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.
Also, a little bit more about the show/network:
Stream the archive now:
Subscribe to Stereo-Typed on your favourite podcast app.
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.
References
1. | ↑ | Waterloo, Ontario, Canada |
2. | ↑ | FurScience Universal Recruitment Project |
3. | ↑ | As Dr Michael Aaron explained in Episode 8, philia simply means “love” |
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