Behind the scenes of Bowling Green’s furry community

Behind the scenes of Bowling Green’s furry community Story by Katherine Egedi Photos by Hope Heffley Furries are people who have an interest in anthropomorphic animals, which are animals with human traits, according to an article published by Furscience.   According to the furry Fandom website, the origin of the furry community has been debated.  The Fandom page said some people believe the community started as early as 1965, when “Kimba the White Lion” was adapted from its Japanese manga series and broadcast in the United States. “Watership Down,” a novel by Richard Adams, and Disney’s “Robin Hood” also may have contributed to the start of the furry community, according to the Fandom page. The Fandom page said other people attribute the beginning of the community to a science fiction convention in the 1980s, when the novel “Albedo Anthropomorphics” by Steve Gallacci sparked a discussion over anthropomorphic animals in science fiction.  The debate led to a discussion group that met at science fiction and comic conventions, the Fandom page said. The furry community gained some popularity in the late 1980s, the Fandom page said, which eventually led to social gatherings outside of science fiction conventions. Kam Cox is a junior at WKU majoring in creative writing and studio arts. They said they were drawn to creating digital art centered around furry characters because of their love for Pokémon. Cox began doing commissioned work in their early college years and has learned how to connect with customers over their personalized art pieces since. (Artwork by Kam Cox) The Fandom page said the creation and popularity of the internet allowed the furry community to share their interests and connect with other furries, which allowed the community to gain higher visibility and attract more members. Christy Richmond is a member of the furry community who lives in Bowling Green and works as a bus driver for Warren County Public Schools. She said she enjoys dressing up as a snow leopard named Glacier.   “You see videos of them (snow leopards) that are funny and goofy,” Richmond said. “And I’m like, ‘Yeah, that’s me.’”   Christy Richmond said she is comfortable posing for photos in her fursuit mainly because she’s had so much practice at conventions. Her fursona, Glacier, has its own distinct personality and playful sense of humor that she tries to bring into all her poses. According to Vice, furry community members choose their fursona animal for a variety of reasons. The page said furries may also choose an animal that represents something they want or aspire to be, or to represent an aspect of themselves that the animal signifies.  Richmond said that being a furry allows people to express themselves when they may not be accepted at home. Richmond said some transgender men have top surgery scars on their fursona to show that aspect of themselves.  The furry community is an accepting place for all types of people, Richmond said, and people can simply have an interest in anthropomorphic art and be accepted into the community.  Richmond said that people in the furry community dress up as anthropomorphic animals to have fun and temporarily escape their responsibilities.  Richmond, a member of the furry community in Bowling Green, and a Warren County Public Schools bus driver, said she found the community because of an interest after trying out for her high school’s mascot and a love for mascot culture. For a time, Richmond worked as the mouse mascot, Chuck E. Cheese, for the children’s party restaurant. “We just want to stop worrying about being an adult for a few hours and just have fun,” Richmond said.  Richmond said she became interested in the community when she was 13 years old after auditioning to be her high school’s mascot. She said she looked up dance routines for her audition and found a fursuit dance competition video.  Richmond said that from there, she kept on watching the videos and eventually became involved in the furry community. Richmond said that she initially thought furries were no different than mascot characters. It was not until she was around 16 or 17 that someone told her she was involved in the furry community, she said.  “I had no idea what it was until someone was like, ‘You like furries,’” Richmond said. “I’m like, ‘I didn’t know what that meant. I just thought it was cool.’”  Richmond said that some furries get involved in the community through Disney movies. Disney has several movies that feature anthropomorphic animals, including “Lady and the Tramp,” “The Aristocats” and “Bambi.”  Richmond said people enjoy the art style and idea that animals can have human traits, so they look for a community similar to that.   “It’s people from all walks of life coming together for a common love of anthropomorphic, animalistic art,” Richmond said. “That’s mainly what we all get into – because we like the art.”    Richmond said her current fursona, Glacier, is a snow leopard that she describes as “reclusive, but funny and goofy.” Many of her fursuits have been cats because of her lifelong love for the animal, with one of her first fursuits being a saber-tooth tiger named Mint. Richmond said that despite the reputation that furries are “cringe” and “hypersexual”, most community members are nice. She said it is the outliers in the community that get the most attention.  “Of course there’s always going to be bad apples with any community. Furries are no exception. Like any fandom, you have the bad people, and we do not associate with those people at all,” Richmond said. “It’s just unfortunately the bad always shows the most in the media.”  Jessica Levine, a graduate assistant instructor in English and second-year English graduate student with a focus in literature and poetry at WKU from White House, Tennessee, said she is not a member of the furry community, but has read online comics and been involved in other fandoms with a noticeable furry presence. Levine said there are a few reasons for the stigma around the furry community, but the main reason is that people outside the community think furries actually believe they are the animals they dress up as.  Levine said that she remembered some popular shows making furries the butt of the joke. She said that popular media making furries seem “different” and “other” does not help the stigma the community faces.  