Ive been recently looking at a couple of these troll/hate videos sent out towards the furry fandom.
There is a definent difference between criticism and being just plain mean.
A majority of these videos were plain out over the top hate words that had no justification of why they hate.I even heard some from 12-13 yr old kids.
Now that is just pathetic and wrong.
I dont have to say much on that as you all know what goes on out there
On the other hand Ive seen a few trolls that stated very logical crticism towards the fandom.
Now this is where I get a little flustered and confused.
The most recent one was "The open door policy" stated be a troll on youtube as a reply from one of Tori Belliachi's vids.He was very appropriate and logical.
But I didnt like the way he said that trolling was fun.
Now I tried to understand this the best I could (Quite frankly I had to look up some of the words he said 
).After it was done I sat down and pondered.
As much as I tried to deny,and Im not being mean or anything like that, I look at some of the current Furries who stated that without this fandom they wouldnt be alive at that time. Now I find that good.
MY other view of this statement is that we have many.....how should I put this?...."uniquely interesting" Furs in our fandom that give it our bad reputation to this day. This is bad....In my view.
Now I see that no matter how twisted or secluded someone is, if they decide to become furry they are immediately surrounded by people who connect and respect that person and along with that new friendship comes that persons "interests" if you know what I mean. They openly express this in a way that "scares" other people resulting in trolls /haters.Once people/media are exposed to this they immediately cloud themselves in false facts giving our name sour tastes.
Now I understtand that Furries should openly express themselves in a way to expand the fandom but lets face it some things should not be shown because either some people are not ready or they are outright scared.
Now this is something Im against.He said( I believe his name was ultraforge)if we dont.....what was the word?......."shun" some of the furs then our fandom wont grow and prosper as quick as we would like it too.But if this happened then some of our greatest of friends wouldnt be here today.
See what I mean There is a good and bad to this statement.
This really counfused me and I cant stop thinking about this fact.This troll guy really got to me and I need some.....well someone to tell me something to calm me down.
My furs getting all bristly just thinking about it.
Im sorry if offended someone with this.
I had to get it off my chest somewhere.
Please dont be mad with me *whimper*
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Send the trolls to the mental health center where I work, I can get them set up with a good deal. Some people are just so mentally ill they stick out like a sore thumb. What everyone needs to know, is everyone has some type of diagnosis listed in the ICD manual, there is no perfect person...
I may be a little exotic when it comes to being around people, but its a good way where I can keep people laughing or happy. Like wearing my collars to work, bringing my fur stuff to work, or making a DTD in the board room.
I'm one of the furs which tend to just go have fun, but have fun to where I'm not offending or acting scary to people. Sure, maybe some of them think I'm some sort of idiot, but they simply don't understand. Many of us grow up in different areas, and some of us grow up around all types of areas.
I've seen some furries on other boards who were also part of the *chan groups, some even in the groups which grief furries. Some which are going to AnthroCon, and have been going to AnthroCon.
I must make a mention, even though people act bad, I still befriend them. This includes people who think they can act like a bad ass because they were abused when they were little, beat up, etc... Even though they need to realize even though they had a bad half life, they need to be nice to others. Being nice to others is what it is all about, but perhaps some of them don't know history.
I can only think of a relation of history how industrial city tycoons treated their workers, which I'm now studying on my own time. Many people who have millions or billions are now realizing allowing their children to inherit just turns people stupid. In relation, allowing yourself to be a jerk because your parents or other peers were bad to you doesn't mean you should be a jerk as well. I think people need to take a lesson from history, or they're doomed to repeat it.
If there is one thing I learned from living in such a small city, it is people all help each other even when they don't know the person at all.
I'm being killed with kindness where I live right now, or maybe it is just me... I'm still not sure yet. Everywhere I go, everyone seems to just smile at me, be helpful, then make comments how others my age are complete jerks. I don't really enjoy being compared to others, but whatever makes the client... err.. whoever I'm talking to happy.
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permalinkLocation: Deleware
Website: [Link]
You bring a point that is 100% true
There should be no reason someone should allow themself to act hostile towards others because of a bad childhood/bad peers/bad parenting....so on and so forth.
People have the power to change themselves for the better.
