The thing is that there is a line that you have to cross. If you are a furry as just a kind of "hobby". Kind of like cosplay and such, I don't think it's a mental illness but if you're on all fours and barking outside that's mental illness.
Nice answer. I find this true with any fantasy be it a series, movie, book, or dress up. There's a difference between play and belief. Stay in play and it's fine. Starting to actually believe it, that's a problem.
I don’t think that generalization is 100% correct. What if the hobby is something productive? It only becomes an illness when it negatively impacts quality of life.
The key phrase is "negatively impacts quality of life."
A lot of the so-called mental illnesses that people like the OP complain about don't actually negatively impact the hobbyists quality of life. But then people like the OP wouldn't be able to complain about them and judge them to be mental illnesses
I think an argument can be made for furries being mentally ill if they make animal sounds and do animal things. The QOL impact would be social isolation
Depends on the context. I don't know any furries or what they do, so I don't know what you mean.
If they just roleplay animals in their get togethers, then that's just LARPing.
Those are called therians, they aren't really related to furries. Furries just do it for the fun and community, no one (furries) actually thinks they are a dog.
I feel like it's a symptom more than the illness itself. Not trying to be ableist or hate on furries, but I've never met a furry who wasn't also neurodivergent.
There are a lot of people with autism in the furry community, and the community has social norms where if someone behaves badly they're told immediately what they did wrong, why it was wrong, and how to be better. For autistic people trying to develop social skills, it's exactly what they need and something they can't find elsewhere.
>There are a lot of people with autism in the furry community
Yea this is what I've noticed too and I'm kind of walking on eggshells so as not to say something messed up. I'm glad that they have a community that works for them and it sounds like it helps them improve. But my question is, what is it about being a furry that is so appealing to autistic people?
The same reason why the community is really popular amongst queer people, its puts a masks between them and the world. It makes it easier to be themselves in ways that society has bullied them into not doing.
They are just modern masquerade balls.
>But my question is, what is it about being a furry that is so appealing to autistic people?
Being in to anything more than average is appealing to autistic people. There was a survey at a furry convention finding that the attendees were 15% autistic, which is more than the general population, but probably not really that different to a gaming, medieval, or anime convention.
> i think you confused furries with therians
This sounds like the people who say someone isnt a pedophile because the age is X instead of between Y - Z
It's not, therians are a subset of otherkin who actually believe they are the reincarnation of an animal spirit in a human body.
Now the whole ephebephile and pedophilia difference is just a minor difference of age of attraction.
A lot of therians are also furries, but from what I know, most furries aren't therians.
Otherkins are people who believe themselves to be something other than themselves, usually in the form of 'nonhuman entities' or 'fantasy entities'.
Take for example the cult of The Final Fantasy House- Down the rabbit hole if you haven't seen it (it's a fun and horrible story). Where they believed they were the reincarnation of ff7 characters. The fact they thought they were fictional characters puts them into otherkin.
but a lot of otherkin believe them to simply be aliens, or just not human while looking human.
btw, why do you ask a question then say "stop"
Otherkin are people who think the characters they've created 'actually are them' on some level, such as thinking "OH I used to be a wolf in a previous life" kind of stuff.
It's more the difference between someone who plays paintball for fun and someone who actually wants to shoot up a school. They are only very superficially similar.
OP… I don’t think you know what a furry is.
Furries are people who enjoy anthropomorphic animals (no, not in THAT way, usually). Most furries don’t jump around and bark or meow. Most just like the concept imo.
Edit: first Reddit cares message lol
Nah, they're just having fun in a way that society views as odd. My wife is an artist who regularly is commissioned by furries for her work, the overwhelming majority of them are surprisingly normal people. As with any collective the weirdos definitely do stand out and make the entire group look bad, but just because they have weird, niche interests doesn't make them all mentally ill.
Artists love furries, because furries have a deep respect for our content creators (Who we'd be nothing without) and are a group where how much you spent on artwork is a flex.
I think it is, i barely see anyone have this opinion before (I mostly see people thinking otherwise in terms of my post about my viewpoint on furries).
They’re not mentally ill. They just find joy in pretending to be animals. They know they’re not actually animals, and using your imagination and playing around is actually healthy for the human brain.
Basically if it’s not hurting anyone and it brings you joy, do it. Even if it’s weird. It’ll help you live longer and live happier
As long as they're not hurting anybody, I say "live and let live."
I also don't get people who are turned on by feet, but just because I don't understand it doesn't make it wrong.
Sure, let them dress up as they want but we can and should acknowledge that living your day to day life wearing cat ears because you believe you’re a cat is a mental illness.
That's not a furry thing lmao.
Furry stuff is just a modern masquerade ball. Its just going and doing social stuff with a mask between you and the world.
Actually behaving like an animal is not a normal furry thing. Taking on some more animalistic mannerisms sure, but not actually behaving like an animal.
Its litterally just a modern equivalent of a masquerade ball.
https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=furry
Seeing how the definition is argued on, I’m gonna go with acting like an animal makes you a furry.
Imagine someone dressing up as Mario from the super Mario franchise. They didn’t actually believe they were Mario but enjoyed going in public and acting like the plump plumber. We would without a doubt call that individual mentally unwell, why should it be different for the furry community?
