Alt.Lifestyle.Furry Defined *OR* My Life as a Lion
Well I explained my furriness and what furry is on the Furriness page, so I guess I might as well try to define the lifestyle aspect of it.
Most of this section is taken from the Alt. Lifestyle. Furry Frequently Asked Questions post which was posted on :
Thursday, 18 May 2000 9:24:04 GMT
And the copy was last modified on:
Monday, 10 Apr 2000 02:58:55 GMT+1000
The most recent version of the FAQ can be found at:
Alt.Lifestyle.Furry FAQ
Any editing is my responsiblity, and the author(s) of the FAQ have no connection or responsibility whatsoever to the repost of the FAQ here. If you have any questions about this page or the FAQ, E-mail me at:
Simba T Lion
Simba Kitty
Simba Lion
With all that out of the way, lets continue!
ALT.LIFESTYLE.FURRY - Frequently Asked Questions
What is alt.lifestyle.furry? alt.lifestyle.furry (or ALF) is a newsgroup for and about
people who relate strongly to animals and/or furries (see definition
below) in a way that impacts their personalities and/or way of life.
It was created by some readers of another newsgroup, alt.fan.furry,
who came to realise that they had much more in common with each other
than with most other 'furry fans' who consider furriness to be "only"
a hobby or a literary/artistic genre. The creators of ALF felt a
separate newsgroup was needed for discussing these topics because,
although the subject matter is similar, the perspective from which
they are discussed on ALF seems to be fundamentally different, and
because many of the topics discussed on ALF would likely be
inappropriate for a newsgroup with an all-ages readership, such as
a.f.f.
What is a furry?
Furry is a word which has probably been asked to do a little
too much work. It has numerous meanings, and it's not particularly
easy to find two people who agree on the precise definition for any of
them. The original two definitions we supplied in the first version of
the FAQ are:
1. an anthropomorphic animal character. i.e. an animal with human characteristics.
2. a human who relates strongly, in whatever way, to the idea of the
characters outlined in the previous definition. This may involve
anything from a person who simply enjoys viewing furry fanzines or
films, to someone who actually desires to be a 'real' furry, or
believe that they are literally a non-human trapped within a human
form.
But not all ALF regulars are interested in anthropomorphics.
Some are largely unaware of the 'furry fandom,' or are simply
uninterested in it for a variety of reasons. Most of us who created
ALF were 'fans' of one kind or another, and this coloured our view-
point perhaps more than we realised. So, after much discussion, we'd like to add a third
definition, one that tries to include everyone who has made ALF a
home.
3. a person with an important emotional/spiritual connection with an
animal or animals, real, fictional or symbolic.
We would recommend reading the FAQ for alt.fan.furry, which
provides much more thorough descriptions of and information about
furries in general. This can be found, along with a great deal of
other furry-relayed stuff, at PeterCat's page. What is a lifestyle?
Lifestyle is a bad word these days, but we use it because
there really isn't any other word that describes what we mean simply
and clearly. Your lifestyle includes everything you _choose_ to do in
your life. It's the behaviors that you use to define your life, the
way you choose to conduct yourself in your personal life. Every choice
from living arrangements to clothing choices to tastes in food to
sexual preferences.
Ok, but what is a _furry_ lifestyle?
We can't tell you :)
Actually one of the reasons that ALF was newgrouped is because
many of the topics which fall within our charter were ruled 'not part
of the fandom' by some readers of alt.fan.furry. There is a certain
logic to this claim, but we don't intend to have a similar conflict on
this newsgroup. It's part of the philosophy of ALF that a person's
'furry lifestyle' is whatever the person concerned asserts that it is. In more general terms however, a furry lifestyle is a
lifestyle which is informed or influenced markedly by the furriness of
the person who leads it. As one furry puts it:
"It's whatever you feel like doing that expresses how you
feel. You can purr when happy, you can stalk when angry, you can go
into heat at the drop of a bunny. When you consciously choose to act a
certain way because of a furry or a furry idea, it's a part of your
furry lifestyle."
