How many furries

Please note that all collected information is presented here in aggregate summarzied form, and there is absolutely NO identifying information in the data. We have no way of tracing responses back to the original participant this is an anonymous survey.

Additionally, any unique responses e. Q2: Where did the furries in your sample come from? Q3: How old is the average furry? Q4: What is the ethnic breakdown of the furry fandom?

Q5: What is the sex breakdown of the furry fandom? Q6: What is the gender breakdown of the furry fandom? Q7: Sexual orientation in the fandom: Are furries gay, straight, bisexual, or something else? Q8: Furry sexuality: Behaviour, attraction, and love: the same thing?

Q9: Are furries mostly single or in relationships? Q What kind of families do furries come from? Q What kind of education does the average furry have? Q How long has the average furry been a furry for?

Q How much of your sample was furry? Q Is there a difference between a "furry" and a "furry fan"? Q Is furry something you are, or something you do? Q How many furries own fursuits? Q How did furries come to associate with the furry community?

Q What "makes" furries "furry"? Q What are furries like, personality-wise? Q How many fursonas has the average furry had? Q Do furries choose predator or prey species?

Q What exactly is "furry culture"? Q What are the attitudes of furries towards various furry subcultures? Q What interests do furries have? Q How close do furries feel to the furry community? Q How big is the furry fandom? Q How do furries interact with one another? Anthrocon and Summer Online Working Paper.

Courtney Plante, Jun 12, , AM. Furry Statistics Q How "furry" is the average furry? Species Questions Q How many fursonas has the average furry had?

Furry Community Q What exactly is "furry culture"? Furry Well-Being Q Are furries maladjusted or well-adjusted? Wikifur, local furry forums, Flayrah, Furry News Network, etc As in previous surveys, the vast majority of our participants came from the United States.

However, there were a number of participants from all over the world, making our survey an international one. It should be noted that although our sample drew quite heavily from North America, there are a number of reasons for this, including the sample being partially drawn from an American furry convention, and the fact that the survey was only in English, which likely excluded a significant number of furries from the international community.

While it is true that the furry community is a young and vibrant community, it is also true that the community is a very diverse one, with furries of all ages attending conventions and participating online and at local furmeets.

As has been in the case in our previous surveys, the majority of participants in our survey self-identify as white. There are, nonetheless, a multitude of racial and ethnic groups within the furry fandom, as seen below.

It should again be noted that, given the North American nature of this sample, it is unsurprising that the majority of participants were white. With translations into multiple languages, it should be possible to tap into parts of the furry community which, for the time being, are more difficult to access due to language barriers.

As has been the case in past years, the majority of the furry fandom is male. Interestingly, there appear to be slightly more females in the therian sample than in the furry sample.

Even more interestingly, there are more than three times as many transgendered participants in the Therian sample as there were in the furry sample. It is difficult to draw conclusions on exactly why there may be differences between these two samples, but future research may suggest reasons for these differences.

It is important to note that there is a tremendous difference between biological sex and gender. Gender, on the other hand, is a social construction, a product of how a person is raised, the environment around them and how they see themselves. As such, it is entirely possible for a biological male to describe themselves as "feminine", and for biological females to self-identify as "masculine".

This suggests, perhaps unsurprisingly, that sex and gender are not one and the same, in particular among the furry community. In a follow-up analysis we asked participants to identify whether or not their fursonas were the same gender as they were 1 , sometimes different 3 , or a completely different gender 5 from their own, non-fursona gender.

We looked at this for both males and females. We then looked at the difference between biological males and females on this willingness to have a fursona of a different gender than their own.

We found a statistically significant difference between males and females, such that female furries were more likely than male furries to have a fursona that was a different gender than their own.

The data on sexual orientation of furries replicates our past findings, finding that the sexual orientation of furries is distributed quite a bit across the entirety of the sexual orientation dimension. In particular, our sample showed that there were about 1. It was also found that females were statistically significantly more likely to be heterosexual than males in the fandom. As we did in the last survey, we also had participants rate the sexual orientation of their fursonas.

Supporting our previous findings, we again found that furries, on average, tended to have fursonas that were slightly more homosexual than they were. There are a number of possible reasons for this e. Future research may help us to test whether or not this explanation, or others, can explain this consistent finding.

