Albert DiBenedetto entered room 301 in the Student Center dressed in all black. From the tips of his Belgian shepherd ears, to the hem of his dark, denim jeans, DiBenedetto was engulfed in his fursuit.
A fursuit is an animal costume that directly represents his furry persona, or fursona.
His black shirt blended into the black fur of his headpiece and fur covered paws. Adding color to his fursuit is the white border around his eyes, and a plush taco, an accessory DiBenedetto is rarely seen without.
“[The taco] doesn’t really hold a meaning beyond the fact that I just really enjoy tacos,” DiBenedetto said. “It’s just a part of my fursona.”
DiBenedetto, a junior physics major, is a member of Ball State’s Anthropomorphic Art Society (AAS), a club of artists and art enthusiasts who meet weekly to discuss anthropomorphic art.
Anthropomorphic art combines animal and human qualities. Tracing history back as far as the Egyptian’s hieroglyphics of deities with human bodies and animal heads, it’s hard to pinpoint an origin of this art. The history and impact it has on society is one aspect that AAS discusses in its weekly meetings.
The first club meeting had less than 10 people sitting around a small table. Since then, the club tripled their numbers with more than 30 people showing up regularly to weekly meetings.
“The main goal of the club to get together, learn a little bit and discuss the art,” AAS President Vance Yaunt said. “We are such a unique group of people with very different reasons why we love anthropomorphic art.”
After learning about furry culture from a past girlfriend, DiBenedetto started out dipping his toes into the fandom by building his fursona his freshman year of college. It wasn’t until the beginning of August that he started fursuiting as Seneca, the name of his fursona.
DiBenedetto spent months coming up with a story and concept for his fursona. He described Seneca as being “very derpy and goofy” while being “incredibly personable and caring.”
He then started figuring out how much it would cost to get a partial fursuit complete with head, paws and feet. After asking around and coming up with the best price for the quality, he spent roughly $900 on his partial fursuit.
A full body fursuit can range in price anywhere from $1,500 to $3,000. After he paid the fursuit creator, he stayed in contact to give insight to his fursona.
After months of planning, pricing and waiting, DiBenedetto received his fursuit in the mail on the morning of Aug. 9.
“When it arrived I pulled it out of the box and immediately put it on,” he said. “I was going to a convention that day, so I really got to put the suit to good use just hours after receiving it.”
His first day in the fursuit, DiBenedetto spent eight hours walking through lobbies and hallways at the convention guided by his handler, someone who helps fursuiters navigate while they are in costume because their vision and range of motion is confined.
He quickly realized how hot the suit can get.
“I definitely sweat a lot in the suit,” DiBenedetto said. “A lot more than I anticipated, but it is well worth it.”
He became a fan of the Headless Lounge, a cool-down room for fursuiters to take off their costume heads and relax.
While DiBenedetto was proudly displaying his new fursuit, Shawna Gardner, a senior art major, was selling her art at the convention’s Artist Alley, which is a place to sell personalized art and network with furry fans.
Gardner has turned her love for anthropomorphic art into a business.
Selling her art to a specific group of people has given Gardner the opportunity to raise her prices and make money through an outlet that she is passionate about.
“Depending on the size of the convention I can walk away selling 16 to 29 different pieces a day,” Gardner said. “It not only gives me the opportunity sell my art, but to continually challenge myself to make something different.”
Gardner started AAS her first semester at Ball State in 2009. She wanted to start something where lovers of the art could meet, create and discuss the different aspects of anthropomorphic art.
“It’s kind of my joy and my treasure, I’ve loved watching it grow and seeing everyone in it,” Gardner said.
To many in the club, it is more than something to do on Thursday nights, it is a place for them to be themselves and meet people they can connect with. For Brock Goodwin, a junior urban planning major, it was an added bonus to his transfer from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre Haute, Ind.
Goodwin knew about the club before his transfer, and made sure he attended all the meetings he could as soon as he became a Cardinal.