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permalinkLocation: Youngstown, OH
Furries, as a general rule, seem to be the type of people who understand the underdog. We are usually accepting of others regardless of backgrounds. As a result we have among us a WIDE variety of people. Sometimes those we consider friends are really great people, other times they have less than noble characteristics. Regardless of that, however, we are still willing to give others a chance and eve befriend people who might not get friends outside furry.
While it may be that 'dumping' people who are not the most mentally stable might help furry grow or be more widely accepted, it could also destroy the fundamental nature of being a furry: accepting others for who they are. I mean really, you'd want to see people commit suicide because they couldn't find friends and support when they needed it?
"Furry is a state of mind."
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permalinkLocation: Deleware
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Indeed
"Furry state of mind"
I see what you mean. We accept others for who they are.
HAve you ever met a fur who was completely offensive to other furs?
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permalinkLocation: Youngstown, OH
HAve you ever met a fur who was completely offensive to other furs?Not personally, but odds are - as Chiaroscuro points out - such individuals probably exist. Furrys are, unfortunately, still only human and as such there will always be some part of the population calling itself 'furry' to which most other furries would rather not be associated with. Like Fred Phelps to Evangelicals or Taliban to Islam. Extreme, off-the-chart behavior happens in every social group and furries are no exception. Unfortunately such groups tend to make 'good copy' in press terms. The interest isn't in the soldier that saves 100 civilian lives - it's the soldier that shoots/rapes innocent people that gets the most news time.
Whether such people CAN be rejected from furry is a different matter.
"Furry is a state of mind."
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permalinkLocation: Philadelphia, PA
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Absolutely.
There are still rules of social decorum in furry and there are definitely people who rub a majority of folks the wrong way. The ones who accept everything are generally the ones with limited concepts of social limitations.
Complete, blind acceptance of others is damaging to culture, not helpful. A lot of people seem to have this block that 'furries can't be inappropriate or bad' in their minds. That's how people wind up with folks in their homes who are really creepy or rob them and so on and so forth.
I've definitely met furries that were simply so out of touch with operations of the real world, running around playing grab-butt an' such that people just couldn't get along with them. We're definitely accepting, but there are limits. Be appropriate and know when you're getting too much and you'll be accepted, just go completely overboard and things will be notsogood for you.
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permalinkLocation: Mystic, CT
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Let me gently add this in counterpoint, and cite: The Geek Social Fallacies
Many geeks have had horrible, humiliating, and formative experiences with ostracism, and the notion of being on the other side of the transaction is repugnant to them. [..]
Nearly every geek social group of significant size has at least one member that 80% of the members hate, and the remaining 20% merely tolerate. If GSF1 exists in sufficient concentration -- and it usually does -- it is impossible to expel a person who actively detracts from every social event. GSF1 protocol permits you not to invite someone you don't like to a given event, but if someone spills the beans and our hypothetical Cat Piss Man invites himself, there is no recourse. You must put up with him, or you will be an Evil Ostracizer and might as well go out for the football team.
Now, we have a rather accepting fandom, that we do; but there are certain people that can and should be excluded. Not as regards 'growing the fandom', but for the health, well-being, and benefit of others. You can be a tolerant, caring, accepting person and still say "Person X or small subgroup X should not be present, or in display, in the fandom."
And the 'fundamental nature of being a furry' has nothing to do with social behavior. The fundamental nature of a furry is liking anthropomorphic animals.
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permalinkLocation: Youngstown, OH
Though I agree with your counter point in theory I'm not sure it would really be possible to exclude such a group. I think another group would just end up taking it's place. Like football fans that paint themselves in team colors and risk hypothermia they are going to be there whether we like it or not.
"Furry is a state of mind."
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permalinkLocation: Philadelphia area, PA
The thing is, though, in some respects, we already do exclude some folks. And really, that's not necessarily a bad thing.
