Furmeets
Is Boone In Touch With Its Inner Furry?
You’d think that other things would interest me.
I hold high the virtue of being open-minded—accepting a person’s
passions, partners and pleasures without prejudice. This, as many of you
will agree and demonstrate, is one of the most necessary qualities in this
American life.
Lately, I’ve been confused/intensely intent to gain knowledge on a
national and international phenomenon—or should I say fur-nomenon.
I’m talking about furmeets—a gathering of people who enjoy dressing
up as animals with human characteristics and taking part in a furry convention,
of sorts, for a weekend full of fur fandom, fun, computer-based activities,
seminars and nightlife.
I want to understand furmeets, know if any local furmeets exist and, most
importantly, understand the type of mind-frame that exists that drives people
to go to furmeets.
I have been unable to locate this mind-frame.
Starting to reveal a little fur at a New York state furmeet
According to Wikipedia, “A furry convention or a furmeet is a formal
gathering of members of the furry fandom—people who are interested
in the concept of non-human characters with human characteristics. These
conventions provide a place for fans to meet, exchange ideas, transact business
and engage in entertainment and recreation centered on this concept. Originating
in California (of course) during the mid-1980s, there are now over 25 furry
conventions annually worldwide, mostly in North America and Europe.”
The online encyclopedia goes on to highlight the convention programming,
which includes presentations, panels, workshops, and tutorials on anthropomorphic
culture, from literature, fiction and art to science, technology and spirituality.
The conventions also provide space for stand-up comedy, gaming and role-playing.
Now there’s where some more interest comes into play. From an anonymous
source, I found out that role-playing is quite a common and popular occurrence
at furmeets—to the extent of unlikely pairs exiting to their hotel
rooms at the end of the evening for a more carnal type of role-playing.
This, although I know is worlds away from beastiality, is—well, let’s
just say interesting.
Oh, and one more thing I learned is that more and more fur is worn as the
weekend progresses. This means that a furmeeter may show up to the convention
in just a tail and ears and graduate to a full mascot-type costume by the
end of the weekend.
Local furmeeters Sloth and Koala
I have so many questions.
So, I ask, do furmeets or furmeeters (furries) exist in Boone or the High
Country?
I don’t know. I want to find out.
An emotion resembling some sort of contorted curiosity within me decided
to do a little sleuthing… AKA… scouring the Internet.
While searching, I stumbled upon many glimpses of the furry world—websites,
furmeet convention home pages, furry images (some pretty risqué)—but
I also fell upon something a little closer to home—a furmeet website
dedicated to Boone.
Although it looks a little primitive, www.myspace.com/furmeetboone is definitely
a local furmeet page with such characters as Luscious Otter, Koala, Sloth
and Jack Rabbit—all hailing from the immediate area. But the site
seems vacant. Do these people really exist? Are there more of them out there?
Do these people travel to furmeets? Do they hope to have a furmeet here
one day?
I hope you—furmeeter or not—will click on this page to see for
yourself. Now that I’ve found it, I’m going to be checking up
to see if it gets any action. In the meantime, I hope you will email SHOUT
(shoutmag@gmail.com) with any further info on furmeets.
You can always count on SHOUT to ask the hard questions!
Story by Sam Calhoun
Related Links
Wikifur- The furry encyclopedia