#something to be said for the crab bucket impulse and pickme thing. all that. you get it

[problemnyatic]

just reblogged a post about how furry hate is cringe and now im thinkin. We all know that a huge element of furry hater culture is queerphobia and ableism and all that, but I posit this:

Furries practically embody the idea of unfettered self-expression.

The tide *seems* to be starting to turn these days, but there is a very widespread culture of insecurity, intertwined with this protective shell of irony that allows people to cautiously non-commit to self expression that could prove socially risky.

Furry fundamentally flies in the face of all of that.

You have neon dogs and fantasy creatures, entire made up species that exist solely to express someone's self, drawn at any level of skill and heartfelt besides. The creativity itself is valuable to the community, and the self-expression is celebrated wholeheartedly.

It's not a social death sentence to be weird as a furry, to be an outlier or to set yourself apart. Furries are infamous for being often very openly kinky, and it's true! You don't have to be kinky or even horny to be a furry by any means, but the furry fandom is notably a very sex positive space.

And I think that gets people uncomfortable. Not just the sex positivity, but the bright and loud lack of shame. When you're so used to needing to undercut yourself to fit in, seeing people let their freak flag fly high and proud is uncomfortable. That's a violation of the social contract. It hits a weird and sour note that spurrs them on to decry furries as cringe freaks.

I'm not saying all furry hate or every furry hater is just insecure, but I think that's a more significant element than tends to be factored in, especially in today's culture of callouts and overcautious hesitation to be "problematic" lest you get harassed for god knows how long.