There seem to be some people on Lemmy who genuinely believe that they are an animal. They say they are an “unperson” or discuss conversing with “animals” who “happen to be born in human bodies”. They see their struggle as on par with the struggle for trans people, and their right to be recognized as animals as a part of a broader societal struggle for queer acceptance.
Well, this is fucking stupid.
First of all, comparing “I’m a puppy uWu” to gender dysphoria trivializes what trans people go through. Furries are not struggling like trans people. They are simply mocking trans people (whether that mockery is intentional or not is besides the point).
Second of all, you’re not a fucking animal bro ffs. Being an animal isn’t a state of mind. It isn’t a vibe. It isn’t a social construct. It isn’t something you’re assigned at birth. It’s about DNA. You have 50% of DNA from a human mom, and 50% of your DNA from a human dad, so you have 100% human DNA (granted maybe you have like 0.1% Neanderthal DNA but whatever). So you’re a human. This shouldn’t be a hard concept to grasp.
If you can speak a human language, and have the mental wherewithal required to use the internet, then you have a HUMAN MIND. And if you “just so happen to be born in a human body” then you have a HUMAN BODY. HUMAN MIND + HUMAN BODY = HUMAN. IT’S ALL HUMAN. YOU ARE HUMAN. Just because you have a bestiality fetish does not make you a fucking bobcat ffs
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I applaud your appeal to rationality.
But most human believe in God. Rationality is beyond our grasp. We’re fucked.
So, I’m just throwin’ it out because I dont feel it’s shown in the post a whole lot. Most furries are not like that. I’m pretty deep in the fandom, the ‘head’ of several communities, and hangout in it all the time. Throughout all that, I can count on one hand, the number of individuals I directly interacted with who associated with those thoughts.
I ain’t gonna go in depth on the whole therian part, moreso just that furries as a whole aren’t individuals who see themselves as animals.
“There seem to be some people on Lemmy who genuinely believe that they are an animal.”
Well, taxonomically speaking…
Furries don’t believe they’re animals. You’re possibly confusing furries with therians. There’s some overlap, but they’re ultimately different groups and the latter are the ones that believe they’re the animal in question. If you’re going to object to a thing, the least you could do is get your facts straight beforehand.
Please forgive me for not doing in-depth research on the subtleties of furry culture
You talk in other comments how hard you have to track them down.
Well you seem to want to opine like you know what you’re talking about; so don’t be surprised when you get called out when it turns out that you don’t and you’re just doing main-character bigoted shit
I mean, I don’t blame you for not doing so… but your opinion is rather aggressive for being admittedly ignorant.
Most Furries are just folks in a subculture that formed around a fetish. Not really that different from the BDSM community in that regards. And, just like how in that subculture no one thinks they really are ‘masters and slaves’ and mean no disrespect towards actual enslaved people, Furries don’t actually believe they are ‘animals with species disphoria’ and mean no disrespect towards people with gender disphoria.
If they’re consenting adults and aren’t hurting anyone, then like, who cares who and how they fuck?
What do you want me to do? If I had titled this “The whole therians thing is stupid” then no one would know what the hell I was talking about, because no one knows these terms who isn’t already a furry
I don’t really want you to do anything. Hate whoever you want, do so for whatever reason you like, idgaf, I’m not your therapist.
Just don’t be surprised when folks inform you that you are kind of talking out of your ass. This is the internet you know?
Fair enough
You don’t have to change the title. If you think being a furry is stupid, fine, that’s your opinion and you have the right to that opinion. It’s very hard to argue with that.
But you didn’t stop at “I think furry is stupid”. You went on to explain why it is stupid, from your understanding, and it so happens that your understanding is very poor, therefore it exposes your motivation as hate based on prejudice.
“I think this thing is stupid” is okay. “I think this thing is stupid because I don’t understand it, I don’t want to understand it, and I don’t want to acknowledge I don’t understand it” is very different.
“I think this thing is stupid because I don’t understand it, I don’t want to understand it, and I don’t want to acknowledge I don’t understand it” is very different.
And ironically enough, that attitude is, itself, stupid.
If you’re trying to say they’re a troll, this meme template implies the opposite
Why do people find it so hard to believe that someone could take issue with trans-speciesism? Have you guys ever talked to someone irl before? Judging by the downvotes this is an unpopular opinion here, but 99.99% of the human population would agree with me about this
It hasn’t been studied enough to be able to conclude species dysphoria is bullshit. The human brain is fucking gnarly, tho. Ignoring the possibility is more insane than assuming a human might have a mental disorder that gives them a sense of dysphoria not having fur and a tail.
The engagement bait works wonderfully
You have GOT to worry less about people pretending and hurting no one when there is actual shit happening in the world.
