Well I think that you're confusing what is being described. When you say we're sharing something unique that seems to be saying that the concept of the furry fandom is unique. (I'd say it's not because we have a long list of precursors to the fandom but that's another topic.) However, my essay was addressing whether the furry fandom was uniquely creative, that's the practice of being a furry.
Let's illustrate that with a practical example. Let's say you've got classical music and rock music. The two fandoms are conceptually unique (in this simplified example) because they do not overlap. The style of musical, instruments used and composition are different. The practice of being a fan of either is the same. No matter which one you like you will listen the music and try to play the music.
The furry fandom is not special in the sense that there is nothing about its practice that cannot be found at roughly equivalent levels elsewhere. There's no reason that should be belittling anyone. There's a reason it will feel that way and that is what I was getting at with the paragraph on social identity theory. It's about people taking a group, in this case furry, and binding their identity to that so that any slight against furry is a slight against themself. And that provides the motivation for furries to see the fandom as having unique practices despite that not being the case.
"If all mankind minus one, were of one opinion, and only one person were of the contrary opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person, than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind."
~John Stuart Mill~
Well I think that you're confusing what is being described. When you say we're sharing something unique that seems to be saying that the concept of the furry fandom is unique. (I'd say it's not because we have a long list of precursors to the fandom but that's another topic.) However, my essay was addressing whether the furry fandom was uniquely creative, that's the practice of being a furry.
Let's illustrate that with a practical example. Let's say you've got classical music and rock music. The two fandoms are conceptually unique (in this simplified example) because they do not overlap. The style of musical, instruments used and composition are different. The practice of being a fan of either is the same. No matter which one you like you will listen the music and try to play the music.
The furry fandom is not special in the sense that there is nothing about its practice that cannot be found at roughly equivalent levels elsewhere. There's no reason that should be belittling anyone. There's a reason it will feel that way and that is what I was getting at with the paragraph on social identity theory. It's about people taking a group, in this case furry, and binding their identity to that so that any slight against furry is a slight against themself. And that provides the motivation for furries to see the fandom as having unique practices despite that not being the case.
"If all mankind minus one, were of one opinion, and only one person were of the contrary opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person, than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind."
~John Stuart Mill~