Dogpatch Press

Fluff Pieces Every Week

Month: May, 2014

Furries, self-esteem, and identity: perspective from a psychologist

by Patch O'Furr

‘If everybody’s doing it, it’s probably wrong’.

From The man who destroyed America’s ego: How a rebel psychologist challenged one of the 20th century’s biggest – and most dangerous – ideas:

“FOR MUCH OF HUMAN HISTORY, our beliefs have been based on the assumption that people are fundamentally bad. Strip away a person’s smile and you’ll find a grotesque, writhing animal-thing. Human instincts have to be controlled, and religions have often been guides for containing the demons. Sigmund Freud held a similar view: Psychotherapy was his method of making the unconscious conscious, helping people restrain their bestial desires…”

Furries: Do you like your fursona? Do you have higher self-esteem, and feel happier and better with it?

Or do you represent “bestial desires” of a “grotesque, writhing animal-thing?” Are you fundamentally bad, and need to restrain what you are inside?

The 1960’s brought an alternative movement of self-esteem, dedicated to boosting “unconditional positive regard” for the self. Education and public policy has now become deeply supportive for this. But there are dissidents to this, too. Meet Roy Baumeister.

ego
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Furry news and Snausage links of the week (5-29-14)

by Patch O'Furr

Dutch street fursuiting! – Sakura Fox’s new Suiting Suggestions – Anthrocon programming – Serious crime reported – NYC’s “banned pets” – Furaffinity “Project Phoenix” – Misunderstood Hyenas. – Snausages: a regular feature of links and story samples. Tips welcome- I’d love to post yours!
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Courtesy of NoctisIgnem

Courtesy of NoctisIgnem

– “FURSUITERS TURN THE CITY INTO A HAPPIER PLACE”
This is what furries are for! This is why I post about Street Fursuiting.
Reddit has the article from Dutch news, with English translation from generous sharer NoctisIgnem:

“This saturday Eindhoven got livened up by 30 fantastical animals. Photo opportunities and hugs were available all around. ‘Whenever furries or fursuiters turn up they put a smile on people’s faces, both young and old.'”

– SAKURA FOX: “SUITING SUGGESTIONS 6: WATER CIRCULATING COMPRESSION SHIRTS”
A new addition to a great series from a fabulous fox.
More “Suiting Suggestions” in previous features with Sakura about Street Fursuiting.

– ANTHROCON 2014 POCKET PROGRAM
Panels and programming revealed in latest draft. See you there in a few weeks!

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Breaking the furry law

by Patch O'Furr

I couldn't find Furries doing Judas Priest...

I couldn’t find Furries doing Judas Priest…

Are there laws about this hobby? There’s the cardinal rule of fursuiting: Don’t take the head off in public. “Don’t break the magic!”

The Magic makes eyes go wide- “AHH!! A 6-foot fox person!” (Or, as I answered a comment asking “Why go public suiting?” … There’s the AHH!! reaction on the street, vs. “There goes suiter #732,” at a con where furries just perform to each other. I kid- if you love it too, you know it’s fun.)

At a street fair, without a fursuit lounge, “The Magic” is made to be broken. Crowds swarm at you in killer heat with no privacy anywhere. So you duck into a corner, take off the head, and become the Invisible Man. When the head goes back on, it flips a switch like bringing Frankenstein’s monster to life.

I think I broke some magic this week by raising another scary boogeyman… the PORN topic. More about that in a minute… First, another thought about creating and breaking.

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Dr. Tibbals on Furries, sex and sociology

by Patch O'Furr

Interview series:  Artists, animation directors, DJ’s and event organizers, superfans, and more…

Recently, I posted about the first Journal of Porn Studies. The term Gonzo caught my eye in it’s article, Gonzo, trannys, and teens – current trends in US adult content production, distribution, and consumption. I thought it held “potential” to relate to furry art and it’s raw, minimally filtered expression. Article author, Chauntelle Anne Tibbals Ph.D., runs an adult media criticism blog. She was very welcoming for a nice conversation. (I was careful to say that Furry does NOT necessarily have anything to do with adult content.)

Chauntelle Anne Tibbals Ph.D. - Twitter - @drchauntelle chauntelletibbals.com

Chauntelle Anne Tibbals Ph.D. – Twitter – @drchauntelle
chauntelletibbals.com

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Patch:
I’m curious whether you have come in contact with “the furries” before. Have you, and what way?

CAT:
Haha, of course I have! My work (and life, really) is all about gender and sexualities and sexual expression within the context of wider society, and the furry community is a vibrant part of that entire conversation. I’d be pretty off-mark if I hadn’t…

Patch:
People in this niche hobby are very passionate about it. I call it a hobby, because it’s as likely about art or writing alone, that has nothing to do with kink. That said, having an alter-identity (a “fursona”) is a fun, imaginative fantasy thing. You hear many sensitive stories under “secret identities” – does it inspire any no-name stories you could share?