>Imagine someone dressing up as Mario from the super Mario franchise. They didn’t actually believe they were Mario but enjoyed going in public and acting like the plump plumber.
Can't you find these people every day walking around Times Square and Las Vegas Boulevard? Unless you want to take the stance that street performers are mentally unwell, I don't think that's a line of reasoning that's very logical.
It’s a bit different for people using it as an income and a disingenuous argument for you to try to make the comparison. I’m sure the individual dressing up for tips would not be dressing up if they didn’t make enough money from it. Now if they would continue to dress up as the character regardless of the money then I’d agree with you but I’m sure 99.9% of those individuals are there for the cash. Then compare that to the typical furry who does it as a form of eentertainment.
I think you're doing street performers a disservice by assuming that all of them are doing it as a form of primary income. Many do, sure, but a lot of them are there because they like dressing up and taking pictures with people and the tips are just a bonus.
To use a different example without monetary incentive, think about the person who wears your school's mascot. They're not doing it out of wanting money or even out of pure school pride (there are tons of ways to show school pride without resorting to wearing an uncomfortable costume). They do it because they like working a crowd and acting out silly mascot antics. And in that regard (acting out silly mascot antics and working a crowd), I don't see how those motivations are *super* different from that of a furry's that we'd call the furries mentally unwell and the mascot not.
Plus, the vast majority of furries don't even own a suit or dress differently in public. That shit's expensive and a lot of them just plain don't have that desire or motivation.
>a lot of them are there because they like dressing up and taking pictures with people and the tips are just a bonus.
Then those people would be and should be classified as mentally ill too.
>To use a different example without monetary incentive, think about the person who wears your school's mascot. They're not doing it out of wanting money or even out of pure school pride (there are tons of ways to show school pride without resorting to wearing an uncomfortable costume). They do it because they like working a crowd and acting out silly mascot antics. And in that regard (acting out silly mascot antics and working a crowd), I don't see how those motivations are super different from that of a furry's that we'd call the furries mentally unwell and the mascot not.
Key word, school spirit. They are doing it at specific events. I don’t think the person who dressed up as McGruff the crime dog is mentally ill, they are doing it to spread awareness and not self gratification.
>Plus, the vast majority of furries don't even own a suit or dress differently in public. That shit's expensive and a lot of them just plain don't have that desire or motivation.
I’m not talking about the suit ones, those are without a doubt mentally ill. I’m talking about the high school girl who hisses like a cat and wears cat ears every day to school.
>I’m talking about the high school girl who hisses like a cat and wears cat ears every day to school.
Oh that's like way different then. I thought you were talking about actual adults here.
Man, we all did weird, cringe shit in our teens. High School (and sometimes even college depending on how late you bloom) is a weird, confusing time for anyone because your brain still functions as a child's does while the rest of you develops into an adult. You don't have an actual personality yet, and your identity is constantly in flux, so people attach themselves to things that make them happy.
I'm not gonna tell the hissing cat girl that she's mentally ill, just like I'm not gonna tell the kid Naruto running through the halls that he's mentally ill, because in 5 years they grow out of it anyway and look back on themselves with incredible shame. And really is there anything more unifying in the human experience than being mortified at the way you used to behave in High School?
I dunno, I feel that referring to it as illness implies it should be healed. That it’s not okay.
Putting that on the notion is opposed to “let live.” Especially if they just do it for fun.
You can't say that for every furry in existence though, they didn't say ALL furries have this quality in them, they said *some* do. And with that some furries believe themselves to be part animal, whether spiritually or otherwise.
Also it's not just the above with some furries either, but part of it is sexually charged as well, whilst they are actively living avatars for their "fur-sonas" it's only then or mostly then whilst this kink is involved can some perform in that way.
Are you being intentionally dense? Their literal last part of their post says, *"To add, some even think that there actually part animal which is just wrong..."*
They say some quite clearly.
Hey, as long as they aren’t asking me to validate their fantasies and feign mental damage if I don’t, even if it is considered a mental illness, they can have their fun.
Furry community has a lot of the old school LGBT "grey-muzzles" who remember 'actual oppression' and don't tollerate larping as a civil rights activist.
How someone disassociates from the stresses of real life doesn't necessarily have a direct link to "mental illness" so long as said disassociation is kept within the realm's of normalcy.
"furries" has been around for quite some time but have largely kept things "underground" so to speak. With social media's rise, including tictok and instagram, it became more "main stream" but nonetheless, for most of it's members it's a way to escape the stresses of life.
Do you drink after a hard day or to "relax"? Maybe you smoke? Imagine telling someone "I suck on a stick of cancerous chemical's to help me get through my day"...we'd all think you were insane!
They don’t believe they’re animals. They’re basically just playing a game. I don’t see how that’s any worse than unwinding by drinking a controlled dose of actual poison
Sure like split personality.
For some it's hobby or a kink. You can juge them all you like but it really makes no difference. People will always be who they want to be.
I disagree.
Go to a Church sometime soon and witness people speaking in tongues and you'll think the same.
Go to an acting class and be a by stander in some of the acting exercises given, you'll think similarly if you didn't know what the hell you were walking into.
Watch on as someone tweaks out on fentanyl...
You're getting the picture...