Some of the more common activities concepts or beliefs which
'lifestyle' furries sometimes refer to on ALF include totem animals
and spirit guides, theriomorphosis, plushophilia, fursuiting, personal
furrys, and zoophilia. This is a woefully incomplete list, of course.
Don't worry, we'll get around to explaining the terminology later. Why do we live furry lifestyles?
The best way to understand 'why' is to hear from some of the
people involved.
"I live a furry lifestyle because it is enjoyable and helps me
understand myself. People (esp. me) spend most of their time inside
their own mind where your physical form is not important...so why
should I be limited to a human form?
"...perhaps as an expression of this I do a lot of 'furry'
type things like collecting plushies and writing furry stores." - David Formosa
"I guess I am compelled by what I perceive furry to be. I see
love, acceptance and sensuality among furrys that I don't often see
among humans. Furrys often seem to be more sensitive to the needs of
others and they are generally better at caring for this earth we live
on." - Galen Foxwolfie
"We live furry lifestyles...because we feel that we have, or
are becoming more like these furry beings, or that the furry beings
are guiding our lives.�
- Kliah Foxwings
"Why? Because there's some connection in your mind between you
and some animal, real or imaginary, sentient or not, and it's
important to you to externalise this in some way." - Ron Orr "For me, it makes me feel a little closer to creatures that I
know I could never associate with otherwise." - Steekman
"For many people, it gives them an outlet for emotions that
would otherwise be repressed. The world in which humans live today is
very different and much more complicated than the one in which we
evolved, and in many ways we are out of our element. A furry
lifestyle can be a way to remain connected with one's most inner self,
the emotional embodiment of one's genetic heritage."
- Brad Austin
"Some choose the Lifestyle of a Furry for largely the same
reasons that anyone else chooses to embrace a lifestyle that reflect
what they believe and why. The best and most valid answers to this
question spring from individuals, rather than groups at large, because
Beings Furry are, above all else, individuals."
- Roci
"It beats NOT living one. For most of us, the society we live
in can't or won't understand, yet, so there's an obvious risk in being
actively furry. But, you are what you is. To hide the furry aspect
of our lives would mean being part of the big lie, being what we are
not. This is a critical time of the world trying to achieve a global,
multi-cultural, multi-lifestyle view. We'd be sabotaging that by
disavowing the furry way of life."
- Electric Keet "For me purrsonally, being furry allows me to explore
a side of me that would otherwise be hidden away, the sensual and
animalistic side that society at large says should be suppressed.
I see too much hate and injustice in the world, and it's wonderful to
be part of something that is (IMNSHO) tolerant and accepting of
differences within the group. Diversity is not a weakness that should
be eliminated. It's a great strength. And I see tolerance more among
furrys in this newsgroup than I do among the general public, where
people are afraid to be 'different' because they fear they will be
chastised." - WebKitty
What is a 'personal furry'
It's times like this you curse the multiple meanings of the
word furry, because in essence a personal furry is a furry's image of
themselves as a furry. If you prefur, a personal furry is an
anthropomorphic animal persona which a human furry assumes. For some this furry alter-ego is expressed in role-playing,
either on MUCKs, IRC, or in general communication. When someone lapses
into third person in email, and sends you something like this:
*Shinda smiles and snuggles you with her tail*
you are being treated to a display of affection by a personal furry.
Lucky you. Of course the idea of a furry persona can go a lot deeper than
just role-playing. Whereas some furries enjoy slipping 'into
character' so to speak, many others consider their personal furries to
be permanent attributes; their 'true selves', unhindered by the human
physical form they must wear in mundane life. This of course opens
doors into spiritual realms involving topics like the transmigration
of souls. Subjects like this involve many questions and no unequivocal
answers. Exploring such topics is one of the reasons for the existence
of this newsgroup. On a more prosaic level furry alter-egos and role-playing can
be a way of developing and strengthening positive qualities and
character traits - traits which seem somehow more synonymous with an
animal identity than a human one. Perhaps ultimately it is a
roundabout way of re-intergrating the human soul; of getting back in
touch with our own true status as human animals. What is a Were / Theriomorph? Since the beginnings of human society there have been people who
have claimed the ability to 'shift' into the form of another animal,
either physically or mentally. The word 'theriomorph,' meaning 'having
an animal shape,' has been coined to describe these people. A similar
word, 'therianthropy' denotes the ability to change between human and
animal forms.
