One of the biggest and broadest questions surrounding furries, apart from what furries are altogether, is what a furry fetish is. There is a recurring misconception that the word furry has inherently sexual connotations which draws many people to the question of what a furry fetish is. Before we dive into the ins and outs of this fairly complex definition, let’s clarify that furries and fursuits are not synonymous with having a furry fetish, in fact, a fraction of furries actually have a furry fetish.
What Qualifies As A Fetish?
A fetish, as defined by Merriam-Webster is either an object or body part regardless of its presence being real or fantasized, that is necessary to grant a person sexual gratification. In some cases this could be classed even as a sexual obsession however that is typically in the most severe cases of a fetish. With this in mind, it should be a lot easier to understand what classifies something as a furry fetish.
What Makes It A Furry Fetish?
Because of the breadth of the term “furry”, a furry fetish is more a spectrum of things that can grant sexual gratification rather than one specific thing like in the case of a foot fetish for example. Instead a furry fetish is characterized by whether or not an anthropomorphic character, be it a person in a fursuit or a cartoon on a screen, is bringing the person in question sexual pleasure. Their sexual interests and entire sexual identity doesn’t have to revolve around the idea of furries for it to be considered a furry fetish, as long as its in their catalogue of things that brings them that special joy.
Furry Rally
Image by The Sun
Commissioning a fursuit has never been so easy!
So Do They Roleplay As Animals In Bed?
It’s easy to just think, well furries are people who like cartoon animals, surely if they have a furry fetish they just pretend to be animals in the bedroom but it’s a bit more intricate than that. Because if that were the case, that would just be pet play, which is a completely different thing. While pet play may be involved in what they do in the bedroom, this wouldn’t necessarily mean they had a furry fetish. Instead their fetish would be characterized by whether or not an actual anthropomorphic character or suit was involved in whatever it is they’re getting up to.
So in short, yes they might roleplay as animals in bed, but this doesn’t inherently make them furry fetishisers.
Furry Convention
Image by The Guardian
Does Having A Furry Fetish Make You A Furry?
It certainly feels like an indication of something if you have a furry fetish however, having a furry fetish doesn’t necessarily make you a furry. I know it sounds ridiculous, but in the same way that watching hentai doesn’t automatically make you a weeb, getting sexual satisfation from the idea of furries doesn’t automatically make you yourself a furry.
Probably A Furry Convention Also
Image by The Plaid Zebra
Are All Furries Fetishisers?
This is something that simply cannot be stressed enough and is reiterated time and time again, but we’ll say it once more for the sake of clarification. NOT ALL FURRIES HAVE A FURRY FETISH. There is no denying that certain members of the fandom definitely have a furry fetish and will act as such, but to put all furries into this same box, makes the fandom sound like a bunch of perverts which simply isn’t the case. The furry fandom is one of the most inclusive and accepting communities you’ll find, but the sexual stigma tied to them makes it a lot harder for them to grow as many people are intimidated or put off by it.
A Few Furries In Fursuits Crossing The Street
Image by The New York Post
How Many People Have A Furry Fetish?
This is a tough one. It’s hard to say exactly how many people actually have a furry fetish but with a bit of research we can get an idea. If we look at one of the highest ranking porn sites’ traffic under the search terms “furry porn” we can start to get a better idea of the grand scope of the furry fetish. Pornhub’s volume for furry porn is in the ballpark of 400,000 clicks a month. This is not to imply that every single one of those searches is a person with a furry fetish but it definitely highlights just how many people may have a furry fetish. With this in mind, if we were to say that only 25% of the people actually had a furry fetish that would still make 100,000 people with a furry fetish. Then if we narrow this even further and say that 80% of these people are actually furries that would mean that only around 80,000 of the possible 1 million members of the fandom have a furry fetish.
Of course that math is shoddy in a thousand different ways but the point stands that furry fetishes are pretty popular.