As a trans woman, who cares? Honestly, like, literally what difference does it make in your life if someone strongly associates themselves with pictures they draw of animals or wears a custom mascot outfit or whatever?
I don’t think furries are remotely equivalent to trans folks or any kind of queer identity, except for one single and notable element. That being the inability of others to mind their own damn business when it comes to them.
Like seriously, the thought process that leads to posts like this is the similarity. The need to police others and write rambling screeds demonizing people who aren’t doing anything that has any impact on their lives very much reminds me of the kind of people who spend their days freaking out about where I pee or what I’ve got under my skirt.
I would urge you to think about the impulse that made you want to make a post like this. What is it about strangers being a bit odd that makes you want to make a fuss about it? Because you may have decided that queer folks aren’t on that list, which is great, but clearly there is still a list. Why? Where does the list come from? What makes it make your brain itch enough to scratch it?
We’re in the middle of an upswing in dangerous and violent authoritarianism. People are being literally blown up in droves, the Gulf Stream is in danger of collapsing, and there are megalomaniacs in charge of some of the most significant human institutions on the planet. Why are you being distracted by people who draw silly cartoons of themselves and spend too much money on fursuits?
Because I guarantee that impulse is closer to the people who would love to see me off myself than you were thinking when you made this post.
It seems more like you’re describing a specific subset of furry called a therian.
But also: Where have you even encountered therians on Lemmy? Even the therian communities here are pretty dead.
They went extinct?
Where have you even encountered therians on Lemmy?
In this very comment section, for example
oh hell here comes the fun police
if anything will make me reconsider my position it’s being called the fun police
congratulation
Where are you seeing this and why are you not ignoring it?
IKR, I can count on 1 hand the amount of times I’ve bumped into furries online or in real life and I’m no hermit in either domain.
Not that I would care if I did, but this is a very Facebook-like, ‘I heard about a thing that doesnt impact me in any way or form, but it’s different and strange to me and that makes me extremely angry’.
it’s dumb but what can we do? furries control 99% of all digital infrastructure, mess with them at your peril
It’s endlessly both amusing and psychologically fascinating how you’re seemingly getting progressively more and more angry while just sharing your opinion before anyone has even had time to engage with you. It’s an objective fact that strong emotions cloud people’s judgment, so I can only wonder what it is that’s actually making you feel so emotional about it.
Clearly you’re not just a passive, distant observer to this but you’re somehow emotionally invested in it as well. It’s not really that I necessarily even entirely disagree with what I believe you’re saying - it’s just the way you’re saying it that makes me a bit suspicious about what’s really going on in the back of your head, whether it’s conscious or not.
It’s a cliché, but I feel like more often than not this kind of strong reaction to something that in no way affects your own life probably tells more about yourself than it does about other people or about what’s true in the world. I’m not sure whether you’re trying to convince us or yourself.
Edit: Okay, I read your other responses and I see what’s going on here. Bye.
Humans have had concepts of “spirit animals” and have admired and taken on animal traits going back literally all the way to paleolithic times. The earliest form of human art is cave paintings of humans and animals. Many early cultures worshipped animals or deities with animal traits.
Humans just like animals, we think they’re neat. Some people identify with animals more than others do – humans always have, and they always will.
It’s only really a problem when it gets in the way of living a healthy, fulfilling life. Most furries are just normal people with a hobby or interest that they enjoy, and some are more passionate than others. Some people, especially neurodiverse people, make their favorite hobby a significant part of their life. Again, as long as it doesn’t impede them from living a happy, healthy life, there’s nothing wrong with it.
Some people are obsessed with sports, anime, games, etc. and enjoy cosplaying or dressing up/painting their faces/etc to identify with their hobbies or characters they love. Furries are similar in that regard.
I would say the number of furries who believe they actually ARE an animal is almost 0% of furries, and is probably some rooted in some form of dysphoria or dissociative disorder, and if I was friends with someone like that, if I felt like it was causing them discomfort or leading them to have problems in life, I might gently try to encourage them to consider therapy. But if they’re just having a happy, healthy life, socializing with others, and they just believe that they’ve got an animal soul trapped in a human body but it doesn’t bother them much, then frankly, who gives a shit?
Ultimately, I guess what I’m getting at is, why are you so mad about this? Why do you care what hobbies people have, or how they identify? How does this impact your life?
I have had rather frustrating conversations with two different people, on two separate occasions, trying to explain to them that they are not, in fact, an animal. To me this is a rather absurd situation to be in. So that frustration probably comes through in my post.
I have had rather frustrating conversations with two different people, on two separate occasions, trying to explain to them that they are not, in fact, an animal.
Did those people actually claim to be animals, or were you putting words in their mouth just like you’ve been doing here?
If those conversations were online, show some receipts.