The best-known examples of this in European legendry are werewolves
(from Germanic roots meaning 'man-wolf.') Though not strictly correct,
the term 'were' has been used (werewolf, werecat, werebear)
interchangably with 'theriomorph.'
There are many people today who believe they posess this ability.
Most only claim to be able to 'shift' mentally, into the mindset of
some animal they feel some kind of spiritual tie to; some have also
claimed to be able to shift physically, although there has never been
any definite proof of this. What is a fursuit?
'Fursuit' is another name for an animal costume, generally
referring to one intended to be as realistic as the maker can achieve,
although 'mascot'-style costumes are often included, and some furries
have/wear/make both. Some furries like a more 'toonish' type of fursuit. Not a
mascot, but something that is as close to some of their favourite toon
fantasies as possible. It's rather like trying for realism where the
desired goal is an already anthropomorphic character. By putting on a fursuit, you _become_ a furry, as close as
you'll get without surgery, anyhow. But BE WARNED; not everyone in an
animal costume is a furry! Many furries feel that donning a fursuit helps them move
closer to their 'true' furry form, and it's not at all unusual for
furries to spend a lot of time in their suits, including sleeping in
them. It has been reported by some furries that making love in a
fursuit can be... very furry indeed!
What is a plushie? What is a plushophile?
Plushies are stuffed animals. The teddy bear is the original plushie, but nowadays there
is a plethora of plushie species available.
A plushie of a favourite or totem animal species can help a furry feel closer to that species
in everyday 'mundane' life. Other furries may just collect plushies because, let's face it, plushies
are cute. More than a few furries have a love of plushies which goes a lot deeper than this,
however. A plushophile is a person whose love of plush often extends into sexual, romantic
or spiritual realms.
What is Toonophilia?
I'll bet you've guessed already :)
Toonophilia is a love of cartoon characters. Of course for our
purpose we would limit the discussion to furry toonophilia. 'A love of
cartoon characters' can mean a tendency to become deeply emotionally
involved with a toon, or it can mean a sexual attraction, or both. One of the most celebrated toonophiles is the famed underground artist
Robert Crumb, who stunned 'mundane' audiences by admitting to having
been sexually attracted to Bugs Bunny - though some might say that the
most famous toonophile of all was 'Uncle Walt'.
Perhaps the most well-rounded definition of a furry toonophile
is a person who regards furry toons with the same range of emotions he
or she would bestow on a human.
What is zoophilia? Within furrydom zoophilia simply means a love of animals, and
a zoophile is someone who loves animals. It's probably best to apply
the same principle we used for toonophiles: a zoophile feels for
non-humans in the same way that humans generally feel for each other.
Zoophilia can mean sexual attraction, but one shouldn't assume that is
the case if someone tells you 'I'm a zoo'. Many furries are zoos in
the non-sexual sense of the word. Some furries are also sexual
zoophiles.
We understand that it is asking quite a lot of some people to
cope with the idea that furry zoos are welcome on alt.lifestyle.furry,
but when we formed this newsgroup we decided that it was up to each
individual to decide what is and isn't part of their furry lifestyle.
We know that lots of zoos are also furry, and we know that there is
nowhere else in furrydom that they can even mention both words in the
same sentence without being abused. It's the same problem that plush
furries have had; the same problem Christian furries have had. In this
place you can be a Christian zoo plushophile furry all at once without
apologising.
What are 'furry cons'?
