Burned Furs

2005-09-17T09:45:34Z

198.5.222.53: Amplification of previous Editor's Note

[[Image:Burnedfurs.jpg|right|200px|Burned furs logo]]

The '''Burned Furs''' were founded in 1998 by [[Squee Rat]] and [[Eric Blumrich]]. The group was composed of, in the words of [[Squee Rat]], "furs who have spoken up against fandom perversion and been 'burned at the stake' for it."

The Burned Fur was created because, according to their Mission Statement, "Anthropomorphics fandom is being overrun by sexually dysfunctional, socially stunted and creatively bankrupt hacks and pervs." Burned Fur, as a movement, did not produce an agenda or operating guidelines beyond its Manifesto and, to a lesser extent, [[Squee Rat]]'s "A Modest Proposal". The Manifesto outlined the BF position with no reservations:

* "To me, and a lot of other people, "Furry" simply means a fondness for animal-human combinations in art, movies, books... whatever... But you would NOT believe some of the baggage the term "furry" has taken on."

* "BESTIALITY": Do you know what all the other fandoms call Furries? SKUNK-F***ERS. "Zoophile" is a cute way of saying "I violate animals for sexual gratification." (Editor's Note: at one ConFurence, three 'zoophiles' spoke to a reporter at length as to how the convention served their needs for meeting similarly interested people and their pets.)

Editing Editor's Note: This is a reference to Confurence 9, and an article entitled ''Heavy Petting'' by Bill Borrows of Loaded magazine. Even from the first paragraph, this article betrays a considerable lack of journalistic integrity. Borrows: "Imagine a school bus breaking down outside an open prison for semi-repentant paedophiles." Does that metaphor sound like impartial journalism to you? Borrows: "Several overweight American computer geeks, freaks and 40-year-old virgins, thighs rubbing together and saliva dribbling down their chins, have made for the swing doors." Or that metaphor? It becomes quite obvious that this article was never written to report on Confurence 9, but rather as a sensational piece of "shock" journalism. Borrows claims that three anonymous zoophiles were there. Given the nature of the story, the claim lacks credibility. Borrows: "'They're [Confurence 9 guests] really polite and don't cause any trouble,' says the receptionist. 'We had a convention of dancers here recently and they really were the most horrible bunch of people it has ever been my displeasure to meet.'" With this quote, Borrows seems to be deliberately discrediting his own story to the astute reader. Conclusion: There is considerable reason to doubt the veracity of this story of three "zoos" at Confurence 9.

* "PLUSHOPHILES": That's shorthand for "I find this Meeko doll intensely erotic." Enough said.

* "REAL WEREWOLVES": Don't misunderstand me; Werewolves are fun. Role-playing a werewolf? Knock yourself out. Drawing werewolves? E-mail me some pointers, I can't do 'em to save my life. Claiming to BE a werewolf? SEEK HELP...Anyone who claims to turn into a giant dog at the whim of a celestial body should be mercilessly ostracized and laughed at with maximum cruelty.

* "SPIRIT ANIMALS": I don't have one. I don't want one, I don't need one. And according to some, that disqualifies me as a furry. Gee, didn't realize I had to realign my entire belief system to ensure acceptance...Once again, the question of personal tastes intruding on a once-meaningful practice comes to mind. You'll find a good thousand spastics claiming the protection of the Fox, But I've yet to hear a furry fan thank the Earwig Spirit for his wisdom.

* "VEGAN = FURRY": And YES, there's even a special breed of nutboys out there who insist a major component of Furriness is the practicing of Veganism...For reasons beyond my comprehension, THIS sort of self-denial is supposed to put you "more in touch with your furriness." God knows how. I've never seen a pride of lions abandon a mule carcass to chase down a fleeing herd of Garden Burgers.

