I think a lot of the ambivalence and controversy go to a fundamental schism in the furry community; that is 'great divide'. For years, and I mean MANY years, there has been an undercurrent of warring factions in the furry community. On the one hand, there is the yiffy community, who embrace the hard partying, too much is never enough aspect of the fandom. They embrace sex as a fundamental part of the fandom
On the other side are those who seek to mainstream the fandom. Some take this position out of sincere personal belief; other more out of a desire to give more exposure to the fandom, it's art and literature.
Even today, I know of no generally accepted substitute for "yiff" "yiffy" Yiffable" and all of it's other permutations. Beyond being just a word, yiff is an entire genre of art. This was best exemplified in the whole 'Yiffstar' controversy. Unmentioned above was that Yiffstar had a shadow site, 'Anthrostar'; identical in every way, except Anthrostar was Yiffstar with all the X rated content purged. I was never aware of any issue with the old Yiffstar site; in fact the screams were long and loud when it finally went down. Rather, the consolidation was an effort to expand the scope and appeal of the sites, as well as to announce that the new SoFurry was a more comprehensive furry website, offering art, music, and social networking, in addition to being a furry story board. The evolution of parental control devices may have contributed as well.
In the final analysis, I'm fine with the term 'yiff'. It has a rich history in the fandom, and is one of the few true universals we all share. As an adult writer, I'll admit to using 'furry porn' adult content' and a variety of other terms, but more so outside the fandom than in. Still, my writer friends and I ask each other if something is adult content.
Does ANY of this make the slightest difference? I'm not sure it does. Sex, or no sex, yiff or not, it's still the furry fandom. Our most enduring value as furs is the right to be who and what we want.
I think a lot of the ambivalence and controversy go to a fundamental schism in the furry community; that is 'great divide'. For years, and I mean MANY years, there has been an undercurrent of warring factions in the furry community. On the one hand, there is the yiffy community, who embrace the hard partying, too much is never enough aspect of the fandom. They embrace sex as a fundamental part of the fandom
On the other side are those who seek to mainstream the fandom. Some take this position out of sincere personal belief; other more out of a desire to give more exposure to the fandom, it's art and literature.
Even today, I know of no generally accepted substitute for "yiff" "yiffy" Yiffable" and all of it's other permutations. Beyond being just a word, yiff is an entire genre of art. This was best exemplified in the whole 'Yiffstar' controversy. Unmentioned above was that Yiffstar had a shadow site, 'Anthrostar'; identical in every way, except Anthrostar was Yiffstar with all the X rated content purged. I was never aware of any issue with the old Yiffstar site; in fact the screams were long and loud when it finally went down. Rather, the consolidation was an effort to expand the scope and appeal of the sites, as well as to announce that the new SoFurry was a more comprehensive furry website, offering art, music, and social networking, in addition to being a furry story board. The evolution of parental control devices may have contributed as well.
In the final analysis, I'm fine with the term 'yiff'. It has a rich history in the fandom, and is one of the few true universals we all share. As an adult writer, I'll admit to using 'furry porn' adult content' and a variety of other terms, but more so outside the fandom than in. Still, my writer friends and I ask each other if something is adult content.
Does ANY of this make the slightest difference? I'm not sure it does. Sex, or no sex, yiff or not, it's still the furry fandom. Our most enduring value as furs is the right to be who and what we want.