Numerous furry conventions are now held annually, most of them in
the United States. They are events where those interested in furrys gather to
discuss, learn, and have fun, and meet other like-minded people. Perhaps the most popular amongst readers of this newsgroup is
Anthrocon , held over the Fourth of July long weekend, presently near Philadelphia. Others in the USA include: Midwest Fur Fest
Mephit Furmeet
Confurence
and, in Europe: Eurofurence
What is the Furvey?
The 'Furvey' is a furry lifestyle themed questionaire/survey,
touching upon subjects like animal spirituality, furry sexuality, living a
furry lifestyle etc. Its main use on alt.lifestyle.furry is as a self
contained delurking form - you fill in a blank copy and post it to the
group, thus introducing yourself to the online furry lifestyle community. It
is certainly _not_ compulsory to delurk using a Furvey (i.e. don't feel that
you can't parcipitate in ALF discussions until you complete one), but most
furs end up doing one anyway ;)
There are no set rules for completing a Furvey; simply write as much
or as little as you want, and feel free to omit any questions which you do
not want to answer. The only thing which you should remember is that you are
_not_ permitted to post anything flamey or judgemental to ALF, whether
replying to a Furvey or not. If you are disgusted by a particular question
then simply ignore it and move on to the next one, rather than offending
anyone with a casual "that's gross" answer.
When posting your Furvey to the group (either as an original article
or a follow-up to the automatic posting), it is usually a good idea to
mention your name in the subject header, e.g. "JacKat's Furvey", rather than
something vague like "Delurk". This will make your Furvey stand out from the
crowd :)
The Furvey is automatically posted to alt.lifestyle.furry on the 1st
and 15th of every month, or you can fetch it from this URL
Neologisms and Acronyms
The Internet is crawling with jargon which can be pretty
formidable to a newbie (if you don't know what a newbie is, you're
probably a newbie.) To make things worse Furrydom has a whole set of
its own acronyms and neologisms (new words.) Here are some of the more
common ones, plus a few more general purpose acronyms which crop up in
furry-talk a fair bit.
Let's start with the ever-popular 'Yiff'!
Ask ten furries what 'yiff' means and you'll get fifteen
answers. One well-travelled explanation is that it's the sound
Siberian foxes make when mating, which has led to its becoming an
all-inclusive sexual term. _Very_ context-sensetive.
There are a lot of neologisms in furrydom that are used as
interjections. Ferrets 'meep,' canids 'errf' and 'yip' and 'yarf,'
felids 'murr' and 'mrrr,' These words usually appear in email and in
conversations online.
MUCK, MUD, MOO etc. are all alternate acronyms for online
multi-player games played using computers. There are quite a large
number of them, and the variety among them is staggering. In the furry
community, these games have become large virtual social gatherings,
and there are many that are slanted towards their preferences. Their
popularity stems from ones ability to look and act _exactly_ the way
one wishes while playing. For more information see Rhal's Furry MU*s Page IRC means Internet Relay Chat. IRC is run on several different
networks, which are divided into a variety of different 'channels'.
These channels are usually devoted to a specific topic, and yes there
are furry IRC's. In IRC you communicate in real time with whoever else
is on the same channel, so IRC channels are virtual meeting places
where conversation revolves around a specific topic or theme. You need
special software to use IRC, for instance mIRC. This software can be
downloaded from the web. RL means real life; VR means 'virtual reality' but usually
refers to what goes on over the Internet.
'Spooge' is an abstract noun meaning furry erotica, or a verb
or concrete noun associated with what tends to happen to male furries
who view said erotica. There should probably be a term for the female
equivalent, but no-one seems to have coined it yet.
What's so different about ALF?
The opening question of this FAQ gives three definitions of
the word furry. The first one:
1. an anthropomorphic animal character. i.e. an animal with human
characteristics------is the focus of the other furry newsgroups, such as alt.fan.furry.
ALF's focus though is the second and third definitions.
2. a human who relates strongly, in whatever way, to the idea of the
characters outlined in the previous definition....
