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Furry community, how do you cope?; Discussing zoo and the furry community

showmeurt33th

showmeurt33th

Tourist
I know this is an odd question but it's always been in the back of my mind. How do you cope with being a part of a community that a good 70% of openly despises you?

I moved away from directly interacting with the fandom a while ago but it's always in the back of my mind. I feel like this excessively puritan stance on the self and living has taken over so many spaces it's impossible to find friends of a like mind beyond just sights like this nowadays, and sometimes it's grating. I want to engage with other furries in open spaces but I hate the inherent anxiety that comes with it. I hate all of the vitriol against zoos that never comes with any decent commentary about exploitation and is always just "if you are attracted to animals you should kys". It's just a massive echo chamber of people repeating hate over and over with no genuine opinions or thoughts being shared, just disgust and misplaced fear being mimicked because I feel like it's an expectation.

In a more fantastical world where this wouldn't be a likely life ruining choice, I'd love to be a feral/zoo creator that focuses on educating and encouraging healthy & safe exploration. In my opinion there's nothing wrong with who we are, just how we're perceived. I know at this point I'm mostly just rambling about how I wish things were different so I'm gonna wrap it up but;

My fellow zoofurrs, how do you cope with the general attitude the community has towards us? Do you this avoidance is the best tactic? (I think so)
 
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I just avoid it completely and take solice in the idea that most of those people who despise zoo are themselves zoo and angry with themselves and take it out on the rest of us. It’s a minority who hate zoos who are “only” furries.
 
kyhorse said:
I just avoid it completely and take solice in the idea that most of those people who despise zoo are themselves zoo and angry with themselves and take it out on the rest of us. It’s a minority who hate zoos who are “only” furries.
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You know this is actually a really good stance to have, I'll keep this in the back of my mind from now on
 
I cope surprisingly well actually.
I guess it helps that I avoid social media altogether and only hang out in select spaces where I know I won't be judged for being a zoofur.
My reasoning is that if they're willing to condemn you for what you like and ruin your life out in the open webspaces, then they were never your friends anyways, and you should avoid them.

It is kind of an echo chamber, yeah, but I don't care. I'd rather have that than continuously seek the validation of people who would hate me for liking what I like.
 
Every fur I’ve known who hated zoos was a former zoo themselves who was spurned by someone, either denied an opportunity to fool with their animals, broke up with a romatic partner who was also a zoo, or decided it was evil and they were responsible for punishing the rest of us. It’s weird. Lots of very similar issues they all had. Not stable people if you got to know them.
 
Personally, it's not my job anyways to defend myself against a group of people who've already convinced themselves that "zoo = animal abuse".
They've already set their ideals in stone and refuse to be changed. I, on the other hand, will stay on my lane and love animals instead.
 
I think both of you have a really good approach and honestly you're right. It's no one's responsibility to have to defend themselves to someone who's just focused on denying themselves and never changing. It's definitely more worth it to just find friends where you can and otherwise move on. There's better shit to do with my time lol
Tbh that's one of the reasons I got back on here, I find the community much more inviting and actually capable of intelligent dialogue. Thanks for y'all's input.
 
showmeurt33th said:
I know this is an odd question but it's always been in the back of my mind. How do you cope with being a part of a community that a good 70% of openly despises you?

I moved away from directly interacting with the fandom a while ago but it's always in the back of my mind. I feel like this excessively puritan stance on the self and living has taken over so many spaces it's impossible to find friends of a like mind beyond just sights like this nowadays, and sometimes it's grating. I want to engage with other furries in open spaces but I hate the inherent anxiety that comes with it. I hate all of the vitriol against zoos that never comes with any decent commentary about exploitation and is always just "if you are attracted to animals you should kys". It's just a massive echo chamber of people repeating hate over and over with no genuine opinions or thoughts being shared, just disgust and misplaced fear being mimicked because I feel like it's an expectation.

In a more fantastical world where this wouldn't be a likely life ruining choice, I'd love to be a feral/zoo creator that focuses on educating and encouraging healthy & safe exploration. In my opinion there's nothing wrong with who we are, just how we're perceived. I know at this point I'm mostly just rambling about how I wish things were different so I'm gonna wrap it up but;

My fellow zoofurrs, how do you cope with the general attitude the community has towards us? Do you this avoidance is the best tactic? (I think so) https://18comix.org
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I understand that this attitude from the community is really difficult. I’ve often noticed that many people don’t want to understand the nuances and just repeat what they’ve heard before. Sometimes I also avoided open discussions so I wouldn’t have to deal with aggression or waste my energy on arguments. I think sometimes it’s better to just take a step back and look for people who are calm and willing to talk without judgment
 
I think you'll find that alot of "older" furs are open to zoofurs but you won't find us in open communities, and if we are we aren't using out "main" fursona's to interact. There are alot of Zoofur groups on telegram and it was rather more common place 15-20 years ago but now the "pureiteens?" are heavy on the "will dox you and ruin your life" so I'd recommended just sticking to closed groups...
 
I personally deal with it by trying to avoid the nativity, welcome the positivity, and generally stay away from things I cannot change. For example, there is a lot of hater online about "zoo bad :mad:" so I avoid those discussions or news. Nothing I can do will change it, so why beat myself up about it? No really, if I beat myself up over their views, am I not just doing their work for them? Frick that, I am way too busy with everything else to do that for them!

I have also found groups that accepts me for who I am (this forum and some others that are also zoofurs/zoo-therians) so I prefer to stick to those positives, bounce ideas off people, have fun and enjoy what little time I have on the Earth. It's not perfect, but it's a fun and uplifting experience so 🤷‍♂️ works for me
 
K9Companion said:
I personally deal with it by trying to avoid the nativity, welcome the positivity, and generally stay away from things I cannot change. For example, there is a lot of hater online about "zoo bad :mad:" so I avoid those discussions or news. Nothing I can do will change it, so why beat myself up about it? No really, if I beat myself up over their views, am I not just doing their work for them? Frick that, I am way too busy with everything else to do that for them!

I have also found groups that accepts me for who I am (this forum and some others that are also zoofurs/zoo-therians) so I prefer to stick to those positives, bounce ideas off people, have fun and enjoy what little time I have on the Earth. It's not perfect, but it's a fun and uplifting experience so 🤷‍♂️ works for me
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Honestly that's all I think I need to focus on, is just staying in my lane and finding a more closed community that is already accepting and understanding. It's too exhausting to have to jump through hoops to try and convince someone of understanding something they'll always refuse to.
I definitely just don't think I have the energy to try and interact with the "open" fur community anymore. It's one thing to be semi aware of the hate, it's another to find yourself surrounded by groups echoing it. I know I have a very idealistic stance on being a zoofur but God :// I just genuinely don't understand people or why they hate stuff they don't understand so frequently :// anyways
I really appreciate your input and everyone else who's commented :)) It really is a huge relief to know there's safe spaces and that it really does just take finding your community
 
I really don't care what others think. Honestly, most of them are probably actually zoo too. It never made sense to me that it's okay to find a dog cock on an anthro sexy, but it's suddenly bad if it's on a feral
 
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