furry

Someone who enjoys and/or creates art, literature, costumes, and more that pertains to anthropomorphised animals. Since the interests of the people who belong to the furry fandom range widely it is misrepresentative of the fandom as a whole to discribe them all in a specific fashion rather than a generalized one (i.e. they all dress up in fursuites isn't true since some of them dont do this.) Interests: -Anthropocentric: when the creation of anthropomorphised animals is in the service of representing people and human nature, rather than having anything to do with the animal itself. (Animal Farm: by George Orwell; Aesop Fables) -Zoomorphic: When animal characteristics are attributed to a god (or in this case human being: such as cat eared girls, or werewolves in some cases). Interest lies with the feral side of the being rather than the human side. The nature of interests furries have can originate from either of the above examples, and in the end this is where many associations between furries can get confused. The fact that furries like animals and people and the associations between them is always clear, as both forms and minds of each being are always present (There's always an animal and human involved). But the degree by which the animal is admired or human is admired over the other must be paid attention to if one is to udnerstand the true nature of each individual furry. Examples-- Teddy Bear: The teddy bear used to be shaped mostly like a bear in its early days. It had a small forehead, beady little eyes, large muzzles and noses, and a small head proportionate to its overall body. People did not buy this toy often because they couldn't emotionally associate with it well. In time designers of the toy began to anthropomorphise the stuffed bears giving them: big eyes, big foreheads, small noses scrunched up to their faces, and large heads too big for the body. In otherwords, they made teddy bears more like...babies! People began to associate with teddybears in a motherly, parenting sort of way banking many positive feelings with the bear. These people could be considered furries, because they like an anthropomorphised animal; and they could also be considered furries who come from a anthropocentric perspective, because it is not the animal they show affection for-but the human baby the animal represents. Little Red Riding Hood: Some theories wrap around this story as one that demonizes wolves. Others say it is a fable told in the old days from parent to daughter as a way of warning their girls that pedophiles and rapists were in the world- and to watch out for them. So, some theories point to the story as being about the animal, others say it is about the human/human nature the animal represents. Furries could be fans of the story from either a anthropocentric angel or a animal centric one. In the end, the point is that Furries come in all shapes and sizes, with variations between why they like what they like. Furry is not an ambiguous term, it is simply a term that describes a vast variety of people who have merely one characteristic in common: liking anthropomorphised animals.