No, I am not a therian. But I believe that my furry identity comes from a biological place because I've had a compulsion to create fursonas for myself since I was very, very young; long before I even knew what fursonas or furry identity was. I'm 28 now and I've had a fursona for pretty much my entire life without realising exactly what I was doing. I made no conscious choice about it, nor is it something that developed in me over time. It was always a natural part of me from the very beginning, like being a cisgender male. And even now I don't feel like I have a choice in this; it's just something I feel compelled to do.
And the reason why I say I'm not therian is because I don't reject any part of my humanity. In fact, my current choice of fursona (leopard) was made consciously based on how aspects of the animal's body shape reflect my own real life body shape. No mystical force drew me to the leopard, nor do I particularly identify with leopards as personalities. It's entirely physical, not a trace of the spiritual.
The word that I currently use to describe my identity as a furry is "zoomorphic". When I look at a furry character like Nick Wilde, my brain interprets him as an animalised human, even though he has more animal attributes than human ones. Furry to me is an extension of my humanity, not a contradiction of it.
And that's why I say it's a part of my biology. If you have an article or study on hand that suggests otherwise, I'd be interested in seeing it.
No, I am not a therian. But I believe that my furry identity comes from a biological place because I've had a compulsion to create fursonas for myself since I was very, very young; long before I even knew what fursonas or furry identity was. I'm 28 now and I've had a fursona for pretty much my entire life without realising exactly what I was doing. I made no conscious choice about it, nor is it something that developed in me over time. It was always a natural part of me from the very beginning, like being a cisgender male. And even now I don't feel like I have a choice in this; it's just something I feel compelled to do.
And the reason why I say I'm not therian is because I don't reject any part of my humanity. In fact, my current choice of fursona (leopard) was made consciously based on how aspects of the animal's body shape reflect my own real life body shape. No mystical force drew me to the leopard, nor do I particularly identify with leopards as personalities. It's entirely physical, not a trace of the spiritual.
The word that I currently use to describe my identity as a furry is "zoomorphic". When I look at a furry character like Nick Wilde, my brain interprets him as an animalised human, even though he has more animal attributes than human ones. Furry to me is an extension of my humanity, not a contradiction of it.
And that's why I say it's a part of my biology. If you have an article or study on hand that suggests otherwise, I'd be interested in seeing it.