Imma guess, like most things it seems, they always have been, we just see it more thanks to the internet.
Why are some many people role playing as animals?
Submitted 3 weeks ago by moonluna@lemmy.world to [deleted]
Comments
TheAlbatross@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 weeks ago
ivanafterall@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
This is an interesting point and makes me wonder: are there historical accounts of furries in history? I guess you could count things like werewolf stories, maybe, but that seems like a stretch…? I get the feeling I’m describing an existing field of study and hope there’s something to read about it?
WhatGodIsMadeOf@feddit.org 3 weeks ago
Egyptians and native Americans dressed up as animals… Or maybe I’m very uneducated and this racist.
FaceDeer@fedia.io 3 weeks ago
Lots, this kind of thing goes back deep into pre-history. I mentioned in another comment in this thread that the oldest known sculpture is of a furry and the oldest known cave painted art is furry art. Lots of gods and creatures of myth are human/animal hybrids of various sorts, or straight up animal spirits.
moonluna@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
No. When i was growing up, never saw this ever and the internet was still around. This is something else
TheAlbatross@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 weeks ago
Dunno how old you are, but we got internet