Parental guidance
To whom it may concern,
My son has officialy confirmed with me that he is now a member of the "furry fandom." I do not -
- know what the "Furry Fandom" is
- understand what "Anthrocon" is
- know what a furry is
- know why my son keeps insisting on buying things like tails and ears
- know if he is some sort of sexual deviant
- know if it would it be worth it to purchase him a fursuit for his self expression
Please help a confused mother, I'm trying to understand the best I can but it's all coming at me so fast that I feel like I've done something wrong. He is 15 years old and he loves this more than anything I could ever give him.
Please help,
Robin.
you have no worries.
1. the Furry Fandom is just that, a fandom. it is a group of people with similar likes. in this case, animals with human characteristics.
2. Anthrocon is the worlds largest furry convention, based in pittsburgh pennsylvania. there is more in the info bar on the left.
3. a furry is a person who is a fan of said animals with human characteristics like wiley coyote, bugs bunny, and others like that.
4. ears and tails are fun to buy because for some of us they make us feel more like the characters we like and adore.
5. we are not sexual deviants in general. yes everyone has their own likes but we in general are pretty "normal".
6. i say no for right now because he will still grow and will soon be no longer able to wear it. you could, however make your own for far cheaper and use it as a bonding experience and not have spent the huge amount of money.
i can tell you now that it would probably be a bad idea to buy him a fursuit. seeing as he's still 15, he's likely still growing at a rapid pace. (i remember that when i was that age, i once grew out of a pair of pants in a MONTH) a fursuit is custom-fitted to the buyer, and they are *quite* expensive. it would be wise to start with ears and a tail, because you can't grow out of those, and they aren't nearly as costly as a full fursuit. :)
i can also tell you that kage is hands down the best person to ask what the fandom is about.
This sentence is false.
I know it's in the distant future, but please come to Anthrocon 2011! Parents bring their children (and vice versa) all the time!
It is so nice to see a caring parent who is willing to learn what their children are into. Rest assured, you are in good hands with Anthrocon's Chairman, Uncle Kage.
This friend speaks my mind. How wonderful it is to see parents asking polite questions and eager to learn about their children's interests; that sort of thing never gets old. 
And then once the parents learn it's just a fun hobby, they either understand and encourage their child run with it, or actually join them in running with it, and thus we grow! ;D
It's a great thing to see, other than "my mom is a fanatic and would never agree with it," which makes kids think that this is something that they have to 'come out to' with their parents. If only more parents were like Robin!
I'm a mom. I'm a furry. My son, who is 16, is also a furry. So is my husband. I'm sure all your questions have been answered by now, mostly by Uncle Kage. But just know that there is nothing to worry about. I would never have let my son get involved if there was.
Memetic mutation? It must be cool to have a quirky family like yours (though not completely pefect, of course).
Don't worry. The media loves demonizing anything that doesn't conform to its crappy, mainstream, corporate pop culture. There's anthropomorphic artwork, fiction and media aimed at all age groups and with many diverse styles and themes. You could even encourage his creativity in his participation. Maybe you could sew gloves, a tail, ears, and a mask in your free time, for starters. Or you could try to get him to draw and write more.
Also, Anthrocon is a convention that caters to most demographics in this fandom. There's events specifically for children and young people, along with a few "restricted" shows and art exhibits that are only shown to interested parties. And since the adult portion is pretty small (and reasonably regulated), he won't run into harmful material nor feel excluded. If you can, go with him and give him a chance to have fun and express himself for a while.
I am a father of 2 (girl 15 and boy 13). Both are furries, as am I.
Kage is quite skilled at answering questions about the furry fandom, but if you have any questions for a parent of a teenager in the fandom, please don't hesitate to ask.
well, i know that uncle cage can explain everything.
but on fursuits, wait until he stopped growing, and just make one.
my mom desided to help me with sewing mine (she doesnt let me use her new machine, the old one was good for me but not for her :S)
atleast do the stuff together, though he gets older, show interest to what your kids do (getting here on this forum, shows that you have interest.)
i like it when my mom or dad says well, it seems you enjoy this <insert enjoyable action here>, i want to try it as well.
but as you can see, there are allot of different people here in the fandom, ranging from student to parents.
just ask, and we just try to answer them.
and lots of people are more than willing to answer all your questions
Can I just say how utterly awesome it is that you're the kind of parent who really takes the time to learn about what their kid is doing, and even while you're concerned, you're still open and willing to give things a fair shake?
They're not as noticeable as the soccer moms.
