Furry fandom
Furry fandom is a subculture centered around the appreciation of anthropomorphic animal characters, whether originating from popular culture or within the fandom itself. Activities associated with furry fandom include creating visual art and creative writing, creating and wearing costumes called fursuits, and role-playing. Many furries also create anthropomorphic characters that represent them (called "fursonas"). Furries socialize with each other in online and offline settings, including furry conventions and meetups.
Non-binary people are well-represented in furry fandom. Well-known non-binary furries include esports player SonicFox.
Genderverse FurCon, scheduled for September 2025, is a convention in Toronto, Ontario, catering to trans and gender diverse furries.[1] Both co-founders identify under the nonbinary umbrella (as agender and genderfluid respectively).[2]
Demographics
Research by Fur Science suggests that furries are more likely to identify as transgender, nonbinary, or genderfluid than the general population. Three studies conducted between 2021 and 2022 found that when given six gender options, between 12.6 percent and 18.5̥ percent of furries in their samples chose "genderqueer", and between 4.2 percent and 7.9 percent chose "other".[3]
Identity Formation
For some furries, fandom participation provides opportunities for gender exploration and identity formation. The fandom provides opportunities to meet people with whom they feel comfortable exploring their feelings about gender, and experimenting with one's gender presentation via one's fursona is also an option.[4]
Indi, a neutrois furry, described the furry approach to questions of personal identity as "fill-in-the-blank".[4] Ve also described using vis fursona to try out different gender signifiers and sex characteristics (including non-normative combinations) as part of vis identity formation process.
Works Cited
- ↑ "Genderverse Furcon- Into the Genderverse." Genderverse Furcon. https://genderversefurries.com/
- ↑ "About the Staff". Genderverse Furcon. https://genderversefurries.com/about-the-staff/
- ↑ "1.3 Sex, Gender, and Gender Identity." Furscience. https://furscience.com/research-findings/demographics/1-3-sex-and-gender/
- ↑ Jump up to: 4.0 4.1 Progress, Madison Rye, writing as Makyo. "Gender: Furry - An investigation into the interplay of gender and fandom". Madison Rye Progress's personal website. https://makyo.ink/gender-furry/