3. a person with an important emotional/spiritual connection with an
animal or animals, real, fictional or symbolic.
Effectively ALF is about the people who post to ALF. The other thing which makes ALF different is that the idea of
tolerance is enshrined in our charter, in the whole notion of this
newsgroup. In many ways ALF is a radical experiment. Some furries said
it couldn't work, or wasn't needed, but we think a furry forum where
_everyone's_ way of being furry is acceptable is very much needed. At
the time of writing, six months since ALF was newgrouped, it's obvious
the newsgroup is fulfilling a real need. Newcomers to ALF have posted
comments like these:
"Being here, sharing what is at the core of my self (being
furry, etc.) seems as rare a pleasure as a drop of water in
the desert. "
"I thank all of you who have an open mind"
"I am really getting addicted to this place. I just want to
say thanks , for the kindness, and for the this sense of
calm." "Thank you neighbors. To have a *group* of people openly
embrace us is something many of us have dreamed of but never
expected to see. This truly, is a gift without price. <many,
many, tears of joy and happiness" "I am sensing a love among furries that I did not think could
exist in an Internet "community". I have been hanging around
the wrong newsgroups until now."
"Until I came on the net and discovered that there were others
who shared my feelings, I felt abnormal to the rest of the
world. Now it is the rest of the world that appears
abnormal, as I have found my true self, and have my hope for
an inner peace rekindled.
Again, my thanks to you, and the other wonderful furs of
ALF. You have saved the life of another fur that otherwise
would have been killed by RL, and helped to give him the
strength to go on, despite the world."
"I know I rarely post here, But it seems I have little to
offer. Today tho, i want to just let you all know I am SO
glad your're here! My world can be so depressing (yers any
different?) It's such a great thing just to read the posts
and see you here. I think "YES! They're still other humans
(or whatever) like me! They're still ALIVE!" I could go on,
but you have so eloquently articulated everything I feel.
Like -This is HEALTHY - This is SPIRITUAL - This is where
our souls meet - This is HOME - I've read that all here."
"Hello, everyfur! I'm speechless... I wasn't under the
impression that I'd actually *FIND* a NG like this... It
seems everyone here is (Amazingly enough) getting on well
with each other, and this NG seems like a great place to be
and interact with other furs...
The discussions in this group have helped me to understand
furriness from several different viewpoints. Had I not had
this resource, I would have had to try to understand all of
this on my own and alone. I'm not sure it would have been
something that I was really up for. Thanks to everyone!"
"As another who put himself through denial until my
furriness just _would_not_be_denied_ any longer, I feel
the same way. ALF is a beautiful thing, and it has
already permanently changed many lives for the better."
"I feel like a large weight has been lifted from my
shoulders. For weeks, I had read messages, and had
agonized over the fact that I, too, wanted to
be a part of the compassion and empathy for other furs that
I saw exclusive to ALF, and to extend my paw to those who
would take it in need."
"Sweet Jesus, I am home..."
The furries who use ALF come from lots of different parts of
the furry spectrum, and from many 'minority' groups within furrydom.
Here on ALF we'd like to think that there is a unity between us, and
that an attack or flame against any group within ALF is an attack on
the community itself, which will bring it together rather than send it
scattering into different camps.
On behalf of everyone who worked to make this happen, welcome
to alt.lifestyle.furry.
Who wrote this FAQ? Lupercal and Tirran with contributions and consultation from:
Steekman
The Platypus
Galen Foxwolfie
Locandez
Brad Austin
Lynx Meerkat
Karl Meyer
RedFox
WhiteRuff
Dennis Mott
Roci Stone
Sara Moore
..... and by subscribers to the newsgroup.
(and Locandez wrote version 2.10)
The opinions expressed in this FAQ should not be regarded as those of
any individual(s).
This FAQ is maintained by Lupercal
FAQ Date: April 10th, 2000
Edited: May 25, 2000 / September 30, 2000 By Simba T. Lion
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