“It’s a place for us to get together and share something we all love, and in turn find a community that is 100 percent accepting of everyone,” Goodwin said.
The club is out to combat the negative connotation associated with fursuiters.
“We have this link with being a sexual group of people, and it is not true,” Goodwin said. “We have been trying to pull away from that image, and show people that we focus on expressing ourselves through art, not sex.”
AAS meets at 9 p.m. every Thursday in the Student Center. Check out its Facebook for more info about meetings at facebook.com/BallStateAAS.
Seamstress finds furry niche
By Nathan Crombie nathan.crombie@age.co.nz - WAIRARAPA TIMES-AGE
7:40 PM Monday Oct 14, 2013
Sparky was a little white fox terrier that Juliet Johnston as a kid loved to dress in gangster hoodies, tuxedoes and cowboy suits she had hand sewn and rhinestoned herself.
Juliet, 22, persisted with her gift for anthropomorphic costumery and close to three years ago began a supremely unusual livelihood infusing animal characters with broad splashes of humanity, manufacturing what are known as fursuits. The home-schooled entrepreneur, who was born in California and speaks with an American accent, founded a costume manufacturing business called Sparky Can Do! and is known online as Sparky, of course.
An industrial sewing machine dominates a converted bedroom in the home she shares with husband Bryce and it is there among the debris of carved foam and faux fur offcuts that griffins, anime otters or tigers are born and where rams, wolves, dinosaurs and bunnies first walk upright into the world.
She officially describes herself as a seamstress who creates specialised costumes, including the fursuits that are a physical expression of "fursonas" that self-titled furries manifest when populating their online and real-time world known as the furry fandom.
Some furries wear their suits to conventions, charity and role-playing events and some turn their sub-cultural penchant into passion, using the suits for sexual gratification, Juliet said.
According to Wikipedia, the term "yiff" most commonly refers to sexual activity or sexual material within the fandom, which is comprised mostly of males. The sexualisation of furry characters had polarised the sub-culture and while some were sexually motivated, the majority "took a negative stance" towards the fetishist few.
"Tread lightly. It's called the furry community and there's a dark side and a normal side, just like any community. It's like the pervert side of the internet, you know, it's a fetish for some people."
A partial costume comprising a wolf head and claws was her first attempt at a fursuit, she said, when she and a friend started dabbling, at the age of about 16, with the specialised art form. The fursuits she offers today have a starting price of $2000 each and her onesies, which are far simpler but just as brightly-hued one-piece costumes, start at $500 apiece.
The suits are crafted from foam padding, polyfilla and faux fur and vinyl and while partial fursuits feature only feet, claws and a head, the complete fursuits incorporate a head with articulated jaw, body, hands, feet and occasionally a tail.
They usually take a fortnight of up to 10-hour working days to complete although more padding and consequently more time is demanded when clients want specialised appendages or drop crotch designs.
Juliet has manufactured up to 70 fursuits and onesies and sells almost exclusively to clients in North America, Switzerland, Japan and Australia.
Anthrocon, held in Pittsburgh, is one of the largest annual furry conventions in the world, attracting up to 4000 furries every year. Juliet would happily rub shaggy shoulders with her clientele at the event, she said, and plans to make a trip to the annual bash within the next two years.
Juliet was working at The Escarpment vineyard in Martinborough when she collided online with the furry subculture, and her unique skill base and creative temperament came out to play.
"I found my niche market when I was introduced to the furry community. I already liked making costumes as a kid, you know, I'd make really weird costumes when I was 12 for Halloween or to go to Armageddon. Then I fell in with the furries and they had fursuits.
"I thought, hey, I can make these. I was working all year round at the vineyard but there's three months where you have no work and I thought I'd try making costumes. I made three fursuits in a couple of months and tried them online and they actually sold really well. I made a dog and a cat and a rabbit. People seemed to like my style, so I took on a few commissions and really, the work started from there. Right now I'm working on two suits and I have 15 commissions lined up and ready to go.
