What is a Furry?

What the heck is a Furry and what is the Furry Fandom??

You maybe asking yourself this question as you look around this website out of curiosity, but we won't leave you hanging. A "Furry", as defined in Oxford's Dictionary it as an enthusiast for animal characters with human characteristics, in particular a person who dresses up in costume as such a character or uses one as an avatar online, which are called Fursonas."  Sounds fun huh? Want to know more? Keep reading and this page can answer your biggest questions about Furries and the Furry Fandom

The Furry Fandom: History

The Furry Fandom has been around since around the late 1960s - early 1980s. Though it wasn't known as the Furry Fandom then. Born out of the WesterCon Comic Con scene in Southern California, groups of people would come together in these room parties, then known as Furry Parties, and they would sit, chill, draw and talk about their favorite anthropomorphic characters and create their own works of art. These would happen every year to the point where they got so big, the comic cons told the people that they should hold their own convention. Enter Mark Merlino and Rod O’Riley, these two men would be later be known as the Grandfathers of the Furry Fandom. They organized ConFURance, the very first Furry Convention in San Diego, CA in 1989. This con would run every year till 2003. This will set the groundwork that is Furry and what the Fandom is today. 

Fursonas: Creating the Animal Within you

The one way that furries typically represent themselves online and in person is their Fursona. A Fursona is a character you create that represent you in the community. Now, some people don't have a Fursona as they either can't decide what they want to create or they have no desire to. Your fursona can be anything you want it to be: Any Species, Any Gender, Any Color, whatever. Get creative. If you want to be a purple dog with polka dots with glowing eyes and wings, do it. Nothing is stopping you. The single and hybrid specie combinations are endless. That is the unique thing about the fandom is that usually no two fursonas look the same (unless its a twin!). There maybe some similarities but they are very different in their own little way how the creator wants them to be. With the fursona, the owner will either project their real life self or who they wish to be into the character.

These fursonas are drawn into artwork that the owner can use as profile pictures on social media, printed out to hang up on the walls of their homes, or as a badge at Conventions to let people know who they are as they meet their peers in real life. 

Fursuits and Furry Conventions 

Furry Conventions are pretty much like any other fandom convention, a gathering of like minded individuals in a specified interest.They are like any other cosplay convention but Fuzzier. This is because people in this fandom will cosplay as their own character (fursona) in a costume to look like their animal avatar, known as a Fursuit. These fursuits are mainly made with faux fur, foam, plastic and resin. Depending on what kind of suit you want, its difficulty in creation, and quality these suits can range from a few hundred dollars into the tens of thousands. The majority of the fandom doesn't own a fursuit, because they either can't afford one or they have no desire to have one. Some people are plenty content on just getting art of their fursonas by one or many artists the fandom has. We don't just have artists, we also have singers, dancers, and musicians, whom are usually represented at these conventions. The Dealers Dens and Artist Alleys of these cons are filled to the brim with Furry made products, by furries for furries. Our singers, musicians, and dancers put on shows for us and we dance the night away at our raves. Makes for a fun and exciting weekend get away. Conventions are such a large part of our community, they are held around the world where furries may be. These cons also function as fundraisers for a charity or charities of the convention's choice, and these charities are usually for Animal Rescues or Humanitarian Services. These cons generate thousands of dollars in donations for these charities.

The most attended cons in the world are in the United States, which holds roughly 50 per year, out of the approximate 80 cons held around the world. The most attended cons are Midwest Fur Fest (Chicago, IL), AnthroCon (Pittsburg, PA) and Furry Weekend Atlanta (Atlanta, GA). That number of conventions keeps growing with every turn the Fandom grows.

International Furs

Furries can be found all around the world, even in places you wouldn't think to have some small part of the Furry Fandom within it. In 2020, the project known as the International Anthropomorphic Research Project (IARP; aka FurScience) did a poll of 559 participants from 41 countries to see what country Furries are mostly from. The United States came out on top at 34.9%, followed by Canada (16.5%) and China (11.1%). In 2015, Furry Map shows that the most densely populated country is Germany and still is today. Germany hosts Eurofurance, Europe's largest Furry Convention in the city of Hamburg.

Other cons can be found around the world, like Canada, UK, Mexico, Australia, Japan, Taiwan, and Brazil. 

Home Grown Furs

As there are furries all around the world, Louisiana is no exception. The Louisiana Furs are located all across the state, many being from the larger cities. Our group started around 2002 as a very small meet up at house located in Metairie, LA, a subdivision area of New Orleans, that was hosted by Blackwolf12Tails. In 2004, the Louisiana Furs was formed as a group on social medias so it could bring the larger community together. Still today, the Louisiana Furs continue to grow through the help of social medias and chat groups on Telegram and Discord.

Conclusion

All in all, The Furry Fandom is a creative, outgoing, fun-loving, and caring subculture that provides a space for those who love anthropomorphic animals all around the world. Its a very diverse with all kinds of people from different lifestyles, beliefs, and professions. We come together at meets and conventions to celebrate that love of the interest and through that common interest, forms life long friendships and relationships. You can be your true self and not be judged for who you want to be. 

If you gotten this far, thanks for reading! Now you know what a Furry is and what the Fandom is about. If you are even more interested and want to join in and get to know us more, please check out our Social Media page for links to our chats groups and social medias.