To start i must say that I really must agree with Protocollie;
What is a furry? I think there is a a joke along the lines of if you ask 11 furries what it means to be a furry , you will get 12 or more answers, Well just like everything else in life, ask different people and you will get different answers, a good place to start is the 'what is a furry page' on this site. For me personally its just a hobby and a way of expressing myself among friends. I can only speak for myself, but in High School is not the best time in the world, the saying boys will be boys dose not do justice to how plain out rude and mean high school kids really are and being a 'furry' gives me a sort of community or group of friends that all like the same things that i do, some people join sports teams, others the chest team, other still are 'furry', being a furry has let me meet a lot of nice people, make a lot of new friends and make those years of not having any friends turn into having a lot of people liking me for who i am, no matter who that may be.
The 'furry fandom' is anyone who call them selfs a furry, I do not know if you are into football but seeing as I am from Pittsburgh the term 'steelers nation' would be the same thing, just without the sports and with furries
As far as the tails and ears go, you answered the question yourself, its all about self expression, its a little silly sure, but its hard not to laugh and have fun when your talking to someone with a red wolf tail on. As much as your son will not like me saying this, i would hold off on the fursuit, it cost a lot of money depending on if your making it yourself or commissioning it from one of the many talented 'furry' artists (between
$700-$2000) and odds are he will be growing more and you do not want to spend that money on something he will outgrow, the tails and ears are alright, most people do not have suits due to the cost, or just not wanting them.
Is your son a sexual deviant? Well I have never spoken to him, so i can not tell you, but if your asking if being a furry makes him one, then the answer is simply no. I am sure he may be interested in sexual things or girls more then he use to be, but thats mostly because he is at that age, I really would encourage you to hear some of the things that are said in most high schools, or written on the walls/desk, I am sure he is just a normal teenager.
I can only tell you how my mother was with me, she thought that being a furry is a 'little weird' in her words, but she was happy i found something to make me happy, something i enjoyed and most of all it gave us something to talk about, she would talk about how some of the suiters are cute and such and we both enjoy it
It is always good to have a parent who actually tries to learn more about something,
rather than immediately condemn it without learning more.
(It seems there's always SOMETHING to panic about- some parents were scared that
Elvis Presley and Rock and Roll would destroy society.)
My son has officialy confirmed with me that he is now a member of the "furry fandom." I do not know what the "Furry Fandom" is
It's a fandom- a bunch of fans- around "furry"- anthropomorphic characters. We're people who
still watch Bugs Bunny cartoons, or learn puppeteering, or build suits like team mascots or
study about animals and write fiction, or draw or collect artwork about characters who are
part human and part animal, whether Mickey Mouse, Thundercat, or anything in between.
It's a very broad fandom, and there's people interested in different parts.
understand what "Anthrocon" is
AnthroCon is the world's largest convention of furry fans, although, as hobby conventions go,
it's still not very big. It's pretty similar to any hobby convention- there's people who come in from
out of town and rent hotel rooms, and they run and attend all sorts of panels related to their
hobby. Since "furry fandom" is such a broad category, the types of panels tend to cover a lot
of ground- writing, art, gaming, puppeteering and puppet shows, fursuits, and things relating
to regular animals, as well as appearances by Guests of Honor.
(Those have included Floyd Norman, a Disney animator who worked on The Jungle Book,
Joe Harris, inventor of Underdog, Rob Paulsen, voice actor for the Animaniacs, Teenage Mutant
Ninja Turtles, and other cartoons, and many others whose work you may not recognize quite
as quickly.)
know what a furry is
The term either means a fan, or any anthropomorphic character -Bugs Bunny, Mickey Mouse,
Woody Woodpecker, the Pink Panther, and so on. It also includes any such character made up
by a fan, whether for writing fiction, or for inclusion in art, or just putting next to your posts
on a messageboard.
know why my son keeps insisting on buying things like tails and ears
Some fans like to buy ears and tails, and occasionally wear them. Most don't, but many do.
As accessories go, they're not very expensive, and they're easy to carry with you.
The ears and tails aren't even just a "furry" thing. If he was a fan of Japanese animation/anime/cartoons,
he might wear ears and a tail going to THEIR conventions-
characters in Dragonball Z, InuYasha, and other Japanese cartoons and comic books have them.
know if he is some sort of sexual deviant
Well, we don't know your child, so we can't speak specifically about him.
If he is, this fandom certainly didn't make him one. If he isn't, he's fully able to enjoy both
the fandom and the convention.