"I make fursuits but I also make other sorts of costume as well, like mascots and onesies. Whatever people want and wherever they are."
She had manufactured a Penguin mascot suit for the Junior Neighbourhood Support group in Wairarapa, which was spookily dubbed Sparky in an inter-school naming rights contest, and this year also completed her second World of Wearable Arts costume - a dinosaur/dragon named AWOL - after first stalking the WOW catwalk in 2011 with a creature called Toxic Plush.
Juliet's future in costumery is widening, she said, and includes the possibility of a switch to more realism in the costumes she creates, digital art, or costume manufacturing for stage or film.
Her clearest and dearest ambition is to construct a latex raptor suit with a view to moving into manufacturing more realistic dinosaur costumes. The raptor suit she has already envisaged would demand the wearer to be on stilts, she said.
"I've had a look at WETA (Studios in Wellington). It was great - looks like a lot of fun. But I've just started getting into resins and casting and being able to make my own moulds, so I'm happy where I am for now," she said.
"At the moment it's just sort of easier to make costumes which are just sewing and foam. I do make my own clothes too when I get the time, and I'd love to get more into drawing and painting and art. I'm getting into digital drawing as well.
"That was where I first started I guess, drawing with a pencil.
"Because you pretty much need that talent, you need to be able to draw and understand how things work that way before you can start making three dimensional costumes. It makes it so much easier to picture what you want in your head before you carve it out of foam.
"I have been thinking I might want to get out of the furry side some time and get into making latex dinosaurs instead, that actually look like dinosaurs. I'd love to get into that.
"I'll make myself one first and see how hard it is and how it goes. If people like it, that could be a go. But I can see them taking 10 weeks not two to make and they would cost quite a bit more.
"Maybe movie industry quality stuff even, so yeah, I'll have to see where that takes me."
Members of the furry community from all over the southwest gathered at the Embassy Suits Phoenix-Scottsdale Hotel from Thursday, October 10, to Sunday, October 13, for Arizona Fur Con 2013, the first event of its kind locally.
Attendees brought along their fantastical and elaborate costumes of anthropomorphic animals and creatures to the event and were willing to pose for the New Times cameras.
Typical hobbies for college students often include blogging, drinking or playing a sport, but for Scott Santamore, his hobby is a little furrier.
“A furry isn’t just the fur suit part of it, but it’s somebody who enjoys the furry fandom. It could be the art aspect of it or just enjoying the idea of anamorphic animals,” Santamore said.
Each fur suit is unique and represents a different personality. Santamore’s furry is a purple and orange Husky. He says he picked those colors because they’re like a yin-yang. Where one side of the husky has orange in a spot, the other side mimics with purple.
“My furry is a pygmy goat. I chose a goat because I'm stubborn, playful, vegan, and I like to head-butt my friends,” said Amanda Green, a Lyndon State student. “My character is male because I tend to relate to male characters more than females.”
Greens’ furry’s name is Pine Cole and his colors are gray, black, and white with lime green accents.
“His right ear has a white accent on it to reflect my own natural blonde patch that is on the right-back side of my head,” Green added.
However, a furry isn’t just a hobby to some; but a sexual fetish. Yes, some like to take it into the bedroom.
“I think it’s a little weird. At the same time I don’t want to judge people. They like what they like. It’s definitely nothing I’m interested in,” Santamore said.
Though, sex is just one small aspect, there are some die-hard furry fans out there. Some that will go far enough like Green, and make their fur suits.
“I’ve been making fur suits for 2 years. I’ve made 11, so far,” Green said.
Green explains that making the fur suit is quite the process and that she’s still learning.
“The first thing you need to do is to study the animal you wish to create. Draw it out and make sure you have a design. It's very necessary to have the design to look back on throughout the entire process,” Green said. “To generalize the actual construction, I start out by carving foam into the shape I want. I then make my own patterns, and fabricate the foam base. The last thing I do is add the eyes.”
