Pride in Furry Mecca – Viral views for Zootopia – Crushing on foxes – Newsdump (6/22/15)
by Patch O'Furr
Headlines, links and little stories to make your tail wag. Tips are always welcome.
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Media and Fandom News
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From 2014, via chrisastro.com
On June 28, San Francisco Pride is going to be awesome for furries!
The Bay Area Furries are all ready to march in the parade. Pride is the height of street fair season in “Furry Mecca”. It’s one of the most loved activities for an active section of the community. 2014 was the first Furry appearance in the parade since 2005. They had attendance of 50+, and TV coverage with a million-strong audience. RSVP’s are 25% stronger than last year, with days left to grow. Two leaders got the event organized, despite unavailability of an important third from last year.
Califur visited by television naturalist Figgy Dobbs.
An Inside Look at the Furries in Their Natural Habitat!
Buzzfeed podcast covers furries (via earthfurst).
BuzzFeed’s Internet Explorer does “A Deep Dive Into Furries”. It starts at 6:45. I missed this in April. It calls furries “the greatest mystery of the internet”. As usual, Buzzfeed is a dubious source – it mentions FurryMate but overlooks their bots. I won’t forgive them for spreading lies about the NJ FurBQ Hoax.
From a great music vid- suits by Komickrazi.
Letter: Furries nothing to be afraid of.
Michigan’s Squamish Chief newspaper prints a letter to the editor about an absurd Police Blotter item:
Suspicious activity: Two adults dressed in “furry” fox costumes were approaching young children at Stan Clarke Park on Friday, May 29, police report. When one of the characters offered a young girl a piggyback ride, the mother of the girl became uncomfortable and took her daughter away, according to police. She reported the incident to police the next day. Police say suspicious activities such as this should be reported to police as soon as possible.
Beware of piggyback rides… to HELL! It seems the local stooges have a poor track record of solving real problems. “Catch a tiger by the tail? Michigan animal control fooled by furry, life-sized stuffed tiger.“
Disney’s Zootopia trailer went viral.
The trailer has 6 million views as this posts. It’s saturated with comments about furries. It’s not the same as the 860% Google search bump that happened last December after the sad Midwest Furfest chlorine incident, but this kind of attention is more meaningful. The “furry” word had no headlines this time. It’s natural recognition.
Notice that Big Hero 6 and Frozen took months of time to reach 6 million views that Zootopia got in days. See view charts in the 1:00-2:00 time of the video below. (The rest may not be necessary… and you got me with that prank still frame, Youtube video guy!)
I refuse to believe that they had no intention to get Furry attention. And Fred’s comment bears repeating…
Can’t wait to know more about Zootopia?
Exclusive footage and behind-the-scenes looks at Zootopia will happen at Disney’s D23 Expo on August 15. Crossaffliction at Flayrah shared an article I missed:
Another scene, still unfinished, showed Judy and Nick entering a club where animals have rejected clothes and decided to return to a “natural” way of life. “This is Disney animation’s first nude scene,” said Lasseter as Judy prudishly picked her way through the cavorting pigs, giraffes and bison. “It’s been a long time coming.”
His freedom from pants was so fascinating when I was 12.
Pixar voice talent picks the Hottest Disney Prince.
Mindy Kaling, from Inside Out, says it’s Robin Hood. Celebs crushing on Disney foxes is practically a weekly occurrence. Jamie Dornan and Eddie Redmayne pick Maid Marian.
An Artist Reimagines Disney Animals As Humans.
Buzzfeed throws up some art. The artist got near two million views but is asking support to draw more.
Anthrocon shares a message from the San Diego Chicken.
In “99 Percent Invisible radio show presents a thrilling history of mascots” – I reported about mascot performance that the Chicken gets major credit for establishing. I don’t know if enough people understand how awesome it is to have him as Guest of Honor at Anthrocon! See their announcement here.
“Mainstream” in furry discussion.
“Zootopia, Sly Cooper, and more! Suddenly Mainstream?” – check this underpopulated subreddit that goes beyond art sharing. Join it! And on the main Furry subreddit – “Anyone else notice that furries are suddenly becoming popular?“
People rejected the innocent pure hearted Lord of glory who made all of the things people call indecent. People will have that being in them when they no longer reject the sight of them. People will no longer have to think: will I be accepted? OH – MY – GOD – people are sexual beings, no, really. I thoughts they were its. I see nothing. I assumed they were sexless it’s. The devil and Satan who is the fallen angel who is Allah who is the abomination if desolation wants people to look narrowly upon the nude form and sex. God in a person will not give a damn. Heterosexuals have fetishes. Big fucking deal. OH – yea – alter all of it. Make it all sexless having the parts hidden from view. The devil will like that. He would act as if that was positive through people. What is bad about a dick, out of the body it doth stick, internal organ externally seen, why is it call a name obscene? The eye is naked we call It such, all of us we love them much, poor protuberance bad name called, accept them please no longer appalled.
Furry… pride?! Why should one be proud of liking something? Liking isn’t an achievement, it’s not work. Now, if one builds a mansion, that’s something to be proud of. Raising a child successfully? Be proud. Living in a seedy neighborhood and resisting using drugs? Be proud. You like comics with talking animals? Nothing to be “proud” of.
It’s furries in a Pride parade (capital P), not “furry pride” – they’re one of many social groups in it. There are groups for identities, social and religious organizations, company and workplace, or interest like BDSM. Sexual orientation is basically “liking something” not an achievement, so the same complaint could dismiss the whole parade, or being proud to be American for that matter.
