A bit of a weird question… If I want to have fox ears and tail (like, all the time if it was practical and not taboo), some cute noises, but still consider myself mostly human, what does that make me?
I often call myself a fox girl. does the label furry apply according to this community’s standards or is that more for full bodies/paws/suits etc?
thank you! <3
Do note that many furries (myself included) consider themselves human. Humans who happen to like anthropomorphic animal characters. If you answer “yes” to the question “are you a fan of anthropomorphic animal characters?”, I’d say you count as a furry.
Now what counts as an anthropomorphic animal is a different discussion.
Furry can apply.
So can Kemono (Beast), the Japanese version of furries.
Though what you describe usually goes under the more specific label of Kemonomimi (Beast ears).
Kemonomimi is what you see in most Japanese media like Tayutama, Kanokon, Nekopara, Spice & Wolf, Hyper Police (though it does have one character that is a full Kemono), and Wagaya no Ō-Inari-sama.
Kemonomimi also has the major exception of being more palatable in anime communities compared to Kemono or Furry. (Just because they are 90% human, 10% beast.)
Here’s the real key to this whole dilemma: Do you want to be a furry?
That’s really the only question that matters. If you want to call yourself a furry, do so. If you don’t, do not. We’re not big on gatekeeping, generally speaking. There’s no minimum standard of preference you have to meet to be ‘allowed’ in. Everyone likes different things; the one unifying feature is that we all have some affinity for creatures with some degree of combination of human-like and animal-like features.
Yes.
I wouldn’t think it weird if you called yourself furry just for that, IMO all it means is that you like media starring people with animal traits. There’s no requirement to actually want to be or even dress up as said animal people. Some people consider catgirls/kitsune a distinct thing and it’s only “real furry” if the character is covered in fur, but I don’t really agree with that.
I also wouldn’t have issue to someone using the label “fox girl” to mean just fox ears and tail. However, if you were talking in a furry community, my initial “mental image” would probably be something like https://64.media.tumblr.com/dc0d01e696ac8cf93b95426648dc5aa6/4ebf7f28db78d54d-84/s1280x1920/54a5a8f2d31244bfed221d294f6ae8b515b51edb.jpg . But that may just be me, there really is no standard for this kind of thing.
Honestly, as far as I’m concerned you’re a furry if you want to be. I’ve seen many comment threads where people and even artists go to great lengths to try to convince themselves and others that they aren’t “really” a furry, sometimes with an undertone of “I don’t want to be one of those people”. At this point I’ve given up on defining it; you’re a furry if you want to be, and not a furry if you don’t want to be.
KoboldCoterie put it best, we aren’t fans of gatekeeping, and honestly the more friendly people we have in the community, the better. If you want to identify as furry, go for it. If you don’t, but still want to consume furry media, then feel free to do that instead.
