Subculture and Safe Space: Identity
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Subculture and Safe Space: Identity Expression and Exploration in the Furry Fandom Nina Junior Research Project Seminar March 10, 2020 1 INTRODUCTION In the last few years, I’ve noticed that the current generation of young people have redefined identity and how we, as a society, talk and think about identity. Major dictionaries have added the words “cisgender,” “gender-fluid,” and “they” as a neutral pronoun. Along with these rapid language changes has come a paradigm shift to see gender as a complex, ever-growing, and flexible part of identity to be defined by the individual, rather than society. One of the places where these changes have been welcome is within the furry fandom. The furry fandom is dedicated to the celebration of identity drawn together by similar interests in animals, anthropomorphic and zoomorphic costuming, and art. It is a subculture devoted to the acceptance of identifying with an animal alter-ego, which is expressed and experienced in art, costuming, and online forums. The furry fandom has provided members with a safe space where they can experiment with identity and be themselves. The furry fandom allows identity to be flexible along species lines, as well as that of gender and sexuality. However, while the broader culture has largely adapted to changing ideas about gender, race, and identity in general, this particular subculture continues to suffer from taboo and negative stereotypes. Furries are often labeled as a fetish, a misunderstanding caused by misleading media that obscures the many beneficial effects for members of the fandom. I am interested in this topic because I am a furry. I came to identify as a furry at the age of fourteen, after a lifetime of being an animal lover and several years being involved in online role-plays and art forums. Before identifying as a furry, I 2 created a character named Luna, a wolf, who evolved with me as I matured through my teen years. I drew and roleplayed as this character for around three years. This initial character was the gateway to developing my current fursona and finding a community of like-minded people online. When I discovered the furry fandom, I felt immediate recognition, and said to myself, “Oh, that’s what I’ve been.” This is a common feeling for many furries who suddenly discover “There are others like me.” Belonging to the fandom has been empowering and given me a community where I can discuss my identity, both as a person and a furry. Many in the furry community are younger and queerness is common. The fandom provides me a space for self-definition. As I’ve become more open about being a furry, I’ve noticed the typically negative reactions of others who have preconceived notions about the fandom. I decided to research the fandom with a particular concern for the young members in order to correct misconceptions and provide a clear explanation of the value of the furry subculture. The literature review covers the history of the furry fandom and how, even in ancient times, humans have costumed as animals, often for spiritual and ritualistic purposes. The history continues to the modern day evolution of furries. After researching the history of both animal-centered costuming and the furry fandom, I attempt to define the subculture and its elements of online interaction, art, and costuming. I further explore how the furry fandom allows for shifting identities by looking at academic theory and research on participants. I then examine the stigma 3 of the over-sexualized elements of fursuiting. Finally, I look at research about the emotional and community benefits to furry nation members. I began my research wondering about the origins of anthropomorphic costuming and wanting to both explain and explore its modern manifestations. I do not cover the 5% of the fandom that does have a sexual element of fursuiting, although the fandom is generally sex-positive and I believe such openess is a strength for the community. Additionally, I do not go into detail on the process of making a fursuit or the particulars of the artistic genres, though again, I believe these outlets are a positive for the community. I also do not cover how the stigma of fursuiting increases the likelihood of violence towards furries. In my research, I have found the furry fandom to be a rich culture that continues to stretch the societal definitions and paradigms of identity. Throughout this paper, I will argue that, while the history of animal-centered costuming is not new, the development of the furry fandom from scattered elements of sci-fi nerd culture to a fully developed subculture, despite the stigma, has provided an anthropomorphic, safe community that challenges definitions of identity. HISTORY OF ANIMAL-CENTERED COSTUMING From anthropology to history to psychology, experts in many fields have noted a pattern of humans seeking an element of the primal or animalistic. In an essay