In studies asking about fursonas and gender, we’ve often asked furries to not only identify their own gender, but to also indicate, on a 1-5 scale, the extent to which their fursona’s gender identity is similar to (“my fursona is only ever the same gender as I am”) or differs from (“my fursona is always a different gender than I am”) their own.
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The data suggest that about 62% of furries report that their fursona’s gender is the same as their own. This also means that approximately 38% of furries are, at very least, open to the idea of having a different-gender fursona; in fact, fully 5% of furries have a fursona whose gender is completely different from their own. It remains to be seen whether, for these people, their fursona is a form of self-expression of a different-gender part of themselves (a way to “play out” another facet of their identity), or is simply a way for them to experiment with an identity different from their own—a form of role-playing.
In another study, we looked at whether there were gender difference in the extent to which furries’ fursonas differed from their own gender (see figure above.)2 Results indicated that furries whose gender identity was more female were significantly more likely to have a fursona whose gender differed from their own.
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