This past Thursday (February 24th) I was interviewed via Zoom
by the medical advice TV show The Doctors.
Once again, I have the “litterboxes for furry students” rumor for bringing me to the show’s attention. I think I made a decent case for Furry, even though under the pressure of the moment I forgot a couple of points I wanted to make – most of all, how the furry community is one of the most creative ones on Earth, how we invent our own characters rather than just cosplaying ones from other media. (My agent, and the people at Furry Planet‘s publisher Apollo were a bit miffed I forgot to plug the upcoming sequel – sorry folks!)
But I’m particularly glad I underlined an important point: the instinct driving Furry is one dating back tens of thousands of years: the desire for a closer relationship, a kinship with the non-human animal world. In our modern age anthropomorphic characters have been turned into commodities for people to consume via animation, sports mascots, toys, plush dolls, etc.
Furs are people who, for any number of reasons and in any number of ways viscerally feel this instinct. Thus the almost universal cry of everyone with the “furry gene,” after years of feeling weird, alone or even ashamed discover the furry community:
“I’m not the only one!”
I described this phenomenon during the interview–and I very, very much hope some of the show’s viewers struggling with these feelings see the show, and experience their own revelation!