"Ew is that a furry?"
To those who aren't in the underground queer rave scene,
it might come as a surprise to see furries on the dancefloor. What is a furry? For the purpose of this project I will use the term "furries" to describe the prominent
subculture of people who particularly enjoy and resonate with anthropomorphic characters. . Anthropomorphism, which In this project I will use the term asanthropomorphism as an umbrella for both anthropomorphism
and zoomorphism,. As LGBT+ studies researcher Mary Heinz categorized it in accordance with researcher Gerbasi, the term anthropomorphism refers to“…indicates the application of human characteristics to animals,
whereas zoomorphism is the application of animal characteristics to humans.” (Gerbasi et al.2008 in Heinz 22) By extension, aa “fursona” refers isto a person’s original anthropomorphic character intended to represent
themselves.
Furries are often misrepresented as sexual deviants because others don't understand the fundamental basis of their self expression. On the surface, there doesn't seem to be many commonalities between the queer communit
y and
the furry community. However, there is significant overlap between the two. For queer people struggling with self-expression, anthropomorphized characters can act as a vessel. It might be hard to picture the person you
see in the mirror as somebody you're comfortable with, because you may not look the way you think you should look. By creating an anthropomorphized character of one's ideal self, a fursona, people can live through that
sona and
gain confidence vicariously.
This sense of freedom isn't just anecdotal, it's something researchers have observed within the furry community as well. In Mary Heinz 2020 study, they found that, “It appears that, for the participants in this study,
being in online furry communities allows people to be themselves through their various role identities without feeling shame, both on and offline.” (Heinz 33).
offline." (Heinz, 33).
The shame queer people internalize from the world doesn't mix with the freedom of party spaces; they resist
like oil and water. To have a good party, the burden of shame must disappear, and furries embody such radical self expression that it helps dissolve the shame others carry into the room. Fursuit heads and custom paws
bouncing under the flashing lights are a good indicator you're about to have a good, safe rave.
The centerpiece of this website features an anthropomorphized character I designed for my series of Connection art pieces relating to this topic.
Although I don't consider myself a furry because I don't resonate with
furry media, I have a strong appreciation for the furry community and their contributions to the underground queer party scene.
The character is based on one of my favorite animals, the snow leopard, but designed to reflect
the fashion and aesthetics of ravers. My previous work featuring her includes a 3D poster made from my digital artwork printed and overlaid onto a star pattern printed on felt material, and fishnets made of thread attached
with eyelash glue (see Reference 1). The inspiration behind the mediums stemmed from my real life use of thread to alter and sew clothing usually right before a party, and the eyelash glue I use for the makeup I wear.
For this webpage, I wanted to include my mascot since I feel she properly represents the demographic of the underground queer party community and the reclaiming of cringe culture. I took the drawing from the Party More Party Hard poster and added sparkle effects like old glitter graphics from back in the day using one of the last remaining glitter gif making websites called glitterboo.com. By showcasing my character front and center my goal is to convey the vibe that should be expected at such an event.
