Lore makes some really good points here, too.

People are trying to defend something that, to the masses, is just plain
hard to understand at the outset. Let's face it, you can't just say, "I
like animal-based humanoid characters" without someone thinking it's
gotta be a "porn thing".

I can't tell you how many times I've been asked that at comic cons and
such. I remember asking Hannibal King to do a pic of the main character
of my webcomic, and he gave me a really long, hard look. :P

"You want me to draw what now?"

Now, granted, asking someone to draw a 10 foot tall horse dude,
especially if they're not a furry artist, is gonna garner raised
eyebrows. I actually had to explain to him that he's the main character
of an action/fantasy webcomic that I'm working on (which, by the way, is
casted predominently by human characters).

Even then, his next question was, "Is this, like, an adult-oriented
comic, or something?" I nearly walked away right there. But, I'd already
given the guy my money. :P

Thankfully, though, he's the only artist who's ever given me a response
like that. Paul Ryan (who's done mainstream comics for years now over at
Marvel and DC) never even batted an eyelash at me when I asked him to do
a pic of the same character. However, that might be due to the fact that
he and I have had numerous meetings at comic cons. ;) Hell, I took a
class he taught about 10 years back, and he still remembers me from
that. (We won't go there, though.) ;)

Getting back on topic, it seems that there are WAY fewer instances of
other fan bases getting the "porn treatment" than Furry fans. Most
likely, it's because, in most cases, other fan bases just don't seem as
hard to understand 'cuz most of the characters are mostly/partially
human. Star Wars is just one example.

Of course there are loopholes in any fandom. Someone can always assume,
though, that the grotesque aliens and such are not part of what makes
the fandom so popular. But, that's only because they don't understand
anything beyond the human characters that make up the bulk of the cast.

Furry doesn't have that same "luxury". Humans aren't part of the
equation. So, people automatically assume that it's some kinda weird,
sick fetish for anyone who's part of the fandom.

My wife and I have been drawing furry for years. Neither one of us does
anything even remotely related to yiff art, and we intend to keep it
that way. Why? Just a preferrence. We don't discourage it. That's not
why we don't draw it. We'd rather be remembered for the characters that
we draw, and not the body parts that we give them. You want a well-hung
horse character? Go check out Doug Winger's stuff. ;) (A damn fine
artist, I might add!)

You want well-endowed canine chicks? ... Go check out Doug Winger's
stuff! ;) (Or any other artist on A.F.E. for that matter. They're all
good in my opinion.) ;)

All in all, the negative press that's being brought about against
furries really shouldn't be taken all that seriously, really. There's
always going to be some kind of negative press, no matter what anyone
does. And, just because there are some people out there who think that
furry artwork is some kind of expression of sexually devient behavior,
that doesn't mean the fandom is dying.

The only way that can happen is if you stop showing interest in it.

And, just like the off-switch on your TV that will keep your kids from
watching shows that you don't want them to, you can always just go to
another website that doesn't feature furry porn in it's archives if you
don't like it. (Run-on sentences are my thing. Can ya tell?) ;)

Well, anywho, that's about all for me.

Seeya!

Adam "Pegasus316" Fullerton
http://wanderingtrials.keenspace.com
http://trialsandtrivializations.keenspace.com
http://www.gamingguardians.com/pg