I would like to point two things out in this article:
1) although reporting on said person being furry I don't disagree with, wording I do. I would put claims to be furry there instead of furry. Saying he is furry is admitting he is in fact our fandom, our crowd, and might be our norm. Claims to be furry gives the impression that he says he is, but we haven't really confirmed it.
2) The weird and creepy side of furry really comes from natgeo and G-4 (yeah, I watched their report on FWA, that was God awful.) Having documentaries done like that in that light makes the fandom seem more of, well, a fetish than an actual fandom. After all, there are millions of klingons out there, but only a few will insist on wearing the ears and doing the language in public for no apparent reason. However, most people associate Klingons with the fat guy in the star trek uniform speaking Klingon in line at Burger King when all you want him to do is order his freaking food and move so you can get a whopper!
Most people have not had this experience with either furry or Klingon. Most people couldn't name one person they know who is either. However, they get their impression of us from these documentaries.
Then we do the dumb "oh no where not that!" crap which re-enforces it. Just look up the 'furries in the media' panel that Uncle Kage does at some cons. That pretty much sums things up.
I would like to point two things out in this article:
1) although reporting on said person being furry I don't disagree with, wording I do. I would put claims to be furry there instead of furry. Saying he is furry is admitting he is in fact our fandom, our crowd, and might be our norm. Claims to be furry gives the impression that he says he is, but we haven't really confirmed it.
2) The weird and creepy side of furry really comes from natgeo and G-4 (yeah, I watched their report on FWA, that was God awful.) Having documentaries done like that in that light makes the fandom seem more of, well, a fetish than an actual fandom. After all, there are millions of klingons out there, but only a few will insist on wearing the ears and doing the language in public for no apparent reason. However, most people associate Klingons with the fat guy in the star trek uniform speaking Klingon in line at Burger King when all you want him to do is order his freaking food and move so you can get a whopper!
Most people have not had this experience with either furry or Klingon. Most people couldn't name one person they know who is either. However, they get their impression of us from these documentaries.
Then we do the dumb "oh no where not that!" crap which re-enforces it. Just look up the 'furries in the media' panel that Uncle Kage does at some cons. That pretty much sums things up.