Furries In Bizarre Magazine

[lupestripe]

As I mentioned last month, there was going to be a feature in this month's Bizarre Magazine concerning furries, based on the experience of a journalist at a recent LondonFur Meet.

Well, the edition has just been published and I have just read it. I must say it is the most balanced and well-written journalistic piece I have ever read regarding the Fandom. A big congrats to all those who were involved - either in explaining the Fandom to the magazine or having their picture taken - as it rights many of the wrongs written previously about Furry.

The journalist - the appropriately named Alix Fox - admtis from the start that she wanted to write an unbiased piece about the Fandom and although sex is mentioned, it is highlighted as being only a minority aspect of the community. In fact, she wanted it to be so unbiased that she actually made inquiries into ordering a Fursuit for herself so she could turn up to the meet appropriately attired.

Instead, she focuses on the links to computers and the Internet, as well as the creative side of the Fandom. She accepts that we have been much maligned but this is only because previous documentaries have focused on the extreme and sensationalist angles of the community.

She admits that she was impressed with the warmth of the community and couldn't speak highly enough of us. Her closing paragraph emphasises the warmth that she feels about us:

"Furries strike me as a highly creative and artistic bunch, and it's a shame that so many misguided people seem to want to dock their tails and neuter their harmless fun. They may be breaking away from the herd but having seen things from the inside, I'm inclined to say that the world might be a chirpier place if a few more sheep dared to dress in wolves' clothing."

Bizarre has always been my favourite magazine (it's the only one I buy religiously) and I always expected a positive article out of them but the way it was written and how it was colourfully presented, with many pictures of fursuits, is a credit not only to the magazine but also the Fandom too.

I have only read the article online, I haven't yet managed to acquire a hard copy of it. As soon as I do I may comment further but at the moment I am seriously thinking of writing a letter to Bizarre to congratulate them for the article. Y'see sometimes the Media don't stab you in the back - perhaps we should be a little more responsive to them in the future...

Comments

[lupestripe.livejournal.com]

There are issues with it (there's a hell of a lot of puns for one) but in the main it is still a very positive article. I guess it depends on what your own interests are though as the ragging on therians was probably used to enhance the status of furry in the sense of comparison. I don't necessarily agree with this form of journalism.

Still, in English at least, it's the best I have read to date.

[schnee.livejournal.com]

*noddles* This one from 1999 is probably the best I've read so far. :) It's also pretty much the first I've read (back then, in the day c.c), though, so I may be biased...

[lupestripe.livejournal.com]

Undoubtedly it's a good article although it is rather basic. I guess in 1999 when the Internet was still a relatively new (and certainly slow) beast, that was to be expected. It is written with a fairness and balance that is so often overlooked, particularly at a time when the media were looking to sensationalise the Fandom if they were covering it at all.

Many good points are raised, particularly the spirituality regarding furriness but this is something that Bizarre were never really going to cover. Bizarre is hardly a deep or philosophical magazine - it celebrates openness and diversity (which is where the Fandom fits in) but this article would be far too high-brow for Bizarre (and indeed, sadly, most modern media in the Western World).

Having said that, by attributing furries to the animals we inspire to be is a good journalistic tool and one that rings true for the majority of us. Regarding the openness of the Fandom, that is also true but like any group of people, generalisations can only take you so far. Some of the furs I have met have been rather closed-minded about a lot of things.

Equally I have always found the line between spirituality and sexuality hard to distinguish - I don't know where one ends and the other begins - so to say that the Fandom is not a sexual one I think is not strictly true. Sex is a deeply spiritual and primeval act and one that, being in tune to our animal sides, would surely come to the fore? It's an interesting dilemma - perhaps I should take it to furrythinkers or somewhere lols.

Despite this, I am sure the Fandom has evolved in ten years and therefore to use statements about today's Fandom and attribute them back to 1999 would be harsh. The article itself is a fairly written, balanced and interesting piece and I see why you like it.

[schnee.livejournal.com]

Yeah. :)