Sunday, November 22, 2009
Furriffic!
I went to the Midwest FurFest yesterday and if I know one thing to be true in this world, it is that this world is a very, very big place and there are lots and lots and lots of people in it and those people are very, very different from one another.
The Midwest FurFest is one of a number of “furry” conventions that happen every year here in the U.S. Furries are people who are fans of fictional, anthropomorphic animal characters. Yes, like Donald Duck, or centaurs, or buxom women who have the faces of cats, or animal sports mascots. The furry folk, from what I can tell—and I am not an expert on the subject, nor do I know a furry personally, so bear that in mind—really dig combining human and non-human attributes in their art, their literature, their spare time, and in their bedrooms. (Google it if you want to know more about that.) It’s a lifestyle, this furry fandom, and it’s alive and well in Wheeling, lemme tell you.
The Neo-Futurists were invited to perform at the Fest because one of the organizers had seen our show and loved it and thought the convention attendees would love it, too. They did. We performed in a ballroom that sat about 800 or so, and it was almost at capacity. The crowd was awesome, and they gave us a standing ovation at the end of the night. Everyone was super nice and accommodating, and we all got “MWFF ‘09!” water bottles with an illustrations of raccoons on them.
Personally, I don’t get into the furry thing. I get the fun of it. I get how exciting it must be for some folks to put on a full-length tiger costume (think Disneyland scale—full fur suit, big waving paws, no speaking) and run around with other people in full-length dog suits or even just people who pin tails on their pants—there were lots of those at the Wheeling Westin. But the people I met and talked to yesterday clearly have more invested in this kink (which I don’t consider that to be a derogatory term) and that’s where my understanding ends. I like the cats purring on my lap to be, you know, cats, and if D.W. put on a lizard suit and tried to kiss me, I’d probably start crying.
Fun fact from the Fest: “Glomping” is what you call it when a someone runs up and pounces on a person in a furry suit for the purposes of hugging them. It’s almost a violent kind of hug, I think.
So. Glomping.
5 Comments
Comments
FYI I don’t think ‘glomp’ is specific to furry fandom, and may in fact be more common in other circles:
“Not sexual, it is the action of one person lovingly (and dramatically) attacking another with a hug. A glomp is often predatory and lies somewhere in the grey area between a caring embrace, and a flying leap to tackle someone. The term is used extensively in anime culture, as well as online in text form (anime because many anime characters do this often, and online because it is short and descriptive).”
By Luke on Monday, November 23, 2009 at 5:29 pm
Yes, glomping is a violent kind of hug. Suit not required, catching the target off target is.
That being said, I got glomped by six and a half foot tall German Shepherd upon walking into a room party last night.
And everywhere I turned, people were raving about the show.
By Tango on Monday, November 23, 2009 at 9:26 pm
Oh, man. Looks like I left the ensemble 3 months too soon. sigh. Furries.
By Noelle Krimm on Monday, November 23, 2009 at 10:03 pm
Hi Mary!
My name is Tom Brady, and I was the chairman for Midwest FurFest 2009. I was so happy to see the great response that the Neo-Futurists received at the convention, and I hope that we may be able to invite you back again in the future.
I did want to correct one of your impressions, though: Furry fandom is not a kink, any more than science fiction fandom, Star Trek fandom, or (heaven help us all) Twilight fandom. Furry fandom is a rich subculture that has developed over the last few decades based around the intersection of human and animal - anthropomorphism. This encompasses everything from Watership Down to Bugs Bunny, from “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” to “Kung Fu Panda.” Expressions of this interest include art, literature, puppetry, and yes, costuming (for those unfamiliar with the costuming aspect, think your favorite school’s mascot). The latter is actually a minority part of furry fandom; only around 20% of our attendees are costumers.
It would be disingenuous to say that mature themes don’t exist in furry fandom (the Internet is a Big Scary World, after all), but at the same time, that is not the defining element of the fandom, nor does it even represent the majority of the work there. One thing I can assure you and your readers is that whatever television program you might have seen mention furries - and there have been many, I know - it’s a whole lot less lurid than you may have been led to believe :-)
Finally, lest anyone think that we are a small group of crackpots that gather to no end, I will mention that we do have an educational and charitable element to our charter, and have welcomed numerous animal-related charities over the last ten years (Wolf Park, Rainbow Animal Assisted Therapy, Flint Creek Wildlife Center, and this year, Kane Area Rehabilitation and Education for Animals). In that time, we’ve raised $93,000 for those charities.
Thanks once again to you and all the Neo-Futurists for a fantastic show! As you said, the audience loved it. As convention organizers, we were pleased to be able to introduce our members to the awesomeness of the Neo-Futurists.
By Tom Brady on Monday, November 23, 2009 at 10:29 pm
Dear Tom:
Ack! Somehow the notification has been turned off on my blog! I didn’t realize you had written (or that anyone else had written) until just now! Please forgive my silence.
Thank you very much for the information on the MWFF. Indeed, I suspect you have to do a fair amount of damage control when people draw conclusions and make assumptions about your group. Thank you, sincerely, for the clarification.
We LOVED the MWFF! We’d love to come back and come back as more well-informed guests. :)
Best,
Mary (who has been known to glomp)
By Tennessee Mary on Wednesday, December 2, 2009 at 4:04 am