Green and Santamore are just two people interested in this large fandom. Like super heroes, Doctor Who, and Harry Potter, furries, too, have a convention. Luckily for Green and Santamore, they were able to attend FurFright recently.
“I was absolutely in love with the fact that I could see in person the fur suits I had admired from pictures on the internet,” Green said.
Though, Green and Santamore are huge fans, they both don’t wear their fur suits as often as they would like.
“I’ll wear it maybe for two or three hours absolute max for a few different reasons. It’s very tiring and it also gets really hot in that suit. Your average fur suit gets about 110 degrees in about twenty minutes,” said Santamore.
Seeing a furry on campus is something new to many. Some run away with fright, while curious others stay and ask questions.
Theater major, Meghan Hakey, took it further and did her own research on the unique hobby.
“I think it’s actually good that people have an outlet like this,” Hakey said. “I mean, Comic Con is a really huge thing and people go dressed as super heroes and comic book characters, so if people want to dress like animals, that’s cool.”
Subcultures, some with a rather odd nature, are emerging globally.Most can thank the Internet for their success; through forums and social sites, people with closet interests have been connecting in the public. One of the largest is the furry fandom.
Often called furries, this group grew out of a 1980s science fiction convention. Writer Steve Gallacci had a character drawing from his novel, which centered around anthropomorphic creatures. Anthropomorphic is defined as animals with human-like characteristics such as walking, talking, and intelligent thought. Throughout the decade the group gained more and more members until 1987 when the first convention was held and soon after the Internet became available to the public.
“I’m in the furry fandom because I can express myself, my love of cats, and my love of art and animation simultaneously,” said Mathew Netzley, a CSUN alumnus whose animal persona, or fursona, is an orange cat, even though he does not have a fur suit… yet. “I feel connected to the community, and have made many lasting friendships with wonderful people because of it. Especially now as an adult with an adult job and adult bills, it’s wonderful to have an escape and an excuse to get lost in the collective imagination where we can all become our talking animal fursonas. It’s fun, it’s silly, and you probably can’t call it normal, but that’s why I like it.”
Most furries have an emotional and/or spiritual connection with animals, and connect with their animal or animals through art or music. However, other furries may dress up in mascot-type outfits called fursuits. The fursuits are often an attention-grabbing aspect to the furry fandom.
“From a social psychological standpoint, people might seek out (the) furry fandom as a way to foster another social identity,” said Professor Debbie Ma, who teaches psychology at CSUN. “Humans possess a fundamental need to belong and this drives us to forge social relationships with others. We tend to prefer forming these connections with smaller sets of social groups.“
A member will spend anywhere between $500 and even more than $3,000 on a fursuit. Suits can be purchased online or at conventions, while some fursuits are handmade with assistance of online forums and advice.
“The furry fandom means many things to so many individuals,” said Desmond Rayford, a member of the furry fandom who wears a black and white cat with purple hair. “After stepping into and joining the fandom I would say that, to me, it means being around like-minded people who share your passion of seeing a smile on a stranger’s face.”
However, the suits are not the entire fandom. Most members discover their “true” selves by visiting online furry sites and participating in role-play games. The fandom has a following of art, animal, and music enthusiasts.
Sarah (24) lives in Trondheim dressed like a fox. She is part of the furry community in Norway.
http://www.nrk.no/trondelag/far-kick-av-a-kle-seg-ut-som-dyr-1.11387262
- I'm a 1.80 meters high rev. Brown, black and white, with big fluffy tail, long pink tongue and sharp teeth. But I tend not to bite, says Sarah (24).
She sits around a table at a cafe in Trondheim with two friends. Sarah is wearing revedrakt from head to toe, while your friends have collars around their necks.
- Look, it says Kirino engraved, with a little bling on.
They are called furries.There are people who share a passionate interest in dressing up like animals.They are fascinated by animals with human qualities, who can walk on two legs, talk and think like people.
- There is no more required to be furry than being an animal lover, says Sarah.