It’s debatable that there are elements of identity in this fan group, too, even if it’s not a social minority per se. Surveys show Furries have far more gay/bi members than proportionate to the general population, (not to mention, just look around at a con) – why would that be? Whatever the reason, it makes the parade a popular activity that a lot of members sympathize with. (Although, I say those in the parade are representing themselves, it’s not a political group).
If people additionally want to be proud of building a modest little community together, why not… It’s as silly to have “furry pride” as a Hoosiers granfalloon, but isn’t it more beneficial than being in gangs or sports riots? If it’s done with proper tongue in cheek attitude towards the absurdities of collective human behavior, I think it’s endearing.
The parade asks every contingent to submit script info, to give to TV announcers to help them figure out what they’re looking at. Here’s the furries one – see what you think.
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Expect: a truckload of fuzzy, bouncing, two legged animal characters. No, you didn’t fall down a rabbit hole – it’s just the Furries!
“Furries” are a worldwide subculture rising out of Science Fiction fandom. This one is defined loosely by a love for anthropomorphic animals. Think – anything from werewolves to Bugs Bunny or Rocket Raccoon. It was formed in the 1980’s around comics, cartoons, and participatory creativity. Nowadays, expect to see them represented by the 20% or so of members who love mascot costuming, because it’s just amazing to get hugs from a fluffy talking dog, or see a fearsome dance from an acrobatic tiger. However, it’s not commercial – it’s a passion. Members perform as their own original “fursonas” they invent themselves. It’s unique among all other fandoms, because furries aren’t fans of any one central kind of work or artist -they’re fans of each other, making a thriving, self-generating community. It’s semi-underground, but growing respect for bringing millions of dollars to cities where their conventions meet. Their interest is most basically, just a hobby – but social research has found roughly 1/3 identify as straight, 1/3 gay, and 1/3 bi or other. Nobody knows why, so all you can assume is that they are just fabulous, creative and loveable. With ultimate creativity to make your ideal identity, what it’s about is being as free as you can be!
The Bay Area Furries have been around since the 1980’s as an informal collective of friends and events. It’s often said that the Bay Area is the world’s Furry Mecca. They had floats in the Pride parade several times in the early 2000’s, re-appearing again in 2014.
More about Furries in San Francisco:
https://youtu.be/h1tI0iN5P-g
https://dogpatchpress.wordpress.com/2014/05/13/san-francisco-pride-2014/
https://dogpatchpress.wordpress.com/2014/07/02/sfpride/
https://dogpatchpress.wordpress.com/tag/san-francisco/
More about “street fursuiting”:
https://dogpatchpress.wordpress.com/2015/05/13/2015-how-weird/
https://dogpatchpress.wordpress.com/2014/05/18/renegade-fursuiting/
https://www.flayrah.com/4867/opinion-street-fursuiting-most-fun-furry-experience
The main snaggle here is that, in English, we use the word “pride” to represent an array of different emotions.
So, yes, there is the sense of pride that comes from having accomplished or achieved something. No, people should not feel “proud” in this sense of the word for being Irish, furry, gay, or American, because none of these things are achievements or accomplishments.
But, “pride” has also come to mean, “Not being ashamed of who one is, and being happy and confident in oneself.” This type of pride is especially important for people who’ve previously had to wrestle with shame or self-loathing, or who have previously been made to feel inferior, sub-human, or lesser-than.
LGBT Pride and “Furry Pride,” to my mind, are both about people standing up and saying, “Yes, I deserve to be on this planet, too, because I am just as worthy and just as deserving of rights, respect, and dignity as anybody else.”
Excuse me I do not recall voting to make the Bay area furry fandom our Mecca maybe something else less noteworthy. Worst t in this explosion of pride is will we 100% hetrosexual and a minority of Christians be; the odd one out and marginalized out of the fandom?
There is stil Anime fandom and perhap I need look into Steampunk (who old anime fans and perhaps straight furries go when there realize they are no longer the amd marginalized from their respective fandom.
If a straight person feels marginalized because they’re among gay people, they need a reality check about their persecution complex. Nobody cares if people are straight and nobody asks whether you choose to be religious or not.
To make a different place more active than the Bay Area, start an event that attracts popular interest. Nobody stops anyone from creating their own. In a DIY subculture, those who can, do… those who can’t, complain.
Straight people represent around 90% of the general population. The majority of books, TV shows, movies, and songs portray hetero romances and relationships.
Nothing quite says “privilege” like people complaining that not getting to be in the spotlight 100% of the time is the same as being oppressed, hated, marginalized, or ostracized.
It’s rather like wailing that you’re surely going to starve to death, because Mom told you to share your birthday cake with your brother and your cousin.
Thanks Troj! As an ideal, I like a fairly loose libertarian interpretation about some social topics… like, I don’t think every imbalance automatically implies privilege or lack thereof. It can also be a result of interest and drive. Particularly in pursuits that are popular just because people took initiative to start them. So, I approach such conversations with skepticism. In this case, I find it totally appropriate to laugh… Furry is everyone’s party, and some people just want to cry about it. Save a slice of cake for when he gets over it. 🙂
Right–it’s everybody’s party, and there’s more than enough to go around! Someone else joining in shouldn’t diminish your ability to have fun, unless you let it.
(In that sense, even my cake analogy doesn’t work, because cake is a limited resource, whereas fun is not!)