Furries are often referred to as a “fetish” group (a label which is shown to be inaccurate in section 2.10, Furry Motivation). To further test the extent to which furries are predominantly drawn to the furry fandom by furry- themed pornography, we asked furries identifying as male and female to indicate the extent to which exposure to furry-themed pornography was a factor that contributes to their involvement in the furry fandom. 1
Were it the case that the furry fandom was predominantly a fetish, one would expect the majority of participants to indicate that furry-themed pornography plays a very strong role in drawing them to the fandom. As the figure clearly reveals, however, only a small proportion of furries, male or female, indicate that this is the case. Male furries are significantly more likely than female furries to be drawn to the fandom by furry pornography (M = 3.36 vs. M = 1.80) but, even so, almost half of male furries say that furry pornography had little to no influence on them entering the fandom and only about 5% agree that it was the definitive factor which got them into the fandom.
An ongoing longitudinal study of furries provides converging evidence for these results. If the furry fandom were, indeed, a fetish, one might expect interest in furry-themed pornography to increase over time as furries become more involved in the fandom. Analyses suggest, however, that over the course of a year, there was no discernible change in furries’ felt positivity toward pornography.2
Providing further support that the furry fandom is mischaracterized when it is called a fetish, one study asked furries to indicate the extent to which they agreed or disagreed with the statement “One of the main reasons I’m a furry is because I like furry porn”. The results, presented in the table below, indicate that only a small minority of furries agree with this statement. Older furries and male furries are more likely to agree with this statement, whereas the extent to which furries identify with the furry community is unrelated to these beliefs.
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