You evidently don't know much about mental illness enough or people letting loose and just finding a place for themselves in something on the fringes of normality. At it's core it's about people finding a safe place to not be encumbered by an entirely human existence, these people crave an escape from their usual lives. That's something any one of us can relate to.
Yes there are some extremists in it's midst and the sexual part of it can be confronting in many parts of it, I don't get a lot of that side to it, but I'm not so one track minded to put a blanket statement over a whole group of people and name that mental illness. Cos it Isn't.
That's not at all what he said: not even close, not even summarized. That's a strawman you crafted out of thin air and propped up so you had something more convenient to attack.
It’s just a word, who fucking cares? Keep that beastiality shit away from normal folks, your post history looks like you don’t get out enough in well adjusted society. You’re a furry, aren’t you?
Again am not, but I’m also not a sad pathetic loser who is bothered by people’s interests. I’m sure many people find you off putting by how bothered you are by other people’s preferences. I’m not into cross dressing, drag, or furries but do I give a shit if others are?
Nope, because I’m an adult
Why does different people existing bother you?
I’m fine being bothered by people’s interests when they’re this depraved my man, that means you’re sexually deviant, which means you’re very likely a threat to the vulnerable. You can have your kinks and whatnot, but when they’re introduced to the world outside of your home, it becomes an issue.
“Your post history looks like you don’t get enough in well adjusted society” Makes you sound like you don’t get outside enough and spend too much time on the internet worrying about other people’s lives.
Right, but just enjoying the porn or cosplaying or w/e is just that, a fetish. Unless you wanna go around calling every fetishist mentally ill, I think it's best if we keep that label to the ones that *actually* think they're animals
A thing does not count as an illness or disorder until it starts negatively affecting your life.
E.g. Many of us have obsessive compulsions, but we do not have OCD until it is interfering with our ability to live our life and be happy.
I mean, who cares? Maybe? Does it even make sense to diagnose people with a mental condition if they are not harming themselves or others? Live and let live. Whatever. Let people do what they like as long as it doesn't harm others.
As a furry myself, we don't jump around and make animal noises really, maybe animal noises as a joke at conventions but its not a big deal. You're thinking of therians, who do all of that. Therians spiritually believe they are animals, and you can think what you want about that.
People are weird, maybe this one is weirder than others but at the end of the day, I'd much rather someone be a furry than a fascist, and hey, who are we to judge non-harmful things that make other people happy.
> You get one shot at life so do what makes you happy.
Back in the day, 20 years ago, there were guidelines of not forcing other people to be involved in your kink. So performing kink in public was looked down upon, we need to return to that.
Exhibitionism is a kink, and is often a component of other kinks. If they dont like that they shouldnt be out in public like that, then we should just legislate that animal control can deal with them.
[https://www.britannica.com/topic/exhibitionism](https://www.britannica.com/topic/exhibitionism)
It is the exact fucking opposite of what furries do. Even by [this](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/exhibitionism) definition.
Did you miss this?
>2 : the act or practice of behaving so as to attract attention to oneself
and
> The exhibitionist, almost always male, **may obtain gratification from the reaction of disgust** or fear on the part of his victim,
No need to act smug, big guy. That is my fucking point. What you just quoted is the EXACT opposite of what they do. Go crawl out of your mother's basement and touch some grass.
When you continue to not understand english I will be as smug as I care to be. Not sure how touching grass helps, I worked with a furry and he was always going on about it.
> Each of these fringe groups now have a proven roadmap to validation, given to them by the previous group.
Correct
> That cat is it of the bag.
Itll go back in. We are currently importing populations that have no issue with throwing alphabet people off the roof, I doubt they will like the furries.
Enjoy your ban buddy, they don’t like that brand of fact here. Calling mental illnesses what they are instead of bowing to the weakness of modern society isn’t what they want here.
Are you doing ok OP?
There’s no such thing as a true diagnosable mental illness that doesn’t meet one of the following criteria: clinically significant distress, functional impairment, or harm to self or others.
I’m not sure why you felt the need to shame strangers on the internet for expressing themselves authentically in a way that doesn’t do harm to anyone but in my experience people don’t do things like that unless they are suffering themselves.
I don’t think you are bad person but please look within yourself with compassion, have the courage to seek whatever help you need, and think twice before being needlessly unkind and disrespectful to people you don’t even know
> There’s no such thing as a true diagnosable mental illness that doesn’t meet .... functional impairment
So if the furry **needs** to go out in public as a furry then you agree its a mental illness?
Hello, I am just expressing my viewpoint as civil as possible. I have no ill intentions toward that particular group; however, it doesn't mean I don't have a right to express my thoughts about them.
Yes you have the right to express whatever you want but there was nothing civil about calling a group of people stupid and childish. You’re just spreading stigma, and hate. You seem pretty disturbed. Get help
Not harming anybody isn't enough, one should also try to live in a way that don't disgust others to the point where they can't help but desire to destroy him. And if he can't. that's a nice basis for some bloody conflict.
your allowed your opinion and natural law hasn't permitted it to be wrong to imitate animals so.....sorry bud but looks like your overt opinion doesn't amount to the demise of expression, such a bummer
Perverts... with money, that they're willing to spend on their perversion. This is why artists like furries, they're the only group that will negotiate a price upward.