Furry is about liking anthropomorphic things at its heart, but furry also has built up a subculture of sorts. Part of being part of a subculture is that newcomers to that subculture learn the rules and standards from communal elders. Among the things we teach members of our subculture:
--Treat others with respect and kindness, even if they may be doing something that inadvertently annoys you
--Be at least minimally polite towards folks of all genders, races, religions, political leanings, and sexual orientations
--If someone asks you not to leave them alone, you do so
--You don't plagiarize other people's work, and artists are treated with special respect for their craft
--Fursuiters are treated with particular respect and care, as virtual celebrities among furs
--No matter how little a person is wearing, as long as they fit the current gathering's standards and it's part of a fur costume, you try to treat them like they're fully dressed
That's far fewer standards of cultural behavior than many subcultures have, though it's notable that only some are common in everyday society. And Chiaroscuro points out, a community with a heavy dose of folks who've been ostracized from other communities is bound to be very slow to reject anyone. What seems to draw the limit most quickly is when we perceive someone as having hurt "one of ours". Then we may not actively throw that person out or cause harm to them, but we certainly know how to make that person feel unwelcome.
Really, it's ok to draw some limits on behaviors. If we didn't have at least some cultural standards of conduct, i wouldn't feel safe among furs.
I'm remembering a very old piece of advice--try to keep an open mind, but not so open that your brain falls out.
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permalinkBlog: [Link]
There are also those very few individuals who have caused injury, or at least heartache, to the fandom itself, such as those who were a little too candid with the media. They sometimes find that folks no longer want to invite them along to tea.
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permalinkLocation: Youngstown, OH
I never meant to suggest that there should be no limits on behaviors, every society has them and they are there for a reason. I guess I just meant that trying to actively 'cull the herd' is probably not a good idea and, in any case, would not work. Ultimately there are going to be, to paraphrase Uncle Kage "crazy Uncle Harry's". We see them all the time in different groups. I'm quite sure if Islam could be rid of the Talaban or Evangelicals of Fred Phelps they certainly would. But even if they were taken out someone else would rise to take their place.
I think the fact that furry tries to live mostly by the Golden Rule rather than a set of prescribed behaviors is nothing but a good thing. People who cannot respect the rights of others, who would deliberately injure others, really don't belong. On the other hand there are folks, such as the one poor fur in the Vanity Fair article, that, as Uncle Kage says, are a wee bit too open. Things might be different if the writer had been fair, like in the Advocate Press article.
"Furry is a state of mind."
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permalinkLocation: Philadelphia, PA
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I'm going to start keeping this as stock copypasta for all sorts of goodness. Let me refer you to this: right here.
First, you're describing what essentially amounts to the burned fur movement which failed miserably. There's more than enough gross people in furry to make getting rid of the dead weight impossible. And they'll always be the most outspoken, too. So when the news crews are looking for something to level their cameras at for ratings...
Point is, trolls will only stay around as long as you get bent out of shape over it and keep giving them attention. That's it. That's all there is. They're attention whores.
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permalinkLocation: Deleware
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Yes yes
I guess it got to me pretty good
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permalinkLocation: Trenton, Florida!
I've thought about the fandom a lot. And how some people just don't understand it, or are 'weirded out' by it. Some furs will scare the regular populace and make them shun us. And also the reaction depends on the person who's exposed to the 'furriness' if you will. Some people will like us and some people won't, regardless of how nice or messed-up we act. All you can really do it be a good fur and try to be friendly and unassuming around normal people and hope they begin to understand that in general, we're harmless, happy people just trying to have a good ol' time with others who we're akin to. Also if you have the means, you can try to gauge the people you're around and decide whether it's appropriate to let them know if you're a furry or if it isn't. I find this helps. I've told co-workers at some jobs that I'm a fur but not at others.
tl;dr When it comes down to it, some people will like us, others won't.
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permalinkBlog: [Link]
Indeed. However, there is still no harm in putting the best face on the fandom for the public. That is why I tend to react harshly toward those who do the opposite.
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permalinkLocation: Deleware
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That is great and all but In MY case Its really hard to mix mu military life with my furry life. I dont think I should Because.....
In the maintenance field(Which im in) alone,the way these guys get their kicks is by making fun of others by tricks,jokes,and plainly telling em off.
Im afraid if I tell them,I will never see the end of their jokes cause I have to work with them everyday.
I can take a joke but I still have my limits
Thats why I still mostly like hanging out with you civilians
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permalinkIf you're in the AF, I'd definitely recommend not telling. My dad was in the AF, do one wrong thing and you're the joke in conversation for weeks. Tell them you're a furry...
I bet the jokes will never end.