The character of Sarah talking really, but she made an exception today.
- If people talk to me when I'm in character, I usually just nod. Torvus does not actually use human words, she explains.
All the furry community has found a character that they identify with, such as a fox, badger or raccoon. Some use only the tails and ears, while others have full fur suits.
Being furry is all about expressing their personality through the character.
- Furries are people who have a genuine interest in animals, and expressing it in many different ways. Both art and music and so we meet and talk about the interest, says "Kirino".
The three round table would not come forward with their real identity, for they are afraid of the reactions that can occur.
- It's not all in my social circle who know I'm furry.It could be that they have only heard negative things about furries.If only I was associated with the positive things, so I probably told the whole world that I am furry, says Kirino.
They have experienced negative publicity in the media, and especially remember an episode of the American television series CSI.
- There were furries portrayed as people who have sex in animal costumes, and it's certainly not what this is about. There are certainly a tiny percentage that may hold the stuff, but they keep themselves to themselves, says Kirino.
Her character is a cat, and yet she has collar, paws, tail and ears. Soon she will order a full suit, called a fursuit. But it costs. Sarah has just ordered a new revedrakt, and it costs 16 000.
Sarah leaves the cafe and goes out of Trondheim with revedrakten on. Many people stop and stare, while others rush past.
- The character makes me cheerful and playful.Now I have an energy in the body that I want to share with others.
She runs away to people on the street and throwing around their necks. Some run away, while others surprised the opposite. Children think it's always nice with clips from the fox.
- In the summer I was in the square in Trondheim and hugged many children. A girl was long behind her mother, and finally she asked about getting a hug. Then she hugged me for five minutes, and the tears flowed when they had to go.
Sarah smiles when she thinks back on that episode.
- It makes me so happy to think of it, it gives me a spark, she says.
For her, the main thing with being furry to please others.
In the pedestrian zone in Trondheim are Sarah stopped by a woman who wants to take a picture with your mobile camera.
- It's a rare sight, so I have to take a picture. It was funny, she said.
Furry fandom has probably originated from fictional books in the 1960s, but got real foothold first in the 80s in the U.S.. In Norway, the environment has grown in leaps and bounds since it was established in the mid 90s.
Last year, it organized a large gathering in Oslo, and there came the 51 furries from around the country.
- Cohesion in the environment is very good.Most people will just express joy or interest, and it's really nice people, says Kirino.
During the collections draw the plays video games and organizes party games in a fur suit. Between the matches together they usually online forum "Norwegian paws . "
- There are all kinds of people who are furries. There are just ordinary people who share a common interest, says Sarah.
She loves to wear revedrakten and enter the role of Torvus.
- I'm going to be furry and walk in fursuit as long as I live. I'm quite sure.
A few hours earlier in the day. We stand out in the winter sun with Astrid Hansen. She is one of a group of 15-20 people who gathered outside the bowling of Veitvet center.
- Right now I feel just empty. Excited I get only when we enter, says 29-year-old and looks away slightly towards the other at the small parking lot.
Inside the hall is Norway championship bowling in full swing. That's not why she's nervous. Astrid shall not participate in the championship. Astrid is "Furry". Today she is on her first bowling match.
The gang she is with one of the smallest, and perhaps the fussiest subcultures out there. It is mostly men. Some older and some younger. Apparently there is nothing that sets them apart from the others coming and going this Saturday morning. Like Astrid, several of the large suitcases or bags.
In the purple suitcase Astrid is two fur outfits she has made herself. A pink dog called "Temples" and the brown fox "Asha". On special occasions, or when she feels extra social, she is wearing the pink suit.
- Astrid HansenOne is that you will be. Inside the jersey, no one sees you.
Astrid is quiet. She is dark, with a hint of gray in her long hair deferred. In most ways a normal girl. She speaks softly and low. Near the other people she chooses often placing themselves in the outskirts.
It has always been for her.
Before she began to walk with fur costume she was "the quietest girl in the class." The one who always stood alone, watching the others. She was just there, but did not exist, as she describes it herself.