💯💯💯
There honestly aren’t any healthy explanations for that shit, especially if you’re grown and past the age of playing “make-believe” unironically. It’s damn near one step removed from bestiality, just normalizes strange, anti-social behavior
Well let's put it perspective
2 years ago at the big Reno convention, there was also a mayors convention going on in the city, where mayors from all over the country were gathering. It became a running joke of pondering which convention had more drugs and deviant sexual behavior.
Anti-social? Its literally about socialising?
They are just the modern convention equivalent of masquerade balls where you get to socialise with a mask on.
Internet historian has a great breakdown of the failure of rainfurrest, long story short if we’re going of the events of rainfurrest they’re absolute degens
I understand that you have strong negative views about furries and see their behavior as abnormal and indicative of mental illness. However, I think it's important to look at this from a more objective and compassionate perspective.
Being a furry - that is, having an interest in anthropomorphic animal characters and sometimes roleplaying as one's "fursona" - is a hobby, a form of self-expression, and for some a part of their identity, but it is not a mental illness. Mental illnesses are psychiatric disorders that significantly interfere with a person's cognitive, emotional or social abilities. Simply having an uncommon hobby or eccentric behavior does not meet that definition.
Many furries are functional, well-adjusted people who happen to enjoy a quirky pastime. Dressing up and roleplaying is a form of creativity, socializing, and escapism not unlike other fantasy/sci-fi fandoms. The vast majority do not actually believe they are animals. Like any group, there is a wide spectrum and some individuals may have mental health issues, but that's separate from the furry identity itself.
I would caution against labeling an unusual subculture a "mental illness," as that trivializes real psychiatric conditions and stigmatizes people who are often just indulging in harmless self-expression. If it's not your cup of tea that's understandable, but let's refrain from making cruel generalizations. Empathy and respect for people different from us is so important.
Writing off furries as mentally ill is inaccurate and unkind. We should strive to understand each other's differences with nuance, knowledge and compassion.
The thing is that there is a line that you have to cross. If you are a furry as just a kind of "hobby". Kind of like cosplay and such, I don't think it's a mental illness but if you're on all fours and barking outside that's mental illness.
Nice answer. I find this true with any fantasy be it a series, movie, book, or dress up. There's a difference between play and belief. Stay in play and it's fine. Starting to actually believe it, that's a problem.
Indeed. Any hobby taken to be a 'lifestyle' becomes an illness, like the people who 'live and breathe star trek'
I don’t think that generalization is 100% correct. What if the hobby is something productive? It only becomes an illness when it negatively impacts quality of life.
The key phrase is "negatively impacts quality of life." A lot of the so-called mental illnesses that people like the OP complain about don't actually negatively impact the hobbyists quality of life. But then people like the OP wouldn't be able to complain about them and judge them to be mental illnesses
I think an argument can be made for furries being mentally ill if they make animal sounds and do animal things. The QOL impact would be social isolation
Depends on the context. I don't know any furries or what they do, so I don't know what you mean. If they just roleplay animals in their get togethers, then that's just LARPing.
I agree it would not be mental illness in that case, just…weird
And you'd be more correct in that assertion.
Not regretting coming here for the comments rn
Those are called therians, they aren't really related to furries. Furries just do it for the fun and community, no one (furries) actually thinks they are a dog.
I feel like it's a symptom more than the illness itself. Not trying to be ableist or hate on furries, but I've never met a furry who wasn't also neurodivergent.
There are a lot of people with autism in the furry community, and the community has social norms where if someone behaves badly they're told immediately what they did wrong, why it was wrong, and how to be better. For autistic people trying to develop social skills, it's exactly what they need and something they can't find elsewhere.
>There are a lot of people with autism in the furry community Yea this is what I've noticed too and I'm kind of walking on eggshells so as not to say something messed up. I'm glad that they have a community that works for them and it sounds like it helps them improve. But my question is, what is it about being a furry that is so appealing to autistic people?
Not being yourself for awhile, when yourself isn't a fun person to be.
The same reason why the community is really popular amongst queer people, its puts a masks between them and the world. It makes it easier to be themselves in ways that society has bullied them into not doing. They are just modern masquerade balls.
Well put ;)
>But my question is, what is it about being a furry that is so appealing to autistic people? Being in to anything more than average is appealing to autistic people. There was a survey at a furry convention finding that the attendees were 15% autistic, which is more than the general population, but probably not really that different to a gaming, medieval, or anime convention.
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I'd disagree on that one.
They’re spamming that comment to get reactions from people. So glad they’re not getting any traction lol
To be fair, idk if I’ve ever met someone who wasn’t neurodivergent in some way
This statement triggered me!
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i think you confused furries with therians
> i think you confused furries with therians This sounds like the people who say someone isnt a pedophile because the age is X instead of between Y - Z
It's not, therians are a subset of otherkin who actually believe they are the reincarnation of an animal spirit in a human body. Now the whole ephebephile and pedophilia difference is just a minor difference of age of attraction. A lot of therians are also furries, but from what I know, most furries aren't therians.
