it clear, and now I think it's the perfect chance for a new attempt. ^___^ To start with, let's take a look at two definitions that may help us.

1. ...from Wikipedia:
   
   Anthro: a synonym for anthropomorphism in the furry fandom.
   
   Anthropomorphism is the attribution of uniquely human characteristics and qualities to nonhuman beings, inanimate objects, or natural or supernatural phenomena (...)
   Anthro Art and may be any fictional work that employs the concept of animal characters with human characteristics. For this reason, any work, in any medium, may be considered part of the anthropomorphic genre simply by inclusion of a fantastic animal character, although such characters are most often seen in comics, cartoons, animated films, allegorical novels, and video games. The science fiction and fantasy genres make frequent use of anthropomorphism, and as a result, are especially popular in furry fandom. Since the 1980s, the term furries has come to refer to anthropomorphic animal characters.
   
   
2. ...from WikiFur:
   
   Anthropomorphic is a word meaning "like a human." It is used to describe a well-known concept called anthropomorphism: ascribing human characteristics to a non-human being or object. (...) the word can apply to any non-human thing, including animals, plants, and inanimate objects.
   
   Since the 1980s, the furry fandom has used the word to refer primarily to bipedal animals. Anthropomorphic animals are sometimes called anthro or morphic for short, and art featuring furry characters is sometimes called anthro art. This is somewhat ironic, as anthro ultimately derives from the Greek anthropos, a word that means "human being."

So really, why do lots of people treat them as some sort of freak? I certainly don't think they are any different than anyone else. What's so bad about using your imagination anyway?

And in case anyone's wondering, yes, I have looked at yiff, but I prefer humans instead. They have videos! 8D

well, i just find that people dressing up as animals and doing weird sexual stuff is slightly disturbing. im not really bothered about the socialogical aspects of it, i just think its odd. you know, like in that episode of CSI. whats up with that?

Furries.... can do whatever they want, as long as they leave me out of it. I mean, they're like goths. I'm not a goth myself, I don't think I ever will be, but I don't hate goths, I don't dislike them at all in fact, I just don't want to be a part of what they are. I feel the same way about furries.

Originally Posted by GST_Nemisis

well, i just find that people dressing up as animals and doing weird sexual stuff is slightly disturbing.

You see, that's one of the problems. Only a handful of furries look at yiff, and of those, only a very small percentage actually do that. Yet that small percentage seems to give other people the idea that that's all they do. Which it obviously isn't. Most "clean" furries just sit and RP.

RP is for dorks. Which fits this site well I guess. I didn't even have any idea about what a furry was before I read this thread and had no clue untill far into the whole thing. It seems rather stupid to me, but each to his own, not like I care.

Hmmz...Would a furry be similar to an elenari/otherkin in this case? (yes..the name is rather similar to mine, though tht origins are different)

yeh RP sucks...if you wanna RP do drama.

Originally Posted by Elenai

Hmmz...Would a furry be similar to an elenari/otherkin in this case? (yes..the name is rather similar to mine, though tht origins are different)

No idea what those are. Are they people who like to pretend they're some other creature?

Well..yes..

Mostly they pretend (or believe) that they are vampyres, werewolves, angels, mythical races of all sorts like Elves.

Though the community seems to be dying.

Most normal, hard-working people don't even know what the hell a furry is.

That's me.

People hate a lot of things. I think my current sig is somewhat related:

Originally Posted by Hakeem

It takes ignorance to call anything stupid.

I think most people's opinions are ignorant.

I had no idea what a furry was before I saw Wulf and Pyritie...

I suppose I don't hate furries, just that I'm not used to things so different (race/culture, age, sexual orientation are all other valid examples, and most likely reasons why people 'hate'). Is it possible to hate something you know so little about?

Originally Posted by Hakeem

I think most people's opinions are ignorant.

I'd agree, but then I'd be kind of against myself.

If ignorance is bliss...then why is everyone so unhappy?

Meh...Furries are not bad at all. Though they may be a bit misguided, but they are by far not as misguided as most elenari/otherkin. I mean geez...Its alright to believe or pretend you are an elf, or a vampyre, or a werewolf. But they really need to get their lore, and information straight.

They cannot all be royalty from the astral realm, put into a human body after some sort of, yadayadayada....Or an Angel of some sort...or a demon, or some other creature that makes no sense.

You are simply an elf, Dragon, Wolfman, vampyre because you choose to be. (though some rules do apply in my opinion.)

Furries are anthromorphs. I honestly don't care whether you're into that kind of thing or not, but I find it creepy, and there's nothing you can directly do to change that. It's my taste. You do your furry thing and I'll stay a respectable distance from you. (1-3 miles should suffice.)

Now, on the subject of roleplaying, I don't mind it at all. There's nothing wrong with imagining you're someone you're not, because our world is bound by laws set in stone. If you can't handle the "what if" of things, you're not going to get anywhere in life.

Originally Posted by Elenai

Meh...Furries are not bad at all. Though they may be a bit misguided, but they are by far not as misguided as most elenari/otherkin. I mean geez...Its alright to believe or pretend you are an elf, or a vampyre, or a werewolf. But they really need to get their lore, and information straight.

They cannot all be royalty from the astral realm, put into a human body after some sort of, yadayadayada....Or an Angel of some sort...or a demon, or some other creature that makes no sense.

Originally Posted by Bobby Brown

That's my prerogative.

Their lore is their lore. If you want to abide by these strict guidelines you hold for yourself, you do that. They'll make their own types of vampires, and you'll do your Tolkien-blowing. It's really not for you to judge.

Nay nay...I am not talking about RP'ers. I am talking about Elenari/Otherkin, who absolutely believe that they are indeed a whatever from another dimension.

well some people believe they were abducted by aliens, i have not real quams about that.