accompanying Charles Fréger’s book Wilder Mann, a collection of artistic photographs inspired by the tradition of mask in Europe, Robert McLiam Wilson 4 explores the spiritual meaning behind connecting with animals and wilderness. Wilson asserts that the figure of the “wild man” can be traced back to the origins of European culture and persists to this day from pagan traditions (10). He also states zoomorphic masks are universal and “demonstrate the links that unite man and his environment, in other words, culture and nature” (Wilson 244). Wilson explores the “Wilder Mann” (wild man) as an opposite of the “civilized man.” Wilson notes the wild man changes throughout European history, but there is always a dark natural presence, “now a black emblem of atavism and fear, now a faintly comic grotesque, now a totem of sexual and behavioural licence. A harbinger of spring or winter, a strawman to be killed or feted” (Wilson 11). Wilson finds further connection in the literary use of the wild men as a metaphor, such as Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein, and in the cultural fascination with mass murderers or sociopaths in order to define ourselves as the “civilized man” in contrast to the monstrous (11). By depicting the wild man through communal and public performance, people can act out collective “hopes, fears or drives” that are only recognized in the performance (Wilson 12). The wilder mann (German) or l’homme sauvage (French) is said to be created by the sexual pairing between a woman and a bear. According to Wilson, it belongs in both the animal and human world and understands both. It is powerful (super-man) and respected (identified as an ancestor in the middle ages) (Wilson 243). Wilson’s essay accompanies the photography of Charles Fréger, who captures the continued masking and costuming of different European traditions, holidays, 5 and rituals that continue to this day. The wilder mann zoomorphic masks show the link between man and animal, culture and natural environment, because animals have been given powers or symbolic meaning (Wilson 245). Wilson states that many societies give certain animals or species higher power or symbolism. Animals have been believed to have mystical powers such as “benevolence of the spirits, the fecundity of the land, the fertility of women, and good weather” (Wilson 247). The Goat and the Bear are particularly popular in Europe and are often accompanied by a human who tries to gain power from them and fails (Wilson 246). While Wilson argues that zoomorphic masking offers a contrast between the wild man and civilization, a way for humans to conquer the dark forces of nature, Barbora Půtová suggests the opposite: that zoomorphic masking traditions are a way to better connect with animal powers. In Prehistoric Sorcerers and Postmodern Furries: An Anthropological Point of View, Půtová discusses how, during the Upper Paleolithic era in Europe and beyond, societies developed new creative and spiritual expressions in the form of masks and performance through the prehistoric figures of sorcerers, or shamans. In this 30,000 year old history, shamans chose to mask themselves as animals for their rites. Through this masking, Půtová suggests that shamans stepped over the threshold from the human world into that of animals. This crossover from culture to nature, Půtová argues, can also be found depicted in cave paintings that show half-human, half beast creatures (Půtová 243). Půtová references the anthropomorphic figures as being between states of mind: “The 6 Upper Paleolithic art mediated a relationship between opposite elements of the aboveground and underground and a boundary between conscious and unconscious aspects of the mind” (Půtová 244). Půtová explores the idea that shamans, or anthropomorphic identities, played a crucial role in the development of these societies. Půtová further finds a connection between the many ancient societies that worshipped certain animals or human-animal hybrids or gave them power above humans and the modern phenomenon of beings that join human and animal into one superior, god-like being (Půtová 244): “Postmodern relativism and the desire to seize the human substance with alternative resources gave rise to a new type of a sorcerer — half man and half animal — known as a furry” (Půtová 245). As Půtová points out, ancient shamans and modern furries share common traits, including altered states of reality, masking, and connecting to an animal identity. Půtová goes on to develop the connections between shamans and furries, particularly in how they create fluid and personal identities with different ways of altering one’s state of consciousness. Shamans use masks, drums, costumes, sensory deprivation, and substances in order to step into another plane of existence that allows them to access their identity. Similarly, Půtová argues, furries alter their mental, emotional, and even physical state through costuming, but also through creating virtual worlds.