One does not need to involve sex to sit and watch Bugs Bunny cartoons,
and AnthroCon is run as a family-friendly convention and is as clean-cut as US society gets
nowadays.
know if it would it be worth it to purchase him a fursuit for his self expression
A good fursuit is worth a lot of money. He will outgrow a fursuit soon. About 85% of us don't
own fursuits- those who do have to pack another suitcase/ container for them, and put on
fur during an event- which in AnthroCon's case is in the Summer in Pittsburgh.
Me, I wouldn't put one on under those conditions even if it was free and I didn't have to
carry it.
If he wants to invest in one, or a partial suit (head and gloves) when he's done growing, hey,
more power to him. They look cool, and a lot of people seem to think that you need one to be
part of the fandom. (That's a very common misconception.)
Please help a confused mother, I'm trying to understand the best I can but it's all coming at me so fast that I feel like I've done something wrong. He is 15 years old and he loves this more than anything I could ever give him.
I certainly prefer a parent who cares and is involved in their kid's upbringing rather than one who
lets television raise their kid and complains about the results later.
Your son has a hobby. There is nothing wrong or perverted about the hobby.
Like any hobby, there's a few nuts. Like a few hobbies, this one is common for people to have
misconceptions about- some people scorn Star Trek or Star Wars fans, then go off on the weekend
and paint their faces and chests the colors of a sports team and make odd gestures at the
opposing team and chant at them, all the time thankful they don't have a weird hobby.
I'll link a bit more when I have a chance- with the points of view of outsiders who looked into
the hobby and what they concluded about it.
Ok, time for my links for strangers.
A news reporter wanted to find weird sex things at a furry convention.
So, she tried to get a press pass for FurFright, a Halloween-time furry convention.
They don't issue them-furry conventions don't seek out press. So, she came in as a
normal attendee, and tried to sneak in and find all the little secrets.
Here's what she found:
http://www.hartfordadvocate.com/featured-news/hell-hath-no-furries-3
"Your parents don't know?" I asked.
"No. They wouldn't approve."
"I don't see why. I've seen much weirder stuff at sci-fi and comic cons than anything here."
"Media sensationalism," Skunk said. "When the media does a story about Fur fandom, they pick the weirdest, most extreme people and say we're all like that."
Quote:Children's cartoons, Red Cross fundraisers, team sports and adult content kept discreetly out of sight. How wholesome.
Every half-hour I went to the bathroom to take notes in a private stall, and at 9 p.m. wrote: "May as well have gone to a Catholic school Halloween party. The dance starts in half an hour. Maybe something will happen there."
When I heard the strains of "Hungry Like The Wolf" emanating from the ballroom, I walked in to see a little toddler girl dancing with someone in a bunny suit. A minute later the girl abandoned the bunny to pull a cartoon fox onto the dance floor. She got more excited each time a new animal entered the room (good thing the mutant rabbit had left).
One man leaning against the wall surveyed the scene with a proud expression. "She's definitely my daughter," he smiled at me. "Look how much fun she's having."
"Of course," I said. "She's in a roomful of giant stuffed animals all come to life and dancing with her."
"You know," her father said reflectively, "I haven't been to a con since Anthrocon [another Furry gathering] a few years ago. These are the only people I trust. There's definitely a friendly vibe here."
There was. But what about the sex vibes I'd hoped to find? If I'd peeked behind every hotel-room door I probably would've found something, but that's true at any gathering of hundreds of people far from home. The Furry convention wasn't a sex thing but the exact opposite: an innocent world of children's-book animals, where a 3-year-old can roam with impunity and a maladjusted kid can enter the room with nobody leaving.
======================
If you go to Mark Evanier's website, you'll see he's been around. He's worked on movies, television shows
(like "Welcome Back Kotter"), cartoons, and comic books. He's attended all sorts of fan conventions over
the years as well. In 2007, he was a Guest of Honor at AnthroCon.
He was not a furry. He is not a furry. His first exposure to furry was looking at AnthroCon's website.
He keeps a blog, and blogged about his attendance at the convention during the convention,
and after the convention.
As a regular person, what was his experience, going in "cold", of AnthroCon?
http://www.newsfromme.com/archives/2007_07_02.html#013668
Quote:Anthrocon is — I cribbed this from their website — the world's largest convention for those fascinated with anthropomorphics, which are humanlike animal characters. It's a gathering of folks who draw, write about, dress up as or just enjoy cartoon animals. I'll tell you more about it from there.
