The concept of furry fandom will no doubt raise stereotypes of misguided middle aged men and women dressing up in fur suits to try and recapture what is left of their ailing sex life. A malicious misconception spread across the internet, it has become ‘truth’. However, this reporter decided to ask a furry artist as to what is the true purpose of furry art, and how the modern misconception came to be.

“Furry is a term the internet uses to refer to members of the furry fandom community on the internet. While most people think of a furry as a fetishist who dresses up in fursuits for sex, there's actually a variety of dimensions to it. Furries encompass people who roleplay with anthropomorphic "Fursonae," people who attend furry conventions, such as anthrocon, right up to the fetishism described. Fursuits, at any stage, are far less popular than people would believe, and a great majority of furry fandom concerns itself more with art and roleplay, the fetishism is a distinct minority group,” he says when I ask what, if not a fetish, furry is. As he has said, it is a number of different genres, with furry fetishes being the minority.

But if it is such a minority, where does this view come from?

“Certain furry artists concern themselves with adult art, and due to the popularity of adult "art" on the internet, the knowledge of it spreads quickly, certainly far more quickly than knowledge of boards that are to do with furry fantasy roleplaying, for instance, and the propagation of the myth that furries are all depraved fetishists allows for us to become somewhat of an internet scapegoat. While a lot of people don't need a scapegoat, certain boards require one to try and cover up their own sickness and depravity.” The artist replies. Many wizened users of the internet may know what board requires such a scapegoat, and perhaps this gives an insight as to why such a scapegoat exists.

To summarize what topics my ‘Interview with a Furry’ enlightened, furry is not some debased fetish. Although some people to engage in what has been termed ‘yiffing’, that is fetishism, the majority concern themselves with considerably more artistic and intelligent branches of what is simply giving an animal human characteristics.