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permalinkLocation: All up and down the East Coast.
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I have to agree one hundred percent on that one. I've noticed one thing, everyone in the military has a close mind about every thing and like Rappy said jokes will run rampent through office, unit, platoon for weeks. I've only told a few people that I trust and honestly they are more open minded about it then other people. But apparently people have more screwed up fetishes in the military then just being a furry.
Apollo-
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permalinkNow you make me curious if being a furry can place one on the spot to lose their Secret clearance.
I've seen it before with some... well 
I don't think I can call them fetishes, since it's all debatable.
Military is family... just don't be the center of attention or the jokes. You'll find many people on the AF base who will play jokes on you, it's not very funny getting dunked in a huge cooler of ice water.
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permalinkLocation: Philadelphia, PA
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I don't think you can lose security clearance because of having a weird hobby. Unless it's scientology.
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permalinkLocation: Deleware
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Well my security clearance gets me to work
THey only take it away if you do something stupid,break something on purpose,and be unable to excel in you job.Some other small thing to .
The AF gives freedom of religion
AND definently NO they cant take you clearance for having a wierd LEGAL hobby
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permalinkLater in the news, yiffing is banned due to the moral injustice.
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permalinkOnly at work.
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permalinkLocation: NJ
Yes, it's fine to be who you are and so-forth. But some things are best held within. People do need to exercise some self-control.
(He said 'self-control'! He must be one of those right-wing nutjobs! KILL HIM!)
*Alondro is burninated at the stake!* I was the weakest link! X_x
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permalinkLocation: Chester County, PA, North America
I have 2 questions for you Vegafur. Why do you even care what image we set on people? Personally I don't give a damn what goes on and what people think outside the fandom. It's not our problem. Second of all, why do you want the fandom to grow and prosper as it should? Why should it? Fandoms that prosper always end rapidly and violently. I like the fandom just the way it is. That's my 2 cents. Not much I know.
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permalinkLocation: Deleware
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Well I thought about it and heres my answer
For one it bugs me.Im not like everyone else who can turn their cheek easily.Posting this here was my only way of venting what I felt about this.
I have to say I feel 100% better because NOW I dont really give a damn.
Now Ima spill some truth about me.Im shallow.I dont like people not liking me.
I always try to please others to try to keep the friendship.Thats how I am and Im trying to improve that.
When I see furburns and whatnot I feel as if its shot directly at me.
THATS why I cared.
NOw I agree with you though,I really shouldnt give care at all what goes on outside of our fandom.Its not like theyll really kill furs or anything like that.
And I realize that not everybody can accept the fandom for what is is.
I See that the fandom is good as is and should remain that way for yrs to come.
There s my answer.Spilt a little bit of my heart there.
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permalinkI live in a small city, most of the town people think me being a furry is "cute" Some got the wrong idea with me wearing a collar and thought of it as a BSDM thing, oh well.
We can only try to please and inform people of what being furry means to us. People have their own reasons for being a fur, but that doesn't stop us from all getting together and playing nice.
There will always be people who don't like us, its because they are just that way. I think they're called griefers or trolls. They won't go away any time soon, and they'd complain if any person in town died their hair blue. Those type of people well... have no life.
Those who pass me by, question me, and later understand after I tell them my stories. My affiliation is more from taking care of injured wildlife, and I tend to be more biased to work with animals than humans.
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permalinkLocation: Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Well that was that whole "Youtube Furry War" That happened for a few months, in which some trolls were actually "elightened" to see what the fandom really is, and a fair chunk of them by the end actually stopped trolling the furry fandom as a whole.. then switched to simply trolling the furries that give us a bad name on the internet.
But durring the "war" there were way more random people who got really bad first impressions on us from the trolls than the people who saw the true side of the fandom.
That damn "Godhatesfurries.com" website is flooded with every single horrible steriotype of the fandom, including many ones that were probably made up on the spod, and it claims it all as truth. The person who made it too trolled the fandom on youtube, and claims the site is simply a joke, yet keeps it up and never indicates to anyone else that it is a joke. [/rant]
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permalinkLocation: Philadelphia, PA
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But it's really, really, really funny.
The name godhatesfurries pretty much has 'THIS IS A JOKE' written right in.
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