Comment on Tech Companies Apparently Do Not Understand Why We Dislike AI
wizardbeard@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 weeks agoIt would be a lot easier to engage with the subculture from the outside if the porn wasn’t so prevalent or up-front as it is/had been in the past, and if the weirdest/most socially maladjusted members of the culture didn’t tend to be the most attention grabbing (but that’s an issue with almost every group online though).
If you’re up for it, I’d love to be pointed at some good examples of the subculture outside of the fetish/kink stuff.
CarbonIceDragon@pawb.social 3 weeks ago
Some of that is down to the general culture of the furry fandom I think, it tends to be a fair bit more sex-positive and less inhibited society at large, and while porn is a thing fairly common to humans in general (obviously not every human engages with it and the degree varies with the person, but still, it isnt exactly rare), if you have one group of people who have far less of a taboo about talking about and sharing it than those outside that group, thats the thing that outsiders are going to notice about them, especially if the stuff they make in that category is visually distinct from adult content found elsewhere. Its not universal of course, there are definitely puritanical furries out there if you look for them and the fandom is big enough that I cant say with certainty that the people Ive encountered are entirely representative of it, but thats the notion I get. To be honest, Ive come to get it over time, it can be nice to feel like you can just be open about every interest one has without having to think about which things are and arent suited to sharing with other people, but the natural consequence of choosing to reject a social norm is looking cringey or worse to those that still value it.
As far as where the subculture goes outside the fetishey stuff, theres a lot of digital art made that isnt sexualized, but beyond that Id point to some of the more “irl” stuff furries are known for, like conventions, fursuits, and other related crafts like that (ive seen people with things like custom made plushies or other physical art). While some do bring adult things into those, it isnt really the norm. More or less all the sorts of creative or social aspects that you might expect of a media-based fandom, like star trek fans or such, just without any one big IP franchise behind it and instead an emphasis on making your own stuff with an informal set of shared themes and tropes.
I wont try and point out specific events and craftspeople, since I am an extremely shy and anxious person irl and most of my interaction with other furries has been online spaces, mostly with my specific friend group that happens to be made up almost exclusively of them, but there are quite a few, especially in the US and EU. Anecdotally, that shyness is part of why I got into it in the first place, it somehow feels easier for me to make friends and generally interact socially, by creating a character that represents a more idealized version of myself that is more outgoing and less anxious, and pretending to be that character. Which is one of the things a fursona is, its partly an internet avatar and an outlet for creative expression, partly a subculture identity signifier to help find like minded people, and partly a sort of mask and social tool for self-reflection. If I had a blog, Id represent myself using mine just like the person in the OP is, get used to presenting yourself that way long enough and doing so ends up just feeling natural to you.