History of Furry Fandom (Draft Version 0.75 by Dronon, February 2020)
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History of Furry Fandom (Draft version 0.75 by Dronon, February 2020) Pre‐fandom influences: Human‐animal imagery is everywhere in the history of mankind, with each culture assigning different meanings to it. Popular in storytelling and used for symbolic purposes, we project human characteristics onto animals, using them as an abstract mirror of ourselves. Some past examples are: Prehistory: The Lion‐man of the Hohlenstein Stadel (a mammoth tusk carving from 40,000 B.C.) Early civilization: Fantastic creatures in most mythologies (Greek, etc.) Medieval period: The Reynard cycle, Journey to the West. Modern literature: Alice in Wonderland, Black Beauty, Jungle Book, Island of Dr. Moreau, Peter Rabbit, White Fang, Wind in the Willows, Winnie‐the‐Pooh, Stuart Little, Chronicles of Narnia, Charlotte's Web, Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh, Watership Down, Redwall, Animorphs, Erin Hunter's Warrior Cats. Although animal characters are occasionally used for social, political and counter‐cultural purposes (Animal Farm, Pogo, Fritz the Cat), by the 1970s most people think funny animals are for kids. Still, their frequent use in books, advertisements and animation creates an early interest for many furry fans. Mid‐70s to early 80s (Proto‐fandom): In Minnesota, Ken Fletcher and Reed Waller create Vootie, a fanzine (fan magazine) for funny animal comics. In California, Mark Merlino and Fred Patten (two founders of North America's first anime club) are also interested in animal cartoons. They all gradually make contact with like‐minded fans. After they meet an artist named Steve Gallacci at a science‐fiction convention, conventions become a place where they frequently meet to talk about animals in SF and fantasy. Early 80s to 1990 (Start of the fandom; the comics and fanzine wave): In 1984, a fanzine called Rowrbrazzle is created to replace Vootie. Furry room parties become a regular event at SF conventions around the west coast. Local computer message boards (BBSes) appear, mostly known to computer geeks and their friends. The success of the TMNT comic book leads to a surge of self‐published indie comics, and buyers are willing to try stories outside the superhero genre. Furry comics include Steve Gallacci's Albedo, as well as Omaha the Cat Dancer, Usagi Yojimbo, Fusion, Critters, The Dreamery, and Xanadu. A police seizure of mature comic books (including Omaha) leads to the creation of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. Disney starts making new TV cartoons with animal characters. By the end of the 1980s there are a lot of furry fanzines, general and mature. Furry artists share their sketchbook art with other fans by trading photocopies. Ed Zolna starts a mail‐order catalogue. Most people don't have a fursona; some artists draw animal caricatures of themselves, and tabletop gamers create furry RPG characters. Everyone knows each other by their real names. After negative encounters with furry‐haters at BayCon, Mark Merlino and Rod O'Riley start the first furry convention, ConFurence Zero, in 1989. 65 people attend out of the 90 who registered. 1 Early‐ to mid‐90s (The Internet wave): Furry computer message boards start communicating long‐distance (FurNet), and the most‐used forum is alt.fan.furry (on Usenet). Real‐time chat becomes possible on IRC and on FurryMuck (a text‐only virtual world/MMO). These are obscure things at the time, but they bring even more computer geeks and IT people into the fandom. FurryMuck popularizes a lot of early furry jargon (yiff, scritch, etc.) and the wolf/fox rivalry. The users commission artwork of their online characters, which helps them identify one another at ConFurence. This is the start of furry con badges, and also of early fursonas. The Internet wave of the fandom is when fans start knowing each other by their online names. The comics distribution market is struggling; soon there will be only one major North American distributor left (Diamond). Furry fanzines are still being published, but start to vanish as Internet technology improves. Local BBSes are replaced by furry e‐mail lists, but these are tricky to find because the Web's early search engines suck, at least until 1997 when Google shows up. Furry art is now mostly acquired from sketchbooks, from prints being sold at ConFurence, and from Ed Zolna's catalog. Photocopying becomes less common as the Internet grows and image scanners become available. An early online art site in the fandom is an FTP archive called Tezuka. Drama over artwork being re‐used without permission creates paranoia about art piracy. Mature furry art is fairly tame and low‐key, but suggestive pin‐up art is everywhere. An unwelcome article in Wired magazine mentions FurryMuck as a place to have online sex. The fandom