My sister has schizophrenia and pretty regularly has pretty severe delusions. Back before she was diagnosed and it was a new thing, I really struggled with feelings of frustration - I couldn’t get through to her, there was no amount of logic or reason or explanations that could help her understand that the things she was experiencing weren’t real.
Over time interacting with her, I eventually learned that delusions come from something real, some genuine fear or memory or whatever. Directly telling her that things she was experiencing weren’t real got me nowhere. The best approach for me was to help her talk it out - what was she experiencing, how was she feeling, what situation led up to her feeling that way. Just talking, listening, and believing her - I know it sounds crazy, but just telling a delusional person that you understand and that you believe that their experiences were real to them - helps so much. A lot of the times the feelings of rejection and alienation are at the root of delusions, so validating their feelings helps them feel better. That would usually lead to her, unprompted, to realize herself that she was experiencing delusions, and then I can just validate it for her that yeah it probably was.
You’re probably wondering, why am I telling you all of this – it’s not your job to be a therapist for random people on the internet, after all. You’d be totally correct to feel that way, it’s not your problem to fix, and if you really want to help someone you feel is delusional, it takes a lot of empathy, understanding, patience, and mental flexibility.
Honestly, my advice would be to just not get into it with people you don’t know well, let them live their lives. None of us are responsible for the dysfunction of others.
Over time interacting with her, I eventually learned that delusions come from something real, some genuine fear or memory or whatever. Directly telling her that things she was experiencing weren’t real got me nowhere. The best approach for me was to help her talk it out - what was she experiencing, how was she feeling, what situation led up to her feeling that way. Just talking, listening, and believing her - I know it sounds crazy, but just telling a delusional person that you understand and that you believe that their experiences were real to them - helps so much.
This is interesting, thanks for sharing (I posted this response earlier but it didn’t federate for some reason so I’m trying again)
You’re welcome! It’s probably worth pointing out that that denying/rejecting delusions is a bad approach according to the broad consensus of mental healthcare professionals/resources too - you can find loads of resources online, but I’ll share this random Australian government health website since there’s not really a universal source - emphasis mine:
When supporting someone experiencing psychosis you should:
- talk clearly and use short sentences, in a calm and non-threatening voice
- be empathetic with how the person feels about their beliefs and experiences
- validate the person’s own experience of frustration or distress, as well as the positives of their experience
- listen to the way that the person explains and understands their experiences
- not state any judgements about the content of the person’s beliefs and experiences
- not argue, confront or challenge someone about their beliefs or experiences
- accept if they don’t want to talk to you, but be available if they change their mind
- treat the person with respect
- be mindful that the person may be fearful of what they are experiencing.
I hope you can understand what I’m trying to get at, here - not only is arguing with people about their belief that they are an animal unhelpful, but might actually make the problem worse. I still think the best approach is to just leave them be unless they’re actually your friend, but if you really want to help them, I hope you remember this advice.
Also, I hope you’ll reconsider your views on furries! There are lots of intolerant people out there sadly who like to punch down on us underdogs (pun not intended) for being a little outside the norm, and there are those who try and make out that the furry fandom is really fucked up and engages in really heinous things that furries are actually completely intolerant towards in reality. We don’t deserve half the abuse we get, we’re good folks on the whole - there are definitely some oddballs, like with any fandom, but the furry fandom is very accepting towards people who are different, that’s one of the things that makes it such a positive community.
Also, I hope you’ll reconsider your views on furries!
The person I was conversing said their belief they were an animal was a furry thing, so that’s the word I used in this post. Since then have been a number of comments here explaining the technical terms used to describe the different subtypes of furries. If someone just likes art of anthropomorphic animals then I don’t take issue with that
Yeah, some people consider Therians/Otherkin to be a subcategory of the furry fandom, some don’t. The taxonomy isn’t really that important, I think.
I think most Therians/Otherkin are basically just teenagers exploring their identities, choosing to identify as their favorite animals online for a bit of fun and maybe some form of escapism from what might be pretty shitty lives.
I just believe that people can and should identify however they like, as long as it’s not causing people problems, it doesn’t really matter!
Have you considered that they were fucking with you because you are easy to get a rise out of?
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its as legitamate as anything else and like anything it has a wide variation in how the people in the subculture view things. Im fine with people doing their thing as long as it does not hurt anyone else and they should not face discrimination but also not get exess. I don’t see why someone who gets leopord spots put all over their body and surgically made fangs and claws with some hair weave is not going to feel as every bit the animal they want to be as a man surgically being made to emulate female parts or vice versa. Its for them to be who they are and likely share in their community. Do I think they are what they think they are. no. but why does that matter. In other words live and let live.
Humans do, in fact, belong to the animal kingdom. We are all animals here. Not plants or fungi, but animals.
