I would like to throw out one more angle here, to see if it sheds any light on the discussion. Much of the controversy centers around to what degree furry is a sexual fetish - popular stereotypes often portray it as one, where those within the fandom say it's just a hobby. Many of the latter group point out that furry fandom is no different from other fandoms like sci-fi/fantasy, comics, Star Trek, Star Wars, MLP, and by some accounts we've got nothing on anime fandom. No hobby or interest can escape Rule 34.
So someone wants to study sexuality or fetishism of furries? All right, how about we study sexuality and fetishism in all of these other fandoms too while we're at it? Granted, that's probably a much larger and more involved study than most researchers have the resources to pursue (like, about an order of magnitude more than IARP), so I'm not holding my breath, but it would certainly be interesting to see the outcomes if it were feasible. Perhaps there have been studies of this nature done of one or more of these other fandoms that are similar enough to draw meaningful comparisons.
The notion does, however, offer a good litmus test of whether a researcher's motives can be trusted. If their objectives or their approach gives a sense that "we chose furry fandom instead of these others because we're researching sexuality", then they've lost me. If on the other hand they readily acknowledge that all of these fandoms have a sexual element to them and they've simply chosen furry fandom as the one they wish to focus on (with perhaps a secondary objective to compare and contrast it to sexuality in other fandoms) then I'm more likely to be on board with it.
I would like to throw out one more angle here, to see if it sheds any light on the discussion. Much of the controversy centers around to what degree furry is a sexual fetish - popular stereotypes often portray it as one, where those within the fandom say it's just a hobby. Many of the latter group point out that furry fandom is no different from other fandoms like sci-fi/fantasy, comics, Star Trek, Star Wars, MLP, and by some accounts we've got nothing on anime fandom. No hobby or interest can escape Rule 34.
So someone wants to study sexuality or fetishism of furries? All right, how about we study sexuality and fetishism in all of these other fandoms too while we're at it? Granted, that's probably a much larger and more involved study than most researchers have the resources to pursue (like, about an order of magnitude more than IARP), so I'm not holding my breath, but it would certainly be interesting to see the outcomes if it were feasible. Perhaps there have been studies of this nature done of one or more of these other fandoms that are similar enough to draw meaningful comparisons.
The notion does, however, offer a good litmus test of whether a researcher's motives can be trusted. If their objectives or their approach gives a sense that "we chose furry fandom instead of these others because we're researching sexuality", then they've lost me. If on the other hand they readily acknowledge that all of these fandoms have a sexual element to them and they've simply chosen furry fandom as the one they wish to focus on (with perhaps a secondary objective to compare and contrast it to sexuality in other fandoms) then I'm more likely to be on board with it.