In addition to our questions about sexual orientation, we also asked furries more specific questions about the way in which their attraction to others manifests itself. In particular, we asked participants to identify, on scales, the extent to and frequency with which they had been attracted to, physically intimate with, and in love with others of both the same sex and the opposite sex. As the results below seem to suggest, there are some small, but statistically significant differences between furries and our non-furry control sample.

In particular, it seems to be the case that non-furries reported being slightly more attracted to members of the opposite sex, slightly more physically intimate with the opposite sex, and had been in love with more members of the opposite sex than furries.

The pair have driven about an hour from their home in the Chicago suburbs to attend Midwest FurFest , an annual convention for people who are involved with the furry community, a stigmatized, highly misunderstood subculture for people who identify with anthropomorphized animals. Although the common conception is that the culture is inherently sexualized, the reality is that being a furry means different things to different people: some furries like drawing character art, while others enjoy dressing up in fursuits full-body costumes or creating their own fursonas animal characters.

Emily due to privacy concerns, most furries will be identified here by their fursonas is one of a growing number of Gen Z members joining the fandom, despite some of the stigmas and misconceptions that have propagated around it. According to data provided to Rolling Stone, approximately 16 percent of attendees at Anthrocon were under the age of Like most trends, the popularity of the fandom can largely be attributed to digital culture; the mainstreaming of so-called geek culture also may play a role.

The anime fandom, for instance, has some overlap with the furry community, and many stumble on the fandom by searching for fan art in general. The fandom is also blowing up on TikTok, where furries like Pyxe , followers , Halfy , followers , and Barry Angel Dragon 98, followers , have amassed large audiences in a relatively short amount of time due to their cuddly and colorful fursonas.

In reality, says Pyxe, there is overlap between the two; some furries are gamers, and some gamers identify with some aspects of furries. Pyxe, in and out of his fursuit. But they never wanna know who the actors are. Many furry content creators on Tiktok also make the fandom seem less threatening to parents, who may be concerned about the sexualized aspects of the fandom.

Air Force field technician. Take longtime furry Joe Strike. When he puts on his reptilian costume, Strike transforms from self-described "pretty mellow guy" to a character he calls Komos. Some women really take a shine to him and it's really a blast. Because the colorful furry costumes get the most attention in the media, it supports the perception that furries are all about costumes. But they're not.

In the s, Stansfield and his partner Mark Merlino — during visits to science fiction conventions — realized the furry fandom was becoming a bigger thing of its own. By they organized an "experiment" they called ConFurence Zero at a Holiday Inn in Garden Grove, California: the first known "furry convention and seminar. Although only 65 people showed up, including only two or three in costume, ConFurence Zero started a movement of sorts.

It gave momentum to the fandom, later resulting in similar conventions such as Califur, Canada's VancouFur , Australia's ConFurgence , Eurofurence and Anthrocon, which is now held yearly in Pittsburgh. Last summer's Anthrocon, one of the biggest, drew about 8, people, including nearly 2, in costumes, according to the event website.

We just came up with a goofy new way for fans to talk to each other — actually meeting, face to face. People took that and ran with it. Three decades later the fury fandom is much bigger, using the power of the internet to reach out, organize, engage with each other and share — via videos, podcasts and art. Pocari Roo , Barton Fox and Stormi Folf are just a few of many furries who host video channels on YouTube discussing fursonas, affordable fursuits and other topics.

For example, a "greymuzzle" is an older member of the furry fandom. A "therian" is someone who feels an intense spiritual identification with a nonhuman animal. A "babyfur" is interested in age play and young or childlike characters.

Milfurs are furries who are current or past members of the military. Here's one more: Furries who are into costumes are called fursuiters. And yes, FursuitFriday is a real hashtag on social media. The fandom has grown big enough to get the attention of academia. A group of scholars has established a continuing research project at furscience.

They tend to be sort of middle class and they tend to be what you think of as nerds," says MacEwan University instructor Dr. Sixty percent of furries who answered surveys reported part-time or full-time enrollment in postsecondary education. Dancing is also big among fursuiters. In addition to costume dance events at conventions, nightspots have been getting involved.

For more than a year now the Eagle Bolt Bar in Minneapolis has been hosting "Suit Up Saturday," where fursuiters, show up every week, the bar says.