- I'm probably not so easy to approach. I've avoided other people ... I have somehow never quite known what to say, says Astrid and biting her lower lip gently.
Astrid HansenI'm probably not so easy to approach. I've avoided other people ...
When she is "temple" or "Asha" she feels safer. When she knows that she is part of an environment that has the same interests as her. This makes it easier to be with others. Without her constantly need to think about or be afraid of being judged.
- You are the one will be. Inside the jersey, no one sees you. Although I have become more social and outgoing. I dare to be more normal in a way, although this is not exactly look so normal, she says and laughs a little of what she says.
Astrid is not alone. All over the world there are thousands who dress in fur suits. For a very few, it is a lifestyle. The phenomenon originated in the U.S. in the early 1980s as a "hairy" relative of the environment around the fantasy and science-fiction. They call themselves furries, fur animals. In short, they are a group of people who have a very strong and special attraction to animals.
Think of anthropomorphic animals like Mickey Mouse or Donald Duck, and add characters from various video games and cartoons.
Some dress up in full costume and live out fantasies, most of us have known since childhood.
There are many reasons why people become furries. It varies from person to person. Most people find interest through cartoons and video games. Many come from the environment around anime and cosplay, Japanese cartoons and masquerade associated with this.
For some it's a sexual thing, but within the community there are also many who reject this. Most telling about the other reasons why they dress in fur.
Some feel almost like an animal trapped in a human body. Others like the creative and artistic. For them it is an opportunity to create and develop imaginative characters, sew costumes or subscribe. Some make music or movies, or just hanging around because they think the environment is exciting.
Currently, the Norwegian environment little. Somewhere between 100 and 200 Perhaps it is only between 20 to 50 as Astrid, who is in suits and fur live life fully. But the environment is growing. Internet forums as Norwegian Paws and Furaffinity testify that there are furries all over the country.
This Saturday has many turned up. Record number, I know. They have reserved three courts. When the time is approaching five, moving the herd slowly into the alley.
There has meanwhile arisen a crisis. Having been told to use bowling there are several that will not change."- It has never been before ...", whispered it. Some shoes will simply destroy the illusion and experience of the costume, explaining one of fur animals.
Astrid will run "partial," animal head, paws and tail. The rest she takes on when the bowl is finished.
Noticeably disappointed they carry the equipment with them. They have borrowed two small rooms where they can change. The transformation from human to animal is a tedious process. First a layer of clothing and face mask to protect costly suits against sweat. A range also on a small corset before he sneaks into the thick layers of synthetic fur. More people need help to get all the gear in place.
When my paws out of the sweaty locker room, they transformed into animals.
Astrid has decided the brown revedrakten today. The pink dog, a friend borrow."Asha" is ready for her first bowling match.
Steinar EliassenFor many, this is not something you choose to be, it is simply something you are. Although I was born that way, I think.
In Norway probably started it all in 1994. Then the cartoon enthusiast Steinar Eliassen across a site for furries. He was immediately enthusiastic about what he saw. The following year he stood as a lone Norwegian participant at a meeting in Los Angeles.
Nearly 20 years later, the 41-year-old father of the family is still one of the most active in the Norwegian environment. It is he who arranges's bowling.
- This is not something you do to become popular. Actually it was pretty lonely for some years. For many, this is not something you choose to be, it is simply something you are. Although I was born like that, I think, says Steinar serious.
He lives in Norway, just outside Doylestown. In a small townhouse packed with teddy bear and animal pictures he keeps to a wife who is also furry, and her two children.
In the locker room he is about to become "Sayh" a wonderful mix of mandarinand and red panda. A "Panduck," as he calls it. The suit is so big and unwieldy that I must help him to lace up duck feet and the large wings.
- I do not know why, but I always felt like that. It was always clear that it was a bird that would be my character, he says.
For Steinar is it like to be an animal trapped in a human body. He has always identified strongly with animals, and feel a strong spiritual connection with their characters.