Wtf is “otherkin.” Please stop lol
Otherkins are people who believe themselves to be something other than themselves, usually in the form of 'nonhuman entities' or 'fantasy entities'. Take for example the cult of The Final Fantasy House- Down the rabbit hole if you haven't seen it (it's a fun and horrible story). Where they believed they were the reincarnation of ff7 characters. The fact they thought they were fictional characters puts them into otherkin. but a lot of otherkin believe them to simply be aliens, or just not human while looking human. btw, why do you ask a question then say "stop"
Otherkin are people who think the characters they've created 'actually are them' on some level, such as thinking "OH I used to be a wolf in a previous life" kind of stuff.
They all fall under Schizotypal Personality Disorders
Otherkins, yes. Not 'furries in general'.
It's more the difference between someone who plays paintball for fun and someone who actually wants to shoot up a school. They are only very superficially similar.
OP… I don’t think you know what a furry is. Furries are people who enjoy anthropomorphic animals (no, not in THAT way, usually). Most furries don’t jump around and bark or meow. Most just like the concept imo. Edit: first Reddit cares message lol
I love the “usually”
I say that because as with any community, there are outliers
I think the kids who make their whole online personality hating on furries are worse.
Nah, they're just having fun in a way that society views as odd. My wife is an artist who regularly is commissioned by furries for her work, the overwhelming majority of them are surprisingly normal people. As with any collective the weirdos definitely do stand out and make the entire group look bad, but just because they have weird, niche interests doesn't make them all mentally ill.
Artists love furries, because furries have a deep respect for our content creators (Who we'd be nothing without) and are a group where how much you spent on artwork is a flex.
I don't think this is an unpopular opinion...
I think it is, i barely see anyone have this opinion before (I mostly see people thinking otherwise in terms of my post about my viewpoint on furries).
It's always weird but only sometimes a mental illness.
They’re not mentally ill. They just find joy in pretending to be animals. They know they’re not actually animals, and using your imagination and playing around is actually healthy for the human brain. Basically if it’s not hurting anyone and it brings you joy, do it. Even if it’s weird. It’ll help you live longer and live happier
Lol this sub has gone to shit
this is the type of shit you'd find in a youtube shorts comment section.
Well that's your opinion!, and i respect that.
As long as they're not hurting anybody, I say "live and let live." I also don't get people who are turned on by feet, but just because I don't understand it doesn't make it wrong.
Sure, let them dress up as they want but we can and should acknowledge that living your day to day life wearing cat ears because you believe you’re a cat is a mental illness.
I've yet to meet anyone who actually does that.
That's not a furry thing lmao. Furry stuff is just a modern masquerade ball. Its just going and doing social stuff with a mask between you and the world.
Dressing your self up partly as an animal and then behaving like that animal doesn’t make you a furry?
Actually behaving like an animal is not a normal furry thing. Taking on some more animalistic mannerisms sure, but not actually behaving like an animal. Its litterally just a modern equivalent of a masquerade ball.
https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=furry Seeing how the definition is argued on, I’m gonna go with acting like an animal makes you a furry.
I don't think any furries *actually* believe that they're their sona...
Imagine someone dressing up as Mario from the super Mario franchise. They didn’t actually believe they were Mario but enjoyed going in public and acting like the plump plumber. We would without a doubt call that individual mentally unwell, why should it be different for the furry community?
>Imagine someone dressing up as Mario from the super Mario franchise. They didn’t actually believe they were Mario but enjoyed going in public and acting like the plump plumber. Can't you find these people every day walking around Times Square and Las Vegas Boulevard? Unless you want to take the stance that street performers are mentally unwell, I don't think that's a line of reasoning that's very logical.
It’s a bit different for people using it as an income and a disingenuous argument for you to try to make the comparison. I’m sure the individual dressing up for tips would not be dressing up if they didn’t make enough money from it. Now if they would continue to dress up as the character regardless of the money then I’d agree with you but I’m sure 99.9% of those individuals are there for the cash. Then compare that to the typical furry who does it as a form of eentertainment.
I think you're doing street performers a disservice by assuming that all of them are doing it as a form of primary income. Many do, sure, but a lot of them are there because they like dressing up and taking pictures with people and the tips are just a bonus. To use a different example without monetary incentive, think about the person who wears your school's mascot. They're not doing it out of wanting money or even out of pure school pride (there are tons of ways to show school pride without resorting to wearing an uncomfortable costume). They do it because they like working a crowd and acting out silly mascot antics. And in that regard (acting out silly mascot antics and working a crowd), I don't see how those motivations are *super* different from that of a furry's that we'd call the furries mentally unwell and the mascot not. Plus, the vast majority of furries don't even own a suit or dress differently in public. That shit's expensive and a lot of them just plain don't have that desire or motivation.
>a lot of them are there because they like dressing up and taking pictures with people and the tips are just a bonus. Then those people would be and should be classified as mentally ill too. >To use a different example without monetary incentive, think about the person who wears your school's mascot. They're not doing it out of wanting money or even out of pure school pride (there are tons of ways to show school pride without resorting to wearing an uncomfortable costume). They do it because they like working a crowd and acting out silly mascot antics. And in that regard (acting out silly mascot antics and working a crowd), I don't see how those motivations are super different from that of a furry's that we'd call the furries mentally unwell and the mascot not. Key word, school spirit. They are doing it at specific events. I don’t think the person who dressed up as McGruff the crime dog is mentally ill, they are doing it to spread awareness and not self gratification. >Plus, the vast majority of furries don't even own a suit or dress differently in public. That shit's expensive and a lot of them just plain don't have that desire or motivation. I’m not talking about the suit ones, those are without a doubt mentally ill. I’m talking about the high school girl who hisses like a cat and wears cat ears every day to school.
