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  • Ask Papabear

Are You a Furry If You Also Draw Non-Furry Characters?

6/21/2016

2 Comments

 
​Dear Papa Bear,

Hello! I’ll get right to the point, I have very recently discovered the furry fandom and it seems like something I would like to get into, but not a super hard core furry. I wouldn’t want an account on any furry related websites, and I’d probably post any furry art I make on my deviant art account (I’d continue to post non-furry art as well). I would design my fursona and draw her a lot but probably not make a full fursuit.

So all this considered, would I still be considered a furry or would I just be someone who likes anthropomorphic art? Also, would I still be considered a furry if I continued posting non-furry art?

Thanks for taking the time to read!

Lot’s of love
-Verity

P.S Sorry if this is a weird question, I couldn't find what I was looking for anywhere else.
 
* * *
 
Hi, Verity,
 
No worries. Papabear enjoys “weird questions.” This isn’t weird, though, believe me; not by a long shot.
 
The fundamental question you are addressing here is “What exactly makes a furry a furry?” The problem arises out of a fundamental human need to categorize, label, and file everything in specific, neat little categories. We do this because we have a desperate desire to understand our world and it makes it easier to do so when we can say “This is This and That is That.”
 
Real life is much more complicated than that, and that includes furry life! Most of the “definitions” you hear about who is a “real furry” and who is not are utter and complete baloney. “All furries wear fursuits” (only about 20% do); “All furries have to have a fursona” (nope, many do not); “All furries are obsessed with sex” (most definitely not); “Furries are all gay boys” (statistics prove otherwise); “Bronies are not furries” (who made you God of furries to tell someone he or she isn’t one?); “Furries all think they have an animal spirit inside them” (again, no, not at all; some do, some don’t).
 
The only thing that ties us together is our love of anthropomorphic animal characters. There is no club to join, no secret handshake, no clandestine meetings where we all don ears and tails and chant while dancing around an effigy of Nick Fox.
 
As to your specific question regarding whether you’re a furry if you also draw human characters. Sure, you can be a furry if you draw non-furry characters. If you want to be considered a furry, then you are a furry. If it will help, Papabear will get out his magic wand, wave it over your head, and announce “I dub thee furry!”
 
Don’t be silly, sweetie. Be furry if you like. Don’t be furry if you don’t like. As long as you’re not hurting anyone, be and do what you want to be and do.
 
Hugs,
Papabear
2 Comments
ScarTheFur
6/22/2016 12:11:13 pm

Yeah, as many people say, the only for sure way to know your a furry or not is just whether or not you consider yourself one. It might be hard to accept this as a definition (It was for me at first) but it is most of the case. While one might consider how "furry" one actually is by the level of their involvement in the fandom, there is no set level of furriness that determines if you are a furry or not, only you can decide that.

Reply
Critter link
6/22/2016 05:44:34 pm

Some of the best furry artists make non-furry art. I think most artists would agree the more diverse your work the better artist you will be. Since furries are anthropomorphics, the human figure drawing is essential.

Welcome to the world of Furry!

Blessings,

- Critter

Reply



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