grows large enough that sub‐groups form around more specific themes: military, macro/micro, plush, transformation, etc. Robert King starts an e‐mail list for fursuiters. Saturday morning TV cartoons die out, and are replaced by new cartoon‐friendly television networks. More cartoons are being written for adult audiences. Disney comes out with The Lion King, TaleSpin, and Gargoyles. The first Sonic the Hedgehog game appears. Charity fund‐raising begins at ConFurence. On the east coast, the shrinking of the dealer's room at PhilCon means that several SF, anime and furry dealers are unable to get tables. It's perceived as (but actually isn't) a personal snub. In response, in 1994 a second furry convention is created, Furtasticon (later ConFurence East). In 1995, CF has an attendance of 700, and CFE has 450. Mid‐ to late‐1990s (Internet growth, gay/lifestyler waves, online schisms): Online art sites thrive as scanners become affordable; there are furry‐only sites such as Furnation, VCL, Yerf, Orlando, Tigerden, and furry‐friendly sites such as Side 7 and Elfwood. The Furcadia MMORPG appears. Few long‐running furry comics survive ‐ there's Gold Digger, Furrlough, Genus, and the occasional mini‐series such as Associated Student Bodies. Fanzines and BBSes are now mostly gone. After being repeatedly insulted on the alt.fan.furry (AFF) message board when trying to discuss more personal, spiritual or sexual topics, a group of plush fans create an alternative board called alt.lifestyle.furry (ALF). This creates an artificial hobby‐vs‐lifestyle split in the fandom. While AFF argues about what "furry" means (usually an interest in art or animation), ALF takes the attitude that "furry" is whatever you say it is, and forbids personal attacks; that no interpretation of furry is better than another. A new set of Usenet‐like message boards starts up (fur.*, aka Furrynet). During the second half of the 1990s, gay and bi furry fans become the majority. There's no single, clear reason for it. Gay pride makes a huge amount of progress in the 1990s, the Internet gives people a 2 sense of anonymity, and furry fandom already has a relaxed attitude towards mature content. The fandom is pretty non‐judgmental towards gay nerds, describing itself as open and accepting, so some fans become very open about themselves. However, when zoo interests are brought up, they're rejected by most of the fandom. A group of furry hobbyists become angry at what they view as detrimental, possibly reputation‐ destroying behavior in the fandom. Calling themselves the "Burned Furs", they write several insulting essays and a manifesto, hoping to stir up the fandom and kick anyone they don't like out of it. Instead they're treated as elitist jerks, and the movement fails. However, the resulting online flamewar goes on for three years. Lots of people in the fandom have moderate or mixed opinions, are ok with mature content (even if they don't agree about all of it), and are likewise concerned about behavior. Now that the topic is out in the open, they want to have a serious discussion, but it keeps collapsing into a shouting match between the Burned Furs and their polar opposites. Those in the middle are caught between two groups whose more opinionated members won't concede, compromise or back down. Everyone gets sick of the constant debates. For years afterwards, the fandom emphasizes building a more positive atmosphere. In 1997, rumors after ConFurence 8 describe increasingly over‐the‐top behavior. In the next couple of years, several new furry cons appear. ConFurence gradually loses momentum, mainly from changing its date and moving much farther south. Other factors include the collapse of the dot‐com economic bubble, a new con chair, and general drama about how ConFurence is being run. Although its later spiritual successor is CaliFur in 2004, the local con that rises to replace it is Further Confusion in 1999. On the east coast, ConFurence East dies and is replaced by Anthrocon in 1997. First held in Albany, New York, it will later move south (after Kage becomes con chair) and even gets the same hotel that PhilCon had used. The Dorsai Irregulars begin to help run security. Meanwhile, at a Chicago convention called Duckcon, the growing number of furry fans is causing resentment among some of the science‐fiction attendees, so the furry part splits off and becomes Midwest FurFest in 2000. New furry cons also appear in Canada and Germany. By 2000, there are at least 9 furry cons; Anthrocon is the largest at 1059, but has yet to break CF 9's record of 1250 people. Some cons raise money for charity with pet/slave auctions, but after the backlash against behavior in the fandom, this is largely abandoned. Charity auctions switch to raising money from donated items. Fursuiting becomes increasingly popular; Further Confusion is the first con to have an entire track of panels dedicated to it.