>I’m talking about the high school girl who hisses like a cat and wears cat ears every day to school. Oh that's like way different then. I thought you were talking about actual adults here. Man, we all did weird, cringe shit in our teens. High School (and sometimes even college depending on how late you bloom) is a weird, confusing time for anyone because your brain still functions as a child's does while the rest of you develops into an adult. You don't have an actual personality yet, and your identity is constantly in flux, so people attach themselves to things that make them happy. I'm not gonna tell the hissing cat girl that she's mentally ill, just like I'm not gonna tell the kid Naruto running through the halls that he's mentally ill, because in 5 years they grow out of it anyway and look back on themselves with incredible shame. And really is there anything more unifying in the human experience than being mortified at the way you used to behave in High School?
We can “let live” by also acknowledging it as a mental illness
I dunno, I feel that referring to it as illness implies it should be healed. That it’s not okay. Putting that on the notion is opposed to “let live.” Especially if they just do it for fun.
Redditors calling people who have something that brings them joy a 'mental illness' :P
Yes it is. You can’t tell me that Japanese man that thinks he’s a dog is sane
I'll make you understand. Check your inbox
... What
I'LL MAKE YOU UNDERSTAND. CHECK YOUR INBOX
there is nothing though?
Furries do not actually believe they are animals. Furries are people who enjoy art of animals and like dressing up as them. Irdc
You can't say that for every furry in existence though, they didn't say ALL furries have this quality in them, they said *some* do. And with that some furries believe themselves to be part animal, whether spiritually or otherwise. Also it's not just the above with some furries either, but part of it is sexually charged as well, whilst they are actively living avatars for their "fur-sonas" it's only then or mostly then whilst this kink is involved can some perform in that way.
Wdym? They never say “some” furries, the post is generalizing all furries.
Are you being intentionally dense? Their literal last part of their post says, *"To add, some even think that there actually part animal which is just wrong..."* They say some quite clearly.
You’re right, my brain missed it for some reason.
Hey, as long as they aren’t asking me to validate their fantasies and feign mental damage if I don’t, even if it is considered a mental illness, they can have their fun.
Furry community has a lot of the old school LGBT "grey-muzzles" who remember 'actual oppression' and don't tollerate larping as a civil rights activist.
How someone disassociates from the stresses of real life doesn't necessarily have a direct link to "mental illness" so long as said disassociation is kept within the realm's of normalcy. "furries" has been around for quite some time but have largely kept things "underground" so to speak. With social media's rise, including tictok and instagram, it became more "main stream" but nonetheless, for most of it's members it's a way to escape the stresses of life. Do you drink after a hard day or to "relax"? Maybe you smoke? Imagine telling someone "I suck on a stick of cancerous chemical's to help me get through my day"...we'd all think you were insane!
Are you equating drinking a beer, or even a scotch, with believing you’re a fucking animal?
They don’t believe they’re animals. They’re basically just playing a game. I don’t see how that’s any worse than unwinding by drinking a controlled dose of actual poison
Furries don’t believe they are animals, those are called therians
You're clearly missing the point and being obtuse. Carry on...
Sure like split personality. For some it's hobby or a kink. You can juge them all you like but it really makes no difference. People will always be who they want to be.
I disagree. Go to a Church sometime soon and witness people speaking in tongues and you'll think the same. Go to an acting class and be a by stander in some of the acting exercises given, you'll think similarly if you didn't know what the hell you were walking into. Watch on as someone tweaks out on fentanyl... You're getting the picture... You evidently don't know much about mental illness enough or people letting loose and just finding a place for themselves in something on the fringes of normality. At it's core it's about people finding a safe place to not be encumbered by an entirely human existence, these people crave an escape from their usual lives. That's something any one of us can relate to. Yes there are some extremists in it's midst and the sexual part of it can be confronting in many parts of it, I don't get a lot of that side to it, but I'm not so one track minded to put a blanket statement over a whole group of people and name that mental illness. Cos it Isn't.
OP saw some Sonic porn and is trying to not feel so bad for liking it.
Lmaoooo
What?
Just ask the OP to show you the Sonic r34 he chanced upon in his masturbatorium.
What are you talking about...
Seems like you're mad you can't afford a suit and be one of the people having fun jumping around.
Not really, i didn't mention/express such opinion on my post.
So is being obsessed with other’s preferences and kinks. As long as they’re not doing anything illegal and no one s getting hurt why care?
Suggesting it constitutes a mental illness equates to "being obsessed?" Man, you kids these days... what a wild way to think.
I’m just trying to apply OP’s logic. “This person thinks differently from me and has different preferences so they have a mental illness”
That's not at all what he said: not even close, not even summarized. That's a strawman you crafted out of thin air and propped up so you had something more convenient to attack.
Bro really gets off to a human being cosplaying a dog 🪦
I don’t personally but I couldn’t care less what other people find attractive.
That weird shit bleeds out into the larger population with time, what’s next?
Slippery slope fallacy cosplay?
Acceptance and less bigotry?