So strong that when the huge bird head is hoisted into place he puts the furry paw over his beak and signals that now is the end of the talking. In full costume he communicates only with a few small nods and gestures.
To get out of the locker room, he must pry their way through the narrow doorway.
In "Dame locker room" also has Astrid got the suit. For her it was almost by chance that she was furry. Unlike Steinar she feels no spiritual connection to their characters.
Not yet at least.
For her, it's mainly about the social. And if the costumes. Astrid has always been interested in toys, comics and design. She is creative, loves to sew and has made cartoons that have been published in several newspapers and magazines. It was supposed to be her way into the environment.
Astrid HansenFor me, it was liberating. Just talking to people though quite large.
- I have always been aware of what it was and that they were there, but I never thought anything special of furries before a few years ago, she says.
In 2011, at a meeting for comic fans, she became acquainted with a furry. With her interests was easy to find the tone. Gradually she became drawn into the environment. Eventually she agreed terms. It was when she was she "saved," she says. Now she crawled almost only other furries.
- For me, it was liberating. Just talking to people though quite large. Finally I met someone I knew how I could communicate with, she explains.
After a while, she decided to create her own animal nature. Suddenly there appeared a figure she could not let go.
- "I must have suit!", I thought, says Astrid.
A short time later she had rigged up in a corner of the living room and had started to sew her first costume. It was the brown fox "Asha", which is now headed for the bowling alley. Since it has thus reached a new fur animals in her life. It is the slightly more playful "The temple", which is a mixture of wolf, dog and little cat.
- Now the only animal in me more and more, she says, laughing a little himself.
Although the term and interest for most people might be perceived as odd, are the driving forces behind very normal and human.
- There are certainly many different approaches to this, including outside of the purely psychological individual may have. For many, it's probably primarily about belonging, says Arnbjørg Engenes, who is a sociologist at Vestfold University College.
All people have a need to be part of a social community. All we have also strategies to gain entry. Some choose soccer jerseys or T-shirts with their favorite band, the second thus fur suits and living that fantasy.
- What is special is that it has so many strong elements of play and childishness. There are very few other subcultures that have, she says.
She thinks it's one of the reasons why furries have a relatively low social status, and that they largely have ended up being ridiculed and looked down upon.
The most common representation in the media and popular culture are typical nerds and losers. The controversial radio host Howard Stern has repeatedly made condescending articles about the environment. Major TV series such as "Entourage" and "CSI" have used them as humorous touches. On the web there are numerous sites and discussion forums that make fun of them.
Many therefore choose to live out the interest in hiding.
Astrid and Steinar are two of the few who choose to stand openly with your name and face. For most it will be too difficult. Many dare not even admit interest in friends or family.
- For some, it is actually a major barrier to come out as furry than coming out of the closet as gay, says Steinar before bowling.
- I know furries who lives at home with parents who have no idea what they are doing. They hide suits and smuggle them out when they are on the hit, he said.
Currently, there are in fact few who find it healthy or natural for older people dress up as something that looks like it was taken from a picture book for children.
For it is fur animals differently. And visible.
Inside the bowling is almost full. When fur animals transcends into it as if someone pressed the pause button. The sound level drops and bowling balls are left in peace. More to come over to take pictures or ask about what's going on. Some whispering and pointing. More simply shake their heads over what they see.
"- Is there a bachelorette party?", "- Plays the music video?». It is clear that more has Ylvis `" The Fox "in mind when they see the small herd.
Fur animals can not seem to be affected by all the attention. It appears in the least. Now that the fur has come on, the atmosphere is noticeably different than moments ago. Quiet chatter and nervous laughter disappeared. Several starting to take some careful dance steps, or to pose and do pranks for the onlookers.
A few of the animals go and greet those in neighboring lanes. The kids are doing great eyes when a big blue fox suddenly comes over to hand out hugs. A small child is so scared that it starts to hylskrike.
