Guest post by Hemms. Hemms is a Fox from southern California who has been in the Furry Fandom for 7 years, since discovering it when he was 14 on Christmas Morning in 2006. A Lifestyler through and through, Furry is the driving motivation behind everything he does and studies. He is a student of Anthropology and forever a dreamer. He seeks to understand Furry culture, History, and dreams of a unified Fandom that realizes just how important and powerful it really is. Hemms is on Twitter and Fur Affinity.

In my seven years as a Furry I have witnessed what I believe amounts to a cultural revolution that occurred beyond the view of the public at large. I frequently attest to the view that the Furry Fandom is not just a fandom but a culture in its own right. I don’t expect this view to be the same for everyone.

There are Lifestylers and there are Hobbyists, and the argument over which one is the correct “way to Furry” is an argument that still rages in this Fandom despite this matter having supposedly been settled with the Burned Furs conflict in 1998. Arguing over whether Hobbyists aren’t Furry enough or that Lifestylers really ought to calm down and take off the tail in public is pointless. I’m not writing this to assert whether one view or the other is the right way or not. I’m writing to assert that there is a reason why the argument is still deemed important enough to be worth arguing.

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