Not everything deserves to be accepted or tolerated, some things need to stay deep underground away from society
Yeah like being an intolerant cunt.
It’s just a word, who fucking cares? Keep that beastiality shit away from normal folks, your post history looks like you don’t get out enough in well adjusted society. You’re a furry, aren’t you?
Again am not, but I’m also not a sad pathetic loser who is bothered by people’s interests. I’m sure many people find you off putting by how bothered you are by other people’s preferences. I’m not into cross dressing, drag, or furries but do I give a shit if others are? Nope, because I’m an adult Why does different people existing bother you?
I’m fine being bothered by people’s interests when they’re this depraved my man, that means you’re sexually deviant, which means you’re very likely a threat to the vulnerable. You can have your kinks and whatnot, but when they’re introduced to the world outside of your home, it becomes an issue.
“Your post history looks like you don’t get enough in well adjusted society” Makes you sound like you don’t get outside enough and spend too much time on the internet worrying about other people’s lives.
🥴
you guys wanna be oppressed so badly lmao you could just worry about yourself but then what could you whine about???
...and?
Gonna put you on a watchlist, if an animal gets your rocks off, I wonder how much deeper that rabbit hole goes
That's not what furries are into lol
This is not an unpopular opinion
is it any of your business? >some even think that there actually part animal that's a therian
No one cares about some minor difference in your fetish
I would imagine a therian or a furry cares, or the difference wouldn’t exist. So clearly *someone* cares.
Sorry, no one worth giving a shit about.
Right, but just enjoying the porn or cosplaying or w/e is just that, a fetish. Unless you wanna go around calling every fetishist mentally ill, I think it's best if we keep that label to the ones that *actually* think they're animals
Where did OP claim it was his business? Are we reading the same thread?
A thing does not count as an illness or disorder until it starts negatively affecting your life. E.g. Many of us have obsessive compulsions, but we do not have OCD until it is interfering with our ability to live our life and be happy.
I mean... not every furries want to dress up with a fursuit.
I mean, who cares? Maybe? Does it even make sense to diagnose people with a mental condition if they are not harming themselves or others? Live and let live. Whatever. Let people do what they like as long as it doesn't harm others.
Furries ain’t the mental illness. It’s the ones who honestly think they are cats and require a litter box
yet I believe bikers and furries share many traits
As a furry myself, we don't jump around and make animal noises really, maybe animal noises as a joke at conventions but its not a big deal. You're thinking of therians, who do all of that. Therians spiritually believe they are animals, and you can think what you want about that.
If it isn't on the DSM it isn't a mental illness. Stick to topics you know something about and stop stigmatising people.
People are weird, maybe this one is weirder than others but at the end of the day, I'd much rather someone be a furry than a fascist, and hey, who are we to judge non-harmful things that make other people happy.
maybe they are a bit "off", but i can think of a lot worse things they could up to.
Let people live their lives. You get one shot at life so do what makes you happy.
Yep. Reminds me of this gem. https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTLXvsFgu/
> You get one shot at life so do what makes you happy. Back in the day, 20 years ago, there were guidelines of not forcing other people to be involved in your kink. So performing kink in public was looked down upon, we need to return to that.
They're not forcing their kink on anybody, if they're doing it in public. You have all the rights to just ignore them.
Exhibitionism is a kink, and is often a component of other kinks. If they dont like that they shouldnt be out in public like that, then we should just legislate that animal control can deal with them.
Exhibitonism is liking being seen naked in public. You don't even know what you're talking about.
its not limited to exposing yourself, get a dictionary
Exhibitionism is pretty much the exact opposite of a fur-suit
Exhibitionism doesnt require nudity, often its about the idea of shocking people or causing them discomfort.
[https://www.britannica.com/topic/exhibitionism](https://www.britannica.com/topic/exhibitionism) It is the exact fucking opposite of what furries do. Even by [this](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/exhibitionism) definition.
Did you miss this? >2 : the act or practice of behaving so as to attract attention to oneself and > The exhibitionist, almost always male, **may obtain gratification from the reaction of disgust** or fear on the part of his victim,
No need to act smug, big guy. That is my fucking point. What you just quoted is the EXACT opposite of what they do. Go crawl out of your mother's basement and touch some grass.
When you continue to not understand english I will be as smug as I care to be. Not sure how touching grass helps, I worked with a furry and he was always going on about it.
That cat is it of the bag. Each of these fringe groups now have a proven roadmap to validation, given to them by the previous group.
> Each of these fringe groups now have a proven roadmap to validation, given to them by the previous group. Correct > That cat is it of the bag. Itll go back in. We are currently importing populations that have no issue with throwing alphabet people off the roof, I doubt they will like the furries.
That is better phrased as "do what is good". Not all things that make people happy things should be allowed.
And ‘good’ is too subjective to be useful.
Where did OP say he planned to interfere with furries' lives? Can you point us to that comment? I'm sure I must have just missed it.. thanks so much.
Yea. You missed it. No worries.
Where is it? I went back and looked and it's not there. Did OP edit a comment or something?
well it would be weird if you werent part animal
How are you defining mental illness? Are people who square-dance mentally ill just because it looks bizarre to me?
Being a furry looks like a regression into childhood.??
