Anthropomorphic Research (Episode 23)

Anthropomorphic Research = Fur Science!

Photo by GreenReaper

What is a Furry?

That is what we aim to learn … and I found the perfect person to dismantle the stereotypes and give us data. Yes, real data. He studies furries and fandoms and is a furry himself. Therefore, he has a lot of facts and figures, as well as anecdotes, to back things up.

So, let’s see what popular media (mainly TV) suggests. A furry is/are:

• Folks who dress up like animals in elaborate mascot-like costumes. (This is the least stigmatizing of the statements, but it is still false.)
• Someone who’s “doing it like they do on the Discovery Channel.” Have you seen the Bloodhound Gang’s video for The Bad Touch? Yeah? Then you know what I’m talking about. They are deviants with an interest in zoophilia or bestiality.
• Delusional! They are adults who cannot adult, so they live in a fantasy world to avoid reality.
• Another point of delusion: They think they are animals or not-fully-human.

Have you heard any of those claims? More importantly, have you thought any of them? If so, we need to talk, and talk we shall.

So, what is a furry? The simplest answer is that they are fans of anthropomorphic animal art. Of course, nothing is ever quite that simple. Good thing we have those science types studying furry fandom (as well as other forms of fandom).

International Anthropomorphic Research Project (IARP)

My guest on May 17th is Dr Courtney Plante, one of the founders and a lead analyst for the International Anthropomorphic Research Project. The IARP is a team of researchers who are, you know, researching the furry fandom from a social psychological perspective. Over the past decade (or so), they have accumulated data from survey questionnaires from tens of thousands of furries from over 70 countries. From that data, they have been able to publish information about the demographics and other interesting information about this fandom subculture. Since Stereo-Typed is a show primarily about Alternative Sexuality, in addition to dispelling some of the general misconceptions about furries (such as they are all fursuiters), we will take a closer look at the relationships, orientations and porn use of Furries. Oh, come on, you must have known that I would get porn in there somewhere, right?

On-going Research

IARP’s research is approved by the University of Waterloo’s ¹⁾Waterloo, Ontario, Canada research ethics board. You’ll recall that during my rant about research, which is also known as Episode 10, I talked about privacy and ethics board reviews that dictate the parameters of all university-based research.

Currently, there is a project, called Fur-P ²⁾FurScience Universal Recruitment Project that is collecting demographic information about furries to create a database of potential research subjects for future projects. Since I am a research whore, you can be certain that I will be asking Dr Plante about this initiative. There is also a link to the project below.

Some Talking Points:

• Fursuits, fetishes and fursonas.
• Furries, Therians, Bronies and maybe we will touch on Puppies and Ponies (the latter two we are familiar with from BDSM/Leather communities) — Are there any similarities or differences?
• The sexuality of Furries, as well as, the effects that porn has on the motivations to become a member of the furry fandom — because, AltSex show …
• A stat I found on FetLife — okay, stats and FetLife don’t always work well together — stated that 90% of Furries are also kinky. Has IARP studied this intersection? If so, is this number accurate? If not, why not?! After all, even Bugs Bunny would occasionally crossdress.
• And the social/psych aspects of fandom participation — such as, is there evidence that being a furry helps (or hinders) social interaction and development of one’s self?

Join Courtney Plante and me

This will be a live interview, as Stereo-Typed generally is. So, join us on May 17th, 2017 at 7 PM ET. You can click on the player below when the show goes live. If you register for a Spreaker account (free), you can also participate in the chat.

“Nuka”

Oh, yeah. I mentioned that Dr Plante is also a fan of anthropomorphic art (he is known in Furry circles as “Nuka”). So, we will have two shows on Furry Fandom. As you will learn during this episode, Furry Fandom is not a fetish, however, it definitely falls under the broader classification of philia. ³⁾As Dr Michael Aaron explained in Episode 8, philia simply means “love” Therefore, Nuka will be joining me on an upcoming episode of Fetish Philes to talk about Furry Fandom from the perspective of someone who enjoys the subculture.

Keep an eye on this space, follow me on Twitter or FetLife, and/or subscribe to the show’s Facebook page. When details are known (or shortly thereafter), I’ll announce when the interview will be posted. If it goes up while the shows are still combined, I will do the intro/outro live. Otherwise, the show will be posted as a podcast episode.

AltSex NYC

This is the first interview with someone who I met at AltSex NYC in April. I’d again like to thank my Sugar Daddy Collective for their support. Due to your patronage, my hopes for the conference became a reality. As a result, I heard awesome presentations. Then, I got to bring them back home to you. If you aren’t a patron of the show(s), but you enjoy the content, please consider contributing to my patreon campaign so I can attend more (and more and more) of these conferences that share a goal with TPOK Radio — education about Alternative Sexuality.