Quote:There will be panels. On Friday afternoon at 1:30, Carolyn and I will be doing a panel about writing and drawing comic books and cartoons. On Sunday at 10 AM, Rob and I will be discussing the cartoon voice field and then at 2 PM, Carolyn and I will be talking about Pogo. There are other panels and games and presentations and exhibitors and an art show and if you're there, please say howdy. If you're not there, watch this spot for reports on what you missed.
http://www.newsfromme.com/archives/2007_07_05.html#013678
Quote:We're here for the Anthrocon, which as I've explained is a convention of "furry" fans — folks with a passion for human-like animals or animal-like humans or blurring the line of demarcation between them. This fandom has endured a fair amount of mocking in the past, often from folks who oughta know better, given how their own interests have prompted ridicule from others. I come to it with my belief that, first of all, every group — up to and including those in which I am a willing participant — has its overzealous, embarrassing faction. It's not only wrong but a cheap, disingenuous trick to characterize an entire movement by its atypical element. It's kind of like those political arguments that try to tar every Republican/Conservative with the low moral standing of Ann Coulter or every Democrat/Liberal as being guilty of the sins of Lewis Farrakahn. Secondly, I figure that anything that makes people happy without making others unhappy is worthy of great respect.
http://www.newsfromme.com/archives/2007_07_07.html#013681
Quote:I'm due at another event so my big discourse on Anthrocon will have to wait for another time. All I'll say for now is that this is one of the happiest conventions I've attended in 37 years of con-going. It's not about selling things. It's not about launching careers...at least, not in the way it would be if there were publishers here looking to hire. It's not even all that much about dressing up as some other species. I'll try and articulate what it is about when I don't have to rush off and shake hands. Or paws. Or whatever it is some of them have.
http://www.newsfromme.com/archives/2007_07_08.html#013689
Quote:They were one of the features of Anthrocon. Another was the sheer friendliness of almost 3000 people who gathered this weekend and had, like my friend Carolyn and me, a very good time. It's a bit difficult to explain what goes on at a "furry" convention. Unlike your big comic conventions, it's not about commerce. The Dealers Room is small and the sellers mainly have furry costume parts (good place to get an extra tail) or handmade artifacts with an animal theme. There are a lot of artists around doing animal sketches for small fees and many of those artists are quite gifted and well encouraged by the experience. There's an art show. There are programming items. (Today, I did a panel with cartoon voice superstar Rob Paulsen on animation voicing and later, another with Carolyn on Pogo and the work of her father, the late Walt Kelly.) There are games and films and puppet shows — there are a lot of splendid puppeteers here — and parties. Mostly, I guess it's about seeing one another. Though this is the largest convention of its kind, it's still small enough that everyone almost seems to know everyone else.
Quote:I've received a few e-mails asking if I could explain why these folks like to dress up like animals or adopt animal nicknames or write tales of anthropomorphic animals. No, I can't. Just as I can't explain why people in this world do a lot of things that don't coincide with my tastes or interests. I don't understand why people get tattoos or pierce body parts or eat cole slaw or ride roller coasters or vote for George Bush or sleep with some of the people they sleep with...or do any of a thousand other things I could name that I cannot conceive of myself ever doing. I am, however, capable of appreciating that some who find joy in such activities are fine, good people and I would be doing myself a disservice to erect any sort of needless barrier between them and me. With the exception of the ones who vote for Bush, they do me no harm...and maybe, when they're not doing whatever it is I don't "get," they're doing something I can learn from or even want to emulate.
The folks I've met here at Anthrocon — with fewer exceptions than you'd imagine — have been decent, bright, creative and charming people. Does dressing up occasionally in a furry suit make you that way? Maybe not. If it does, I can think of a lot of people who ought to be in chipmunk costumes this very minute.
Furry is often enough not something one 'becomes', it's frequently a toddler-emergent trait where one always has a powerful interest in anthropomorphic characters and creatures from as far back as memory serves, and then one suddenly discovers one day while surfing the web that there are other people out there like you.
That's how it happened in my case. I would have qualified as a furry by age 4. Interestingly, by age 4 I was also already confirming my future career as being in the science fields. I wanted to be a vulcanologist back then... until I realized that falling into lava would be a bad work day I would likely not recover from. So I switched to biology.
Liquid hot magma... :B
It goes back to when I was at least in Elementary, but if it weren't for the World Wide Web, I wouldn't have discovered this fandom. I was especially crazy about werewolves and bats.
the good thing is your on this forum that is a good start do a little exploring on here
for more info ask kage if you have not already
dems my two cents
my brain hurts
All very understandable questions! I've sent you a private message with a bit more information.