An episode of “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” called “Fur and Loathing,” which aired in 2003, features investigators finding a dead man dressed in a raccoon fursuit. According to the Wikipedia page on the episode, this episode was one of the first to introduce outsiders to the furry community.  The episode presents the furries as a sexual community of people who would rather be animals than people. The Wikipedia page wrote that the sexual presentation of the furry community gave the community a bad reputation. Levine said that people outside of the furry community who believe that dressing up as an animal is a fetish contribute to the negative stigma around the community.  Graduate Assistant Instructor Jessica Levine focuses her work on poetry and literature. She said it seems that the stigma surrounding the furry community is based on a lot of media-driven misinformation. Levine said she recalls a picture of a man letting a young child pet him that she saw on the internet around 10 years ago. Levine said that the kid thought the man was a real dog. “Well, somebody took a picture of that and was like, ‘They’re sexualizing these kids,’” Levine said. “‘They’re having this kid play along with his kink. He’s getting off to this kid petting him like a dog.’”  Levine said that there may be a part of the community that participates in it as kink, but this does not accurately reflect the community as a whole. “They’re doing their own thing. They’re having fun. They’re sweet. They’re supportive,” Levine said.  Levine talked about a scene from Season 2, Episode 9 of “The Pitt,” called “3:00 PM“. She said there was a furry who had come in to the hospital due to overheating on the Fourth of July. Initially, doctors and nurses were a little wary and unnerved. Levine said the furry eventually started talking about her experience in the furry community and said she invited one of the doctors to check out the community. Richmond said that most people opt for just the partials when wearing their fursuit, including only the hands, head and feet, because of sensory preferences or safety concerns with intense heat when wearing the full suit. “And it was a really beautiful moment that, like, humanized this member of this really harmless subculture,” Levine said. Richmond said that the furry community hosts fundraisers to offset their reputation and to give back to the community. “It’s mainly just going and giving back to the cities which they are in, because it gives a lot of serious profit,” Richmond said. Richmond said a convention she attended in Memphis, Tennessee, raised around $30,000 for a nurse sanctuary. Richmond said she wants to attend Anthrocon, a popular convention held in Pittsburgh and holds fundraisers. According to the Anthrocon website, the convention collaborates with different charities and has raised over $647,000 for various animal charities since its start in 1997.  Richmond said they usually play games, like musical chairs, to raise money at Anthrocon. She said if attendees want to participate, they have to donate a dollar, and if they lose, they have to donate another dollar.  Richmond said the Bowling Green furry community holds fundraisers for mental health advocacy and LGBT issues.  Kam Cox is a digital artist from Owensboro who double majors in creative writing and studio arts and draws commissions for furries.  Cox said they are not heavily involved in the furry community, but they interact with furry content, have a few friends in the furry community, and have a wolf-deer hybrid fursona. Cox said they were introduced to the furry community through Pokémon. They said they saw people cosplaying Pokémon characters, and some cosplays looked similar to fursuits.  Cox said it has been difficult to get their name and artwork out there since starting to sell their pieces. As an independent artist, most advertising of their work is done through social media. Cox said that while they do artwork for commission, their primary motivation is enjoyment. “I have my own characters that have their own little stories, and I get really attached to these characters too,” Cox said. (Artwork by Kam Cox) “When I was a kid, I saw that. I was like, ‘Oh my God, I want that!’ And so, I started doing my own little characters and stuff because I was like, ‘Oh, I want that so badly,” Cox said. “And it kind of just, like, progressed from there after I started drawing them.”  Cox said they came across artists drawing and charging commissions in late high school and early college and decided to try it out. They said they initially drew commissions for free because they enjoy drawing. Cox said they eventually started charging for commissions because the income was helpful. Now, Cox said they draw commissions because they enjoy drawing and the income is useful. Cox said that college, specifically the art department, is generally a more accepting place for furries. They said they have met some furries in the art department because many furries are creative people. Cox said they have received some judgment on campus, but overall, college is generally a more accepting place for furries compared to their high school. Cox said that despite the judgement they’ve received in the past from classmates and peers for creating furry art, they’ve continued being involved with the community. “I know it’s not anything harmful. So if you think it’s weird, cool, I’m not gonna stop doing it,” Cox said. (Artwork by Kam Cox) “They would kind of judge me and stuff, but I’m just like, ‘I don’t know what to tell you, man,’” Cox said. “I know it’s not, like, anything harmful, so it’s like, ‘If you think it’s weird, cool. Yeah, I’m not gonna stop doing it.’”  Cox said that, even though they are not an active furry, they still feel accepted in the community.  “The community, for the most part, is very sweet and very open, which I really like because, like, they’re very respectable, like with queer spaces and other things,” Cox said. “I really enjoy that about the fandom.”  Richmond said if people had to know one thing about furries, it’s that they are normal people who have a hobby. Richmond said to think of the furry community as people cosplaying and it being a hobby. She said to think of it as having your own character and being able to wear that character. “We’re just regular people. We have people from the military, doctors, nurses, firefighters, all walks of life in our community,” Richmond said. “We’re just like anybody else; just sometimes, we put on a big costume for a few hours.”