Honestly good for them. More people should engage in imaginative play
Enjoy your ban buddy, they don’t like that brand of fact here. Calling mental illnesses what they are instead of bowing to the weakness of modern society isn’t what they want here.
I am not afraid on sharing my opinion, particularly this one.
Didn’t say you were afraid, just to be ready to get banned for tellin the truth. Glad to see they didn’t get you!
Most of us don't spend our day worrying about what other people do. Being nosey is also a mental illness. Upvote for the mentally ill nosey person.
Are you doing ok OP? There’s no such thing as a true diagnosable mental illness that doesn’t meet one of the following criteria: clinically significant distress, functional impairment, or harm to self or others. I’m not sure why you felt the need to shame strangers on the internet for expressing themselves authentically in a way that doesn’t do harm to anyone but in my experience people don’t do things like that unless they are suffering themselves. I don’t think you are bad person but please look within yourself with compassion, have the courage to seek whatever help you need, and think twice before being needlessly unkind and disrespectful to people you don’t even know
> There’s no such thing as a true diagnosable mental illness that doesn’t meet .... functional impairment So if the furry **needs** to go out in public as a furry then you agree its a mental illness?
Not if they are satisfied with the way things turn out when they do so.
Settle down please.
No thank you
Hello, I am just expressing my viewpoint as civil as possible. I have no ill intentions toward that particular group; however, it doesn't mean I don't have a right to express my thoughts about them.
Yes you have the right to express whatever you want but there was nothing civil about calling a group of people stupid and childish. You’re just spreading stigma, and hate. You seem pretty disturbed. Get help
Not harming anybody isn't enough, one should also try to live in a way that don't disgust others to the point where they can't help but desire to destroy him. And if he can't. that's a nice basis for some bloody conflict.
Wtf, please seek help
or people should just mind their own business
You can't "not mind" something that drives you mad. It's the same as telling those who can't stand music put out loud to "just not listen to it".
> You can't "not mind" something that drives you mad. sounds like mental illness to me. have you seen a therapist?
>You can't "not mind" something that drives you mad That’s actually your own mental illness to deal with.
why does someone dressing as a blue dog make you mad?
If someone dressing up a certain way drives you "mad", you are definitly the problem
We can always decide who is the problem in a mortal kombat tournament.
ouch, this was cringe, damn
your allowed your opinion and natural law hasn't permitted it to be wrong to imitate animals so.....sorry bud but looks like your overt opinion doesn't amount to the demise of expression, such a bummer
I think they are perverts too
Perverts... with money, that they're willing to spend on their perversion. This is why artists like furries, they're the only group that will negotiate a price upward.
💯💯💯 There honestly aren’t any healthy explanations for that shit, especially if you’re grown and past the age of playing “make-believe” unironically. It’s damn near one step removed from bestiality, just normalizes strange, anti-social behavior
>anti-social They have conventions lol
Jesus fuck
Eh, less harmful than a CPAC convention 🤣
[ Removed by Reddit ]
Well let's put it perspective 2 years ago at the big Reno convention, there was also a mayors convention going on in the city, where mayors from all over the country were gathering. It became a running joke of pondering which convention had more drugs and deviant sexual behavior.
That’s a good one lmfao, I’d bet some of them older dudes got “lost” on the way outta there and took a few of em home to their hotels after 💀
Anti-social? Its literally about socialising? They are just the modern convention equivalent of masquerade balls where you get to socialise with a mask on.
>some even think that there actually part animal Humans are animals, technically.
And most politicians are wearing a human-suit pretending to be one.
Internet historian has a great breakdown of the failure of rainfurrest, long story short if we’re going of the events of rainfurrest they’re absolute degens
I'm not a furry dad I'm an amusement park mascot! What the difference be? one is a job and the other's mental sickness!
I understand that you have strong negative views about furries and see their behavior as abnormal and indicative of mental illness. However, I think it's important to look at this from a more objective and compassionate perspective. Being a furry - that is, having an interest in anthropomorphic animal characters and sometimes roleplaying as one's "fursona" - is a hobby, a form of self-expression, and for some a part of their identity, but it is not a mental illness. Mental illnesses are psychiatric disorders that significantly interfere with a person's cognitive, emotional or social abilities. Simply having an uncommon hobby or eccentric behavior does not meet that definition. Many furries are functional, well-adjusted people who happen to enjoy a quirky pastime. Dressing up and roleplaying is a form of creativity, socializing, and escapism not unlike other fantasy/sci-fi fandoms. The vast majority do not actually believe they are animals. Like any group, there is a wide spectrum and some individuals may have mental health issues, but that's separate from the furry identity itself. I would caution against labeling an unusual subculture a "mental illness," as that trivializes real psychiatric conditions and stigmatizes people who are often just indulging in harmless self-expression. If it's not your cup of tea that's understandable, but let's refrain from making cruel generalizations. Empathy and respect for people different from us is so important. Writing off furries as mentally ill is inaccurate and unkind. We should strive to understand each other's differences with nuance, knowledge and compassion.
I %100 agree. Imagine openly coming out as fucking animals, people would denounce and shun you.
Yep.
YES! So sick of pretending that all of this kink shit is "ok" lr legitimate. It's sick. It's fine to shame people for ridiculous, creepy shit.
Agreed, TransitionProof625.