I don't really mind furries, and don't get people complaining about them. Yea, some are really weird. But it's not like it's my god given duty to enforce conformity on people I don't know. They go, draw pictures of cat girls, maybe wear a cat tail or cat ears, and don't bother me. I know some of you are saying, 'but what about fur suits and yiffing!' That also doesn't bother me, just as long as it's in private. Some people in every little fandom will be extreme. I mean, I watch Japanese cartoons, and sometimes talk about them, but I am aware of people who draw really gross hentai and dress up in weird ways. Does this make me stop in the middle of Utena and run away screaming? No.

So I can see how a relatively normal furry can go, draw a few pictures, and maybe pretend to be a fox or something sometimes. I guess that even when I was a child, I had a rich internal life, so I can see people doing something in their imaginations, and not hurting anyone. I mean, modern life isn't so good for most of us- most folks are just cogs in a wheel, as the old cliche goes. So I can see someone trying to spice it up by pretending they are a fox. People cope with life in many ways- some go to religoin, some like to draw comics of little anthromorophic foxes. At least furries aren't trying to change laws so that us normal people can't live like we want to.

And just a note- I don't think stereotypes are based in reality- what I mean is the reality of how most of a group lives- many stereotypes start off from the most extreme of a group, the farthest from how the group lives their everyday lives and then they don't just stop there. They stretch and they grow. Someone's brother in law's best friend's aunt saw this member of the group and they were just awful. Anecdotes are spread and exaggerated in the telling. Maybe the news media gets into it, and writes a horribly distorted article or focuses constantly on only the crazies in the group.

On an aside, I hear ya Millie. Simpson really gets bullying right- the worst part is knowing that people value the perps more than you. To an adult, it might not matter, but if you're a kid, and all the adults see relentless torture of you as ok, and any retaliation as evil, that sends a message, and not a good one,