The distinction between core identity and lifestyle is not just trivial semantics. If it was just trivial semantics than the gay community wouldn't have fought so hard to normalise that distinction (BRINGING THIS UP FOR THE FOURTH TIME NOW BECAUSE FOR SOME REASON IT'S NOT SINKING IN).
The gay community proved that confusing core identity and lifestyle can do real damage to how a community is perceived by outsiders. It allowed people to deny the existence of a core gay identity, instead arguing that gay people were just acting out for attention. So the gay community had to fight harder to make people understand that being gay was not just a choice nor was it just attention-seeking.
And can you guess what accusation I've seen get regularly hurled at furry lifestylers by hobbyist furries on FurAffinity forums? Attention-seeking. They say furry as a core identity does not exist and that lifestylers are just acting out. And right now, the lifestyler community can just ignore those accusations because it's too small and niche for those accusations to really mean anything yet. But as furry becomes more and more mainstream, those accusations are going to get louder and louder, and then the lifestyler community will face real stigmatisation unlike anything they've seen before.
I will admit, my initial reason for defining "core furry" was to get across my own personal identity. But having now recognised that core identity is being conflated with furry lifestyler, I think this is a dangerous standard and it's only going to do harm to furry fandom going forward. "Core furry" is a potential solution to intercept that danger before the trouble really starts.
The distinction between core identity and lifestyle is not just trivial semantics. If it was just trivial semantics than the gay community wouldn't have fought so hard to normalise that distinction (BRINGING THIS UP FOR THE FOURTH TIME NOW BECAUSE FOR SOME REASON IT'S NOT SINKING IN).
The gay community proved that confusing core identity and lifestyle can do real damage to how a community is perceived by outsiders. It allowed people to deny the existence of a core gay identity, instead arguing that gay people were just acting out for attention. So the gay community had to fight harder to make people understand that being gay was not just a choice nor was it just attention-seeking.
And can you guess what accusation I've seen get regularly hurled at furry lifestylers by hobbyist furries on FurAffinity forums? Attention-seeking. They say furry as a core identity does not exist and that lifestylers are just acting out. And right now, the lifestyler community can just ignore those accusations because it's too small and niche for those accusations to really mean anything yet. But as furry becomes more and more mainstream, those accusations are going to get louder and louder, and then the lifestyler community will face real stigmatisation unlike anything they've seen before.
I will admit, my initial reason for defining "core furry" was to get across my own personal identity. But having now recognised that core identity is being conflated with furry lifestyler, I think this is a dangerous standard and it's only going to do harm to furry fandom going forward. "Core furry" is a potential solution to intercept that danger before the trouble really starts.