Relevant Reading:

• International Anthropomorphic Research Project
• IARP Findings on Relationships, Orientation and Porn
• Fur Science – IARP’s public information hub
• Fur Science (direct link to the e-book)
• FurScience Universal Recruitment Project (Fur-P)
• PhychologyToday – Standard Deviations blog Dr Michael Aaron – interview with Dr Courtney Plante

A little bit about:

Click on the images to see a brief bio and contact information for Courtney Plante and Camille Beaujolie. Please note that the Twitter and Facebook accounts are for FurScience.

Guest

Courtney Plante/Nuka

Courtney Plante, Ph.D., is a social psychologist and postdoctoral fellow at Iowa State University. His work, which began as a graduate student at the University of Waterloo, involves self and identity processes in fantasy contexts. This work has led him to study the effects of media on thoughts, feelings, and behaviour, the functions that fantasy activities fulfil for people, and the impact of participating in a fantasy-themed fan community.

“Nuka” is Dr Plante’s fursona.

He is the co-founder and lead analyst of the International Anthropomorphic Research Project (IARP) – a team of social scientists who study identity development, stigma, and inter-group/inter- species dynamics in the furry fandom.

His research has been funded by the Canadian Government, published in peer-reviewed psychological, social work, and fandom journals, and has been featured on television shows such as National Geographic’s “Taboo”.

Related

Fur Science:http://furscience.com/

IARP:http://www.furryresearch.org/

Host, Stereo-Typed

Camille Beaujolie

Camille, or AuntieSocial, is the host of Stereo-Typed. She has been active in the local BDSM community since 2010. A more extensive profile is available on this website by clicking on the “AuntieSocial” tab in the top menu.

In case you missed it, I have a Patreon campaign set up to support this site and the associated show. If you enjoy the show, if you appreciate the work that goes into making this happen, please consider becoming a patron. Even a dollar a month will go a long way. Visit my Patreon page to see the various rewards that are available exclusively for my Sugar Daddy Collective.

Support Stereo-TypedVisit my Patreon Page

Related

FetLife:https://fetlife.com/users/815151

Also, a little bit more about the show/network:

Radio Show

Stereo-Typed

There is a lot of misunderstanding surrounding what we do, and who we are. Sometimes, these misconceptions give us a chuckle at our local dungeon, but sometimes, the broad-stroke generalisations may cause confusion or even alienation.

Our communities have a history. We have traditions. We have our own lexicon. Words have a meaning and sometimes, our words have special meaning within our culture. Not all kinksters are alike, and some of us may do things that others just don’t understand.

• Everyone who hears words like “Bondage”, “Discipline”, “Sadomasochism”, and other terms we use to describe what we do and who we are, approaches them with their own ideas of what those words mean (preconceptions).
• If you think back to when you were new, you may have had an idea of BDSM that came from fantasy or popular cultural references. You may have discovered that these ideas, or how others (even within the community) view your predilections aren’t an accurate representation of your experience. (misconceptions)
• If you have spent any time reading the stories and journal entries or looking at the pictures on FetLife, you may have picked up on some sweeping generalisations of how certain roles are supposed to behave (generalisations).
• You have probably heard about the correct way or the old way. You will see laments about “the scene these days“. While some of that may be true, does it automatically follow that their experience is the only way? (one-true-wayisms)
• You have probably noticed that some words are interchangeable … but, are they really? (conflated language).

And, what about those vanillas? What do they think of us, of what we do? Are they really as prudish and judgemental as they are portrayed in the annals of FetLife? These questions are also generalisations, in themselves, because we can’t take a broad-stroke approach to any group of people without the creation, or perpetuation, of a stereotype.

Join me, AuntieSocial, and my occasional guests, as we try to unravel some of the myths in our lifestyle. Think of this as the Kinky Myth Busters … except I don’t get to blow shit up.

Related

Network

TPOK Radio

What began in 2012 as an interview podcast, documenting the personal journeys of kinky people, has grown into a network of podcasts and radio shows. With the goal of someday providing a 24/7 stream of kink-related content, TPOK Radio provides hours of entertaining and educational shows for your listening pleasure.

Each of the shows is archived on Spreaker, as well as various podcast repositories (including iTunes).

The current line-up consists of:

• TPOK Live (Sundays at 7 pm eastern)
• The 3rd Rail (Sundays at 8 pm eastern)
• Brooklyn’s Journey (podcast) Recorded episodes every other Monday
• The Rainbow Connection (currently on hiatus)
• Kink Geek (podcast with one live show a month on Tuesdays at 8 pm)
• Stereo-Typed (Every other Wednesday at 7 pm)

Related

Stream the archive now:

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Like what you see or hear? Please consider joining my Sugar Daddy Collective and help me bring more interesting topics your way on a weekly basis. 

Support Stereo-TypedVisit my Patreon Page