- Although this is undoubtedly special interest, they are not really so different from football fans, or anyone else who is heavily into a particular concern, says Lars Jørun Langøien.
Langøien is a social anthropologist and has written thesis about cosplayers. It is a phenomenon that is closely related to furry.
For some fur suit mean a chance to live out a more playful and social side of himself. It could also be something to hide behind, which means they can be who they want to be, he explains.
- There will be an opportunity to get away from the ordinary, mundane everyday life.
Lars Jørun Langøien... They both dare and ability to break with what is considered "normal".
As furry they can play and extend the boundaries of their own identity. Do things that are not socially acceptable, or that they may not dare to normal.
- It is a phenomenon most of us know. It is like the Russian suit or stag party. The costume makes you dare to expand their usual repertoire, he says.
He believes that being a furry in many ways requires far more of a person than many other communities. It is extremely much more taboo than other subcultures.
- So even though this very much could be called a "nerd culture", I'd be very careful to call these people losers, says Langøien.
Disappearing in the crowd is in fact not easy when you are dressed up as giant, live cartoon characters. It takes courage to live out that in many ways bothersome interest.
- It just shows that they both dare and abilities to break with what is considered "normal". One can just as easily turn it around and look at some of them, socially, as a strong people, he said.
Lars Jørun Langøien, social anthropologistIt is like the Russian suit or stag party. The costume makes you dare to expand their usual repertoire.
The bowling has the worst commotion subsided. Fur animals appear to have found its natural place among the other guests. When one path is a black cat and drinking cola and eating french fries while waiting for it to be his turn to play. A gray wolf is straight out of the parquet after sending the bowling ball in the gutter of "enteritis" time.
Astrid gets only four throws before she goes back and change into full costume. After all, fur is all about today.
When she comes back, there are already some who have given up for the day. In the suit, it quickly becomes hot. More is soon to change. When they come back, they are fur-free faces red and dripping with sweat.
Astrid goes back and forth. Greet someone, turn off and a short chat. Although she has been fitted with an electric fan in the head of the costume, she soon out in the parking lot. This time with her friend in the pink suit.
In the documentary series ID you meet people who take unusual choice to get to be themselves.
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- It's nice to see something new for a change. Get out. Hitting people, not just sit at home and stare at the wall, she said.
Soon she also goes to the locker room and begins to undress. The face glisten with sweat as she takes off her mask. She is hot and tired, but when she pack up your bags, there is no doubt that she is happy with what she has experienced.
- I'll definitely next time, she says, smiling broadly under the sweat bangs.
But first she partying with the other fur animals. Then the suits get be left in the purple suitcase.
Furries descend on Lake Murray
Everyone was hugging, laughing, riding motorcycles, and playing tag
By Gloria Ciprian, Jan. 6, 2014
On January 4, LMFAO arrived at Lake Murray between the hours of 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. to have their monthly meeting, which they hold on the first Saturday of every month.
In this case, LMFAO does not stand for the vulgar “laughing my f*ing ass off,” but "Lake Murray Furry Anthro Outing."
Their gathering was held at the less-visited part of the lake — more like the “downtown” section, which includes the lake store, lake rentals, boat dock, and picnic area; the running trail attracts most of the park’s visitors.
The several members greeted each other and onlookers with over-the-top friendliness and glee. Most people who saw the “furries” wanted to know the purpose of the animated party. Each member had a badge with his or her “club” name written on it.
Ryka and Motomo were two members’ names, along with Hogwash, who claimed to be the group’s leader. Leo, one of the park workers, laughed and commented that he thought a lot of the costumes cost a lot of money.
Everyone was hugging, laughing, riding motorcycles, and playing tag. The atmosphere was joyful and playful. Some bystanders were wondering how they could become a member. Hogwash quickly told them that anyone who shows up on the first Saturday of every month could be a member.
“What is the real purpose?” was the question on most people’s minds. When asked, Hogwash responded that LMFAO’s sole mission was to have fun.