* "ANIMAL WANNABES": And finally, we confront the long-held notion that Furries secretly wish they WERE animals. I'm sure there are some that do, but they're in the minority. Trust me. I'm rather fond of being a homo sapien. I've grown quite attached to the idea of opposable thumbs, full-color vision, and the dawning of self-awareness. Space travel, Chinese food, swing dancing... the perks ain't bad, either. No, I'm holding my own on this end of the evolutionary ladder, thank you. Most furries are. But for the poor shmucks who want nothing more than to transform into an elk or bear or something equally ridiculous, a stay in an institution, not a fandom, is in order."

Many disputes over the exact nature of Burned Fur beliefs arose; the group was accused of wanting to impose some sort of anti-sexual vision on the rest of the fandom. The group was, in truth, intolerant --- as stated, of animal molesters, New Age kookery, misguided psuedoreligionism, and so on --- but even more so, Burned Furs were intolerant of those people who walked up to television cameras and press microphones to declare that Furry Fandom essentially revolved around their own personal kinks.

While Burned Fur claimed that none of this was a problem if kept properly as a private matter, in private areas and within the law, they frequently targeted furry fans whose only crime was to criticize Burned Fur's in-your-face tactics. Many critics considered Burned Fur a hate group due to the harsh tone of the Manifesto, physical threats made against other furry fans, and offensive t-shirts produced by the group. Burned Fur's critics suggested the fandom's problems should be taken up discreetly with people in positions to do something about them, rather than broadcast publically where they could be—and are, to this day—permanently archived.

It was in this atmosphere of mutual intolerance that the debate over Furry Fandom's public image was waged, and subsequently buried under rampant acts of (sometimes mutual) demonization.

Many of these disputes occurred on USENET in the [[:Category:Newsgroups|newsgroups]] [[alt.fan.furry]] and [[alt.lifestyle.furry]].

They were opposed by a group formed specifically for the purpose called the [[Freezing Furs]] who accused the Burned Furs of being a hate group. A news reporter later took up this claim and published a piece on Burned Fur being a hate group, but later had to retract it when the reporter himself admitted he could not find reasonable evidence to support the claim.

A third and fourth group, [[Nonaligned_Furs]] and [[Furry Peace]] were formed on the basis of inclusion and non-alignment in the factional conflicts which resulted from the formation of the Burned Furs.

By about 2001 the Burned Furs had faded into history, many of them having [[wikipedia:GAFIA|GAFIAted]] from furry fandom altogether, with the effect that the countergroups formed to oppose them became defunct by default.

Points of Irony:
* Many of the essential points of Burned Fur's alleged ideology had already been standard elements of the behavioral and art-related policies of furry conventions before the group even existed. Standards to avoid displaying sexual material to minors, to segregate sexually-themed art from G/PG/R-rated material, and prevent cases of explicit sexual behavior in public areas had been implemented as early as 1997, which meant Burned Fur's crusade was both unnecessary and irrelevant.

* Once abandoned, the original "Burned Furs" website was picked up by a pornography merchandiser. Double Irony: its purchaser bought it because "furry" is a keyword now commonly used in pornography sites. He, a non-furry, thought its main visitors would be those interested in porn.

* Some of the worst media attention furry fandom has gotten, such as the infamous Vanity Fair article, happened under Burned Fur's watch. This is largely due to the fact that Burned Fur insisted on dragging material best kept ''out'' of public view ''into'' public view.

* Despite prediction that Furry Fandom was doomed to failure, furry fandom is currently thriving and continues to grow.

== See also ==

* [[Furs Against Furs]] - Currently existing UK group with similar views to Burned Furs
* [[Baked Furs]] - a satirical take on the situation

== External links ==

* [http://burnedfur.mv.com/ Mirror of Burned Fur website]
* [http://burnedfur.mv.com/manifesto.html "The Furry Manifesto"]
* [http://groups-beta.google.com/groups?q=burned+furs Burned Furs on google groups]

[[Category:Anti-furries]]
[[Category:Ideological groups]]

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Burned Furs