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2014 How Weird Street Faire furmeet in San Francisco

by Patch O'Furr

ABC News gave a shout to furries at the 2014 How Weird Street Faire. On May 4, thousands of costumers filled the streets for the 15th annual event. 43 furries RSVP’ed, and fursuiters had changing space in walking distance, thanks to generous member Boiler. (Send her love during misfortune that happened to her family recently.) The previous 2013 How Weird furmeet gave us wonderful photos. This year, I edited them to video, and they’re also in this album.

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Academic journal opens door on research for Furry porn

by Patch O'Furr

Gonzo-2011_1
Ahh! Close the door! Furries love to hate their porn. Sometimes furry art is purely G-rated… sometimes it’s XXX. It causes fear about image. But if it gets humanistic interest without judgement, I suspect it can reveal things about erotic imagination. Anthropomorphism has mixed with it since the dawn of history.

Here’s a question on the minds of art students who draw furries. (One asked me, and I answered “Yes and No”)…

“Does association with furry culture have negative impact on hiring? In one of my portfolio reviews, someone told me not to include my anthro art, and that was discouraging (even though it’s not sexualized or inappropriate).”

Now imagine seeking academic respect for porn of any kind. It’s easy to sense professional difficulty. But with the first Journal of Porn Studies (Spring 2014,) “finally scholars have a venue for considering the phenomenon seriously.”

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Talking animals topic betrays culture-blind critics

by Patch O'Furr

Realistic (left) and anthropomorphic (right) illustrations for research study

Frontiers in Psychology research study illustrates realistic and anthropomorphic animals

Last year, a Flayrah news article drew outsiders who had never encountered Furries.
One wrote: “You all need therapy!”
I answered: “This IS our therapy, silly!”

Friends at Flayrah just reminded me about it. Dronon posted:

Chair of the Canadian Education Committee thinks that talking animals in children’s books are detrimental to education. …Aw darnit, scratch that – It’s a fake, satirical article. Well done!

Fred answered:

Some believe that the report of the Chinese banning “Alice in Wonderland” in 1931 because “talking animals are false” is an urban legend. Nobody can find such a law as having been passed.

Rakuen Growlithe added:

Dronon, there’s actually a bit of truth underlying the satire.

The topic led me to find that, although it may be satirized… yes, it has some truth. Read the rest of this entry »

Renegade fursuiting is BEST fursuiting: chat with Sakura Fox – Part 3

by Patch O'Furr

sakura2
Continued from Part 1 and Part 2: Sakura fox tells more about “renegade fursuiting” in public. I’ve previously written about “Street fursuiting”. Sakura’s convention panels and journals about it are recommended reading (see bottom.)

Patch:
I think public suiting is way better for candid photos than conventions, because it’s outside of predictable space. I love seeing surprised bystanders, or people drawn into furriness for the first time! Do you end up with a lot of photos afterward? Do you get photos taken by people you bring, or find them from searching randomly on the web? Do you have a favorite photo moment?

Has media ever picked you as an attraction to highlight? (It seems to happen to our meets a lot when San Francisco furries do street fairs. Even just to add incidental color to a story.)

Sakura:
Agreed! Photos from public events are always very dynamic and full of surprise.
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Furry news and Snausage links of the week (5-22-14)

by Patch O'Furr

Worldwide furries: Russia and Belarus – Site losses this week – Fursuiting magic outdoors – Flayrah’s Newsbytes now added here

Do you like links and stories to come? Snausages– a regularish feature. Story tips welcome- I’d love to post yours!
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– WORLDWIDE FURRIES: Russia and Belarus
BELFURENCE 1: “The first furry convention in Belarus. We rented a couple of houses in the middle of nowhere, at Braslav Lakes National Park.”
Amazing photos! Rough translating indicates that trouble in Ukraine led to a new event in a new location.
Some of the same furries appear in this parade: Dreamflash… 5000+ people parading for hugs, positivity, bright costumes, and soap bubbles.
A super cool answer to my older article, “Questions for Russian furry fans about anti-gay oppression“. Could simply wearing a fursuit get you in trouble? Not for these.

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Renegade fursuiting is BEST fursuiting: chat with Sakura Fox – Part 2

by Patch O'Furr

sakura3

Continued from Part 1: Sakura fox tells more about “renegade fursuiting” in public. I’ve previously written about those unique experiences of “Street fursuiting”. Sakura’s convention panels and journals about it are recommended reading (see bottom.)

Patch:
Your suiting tips practically scream “go do this”, to anyone who has a fursuit and is tempted to try public suiting but hasn’t yet dared. You give an impressive list of your local Texas-based places to try it, from shows to festivals to random neighborhood exploring. You even rate them from best to worst. It shows a lot of dedication! How often do you go? Can you say more about starting- was it just doing cons with others, making plans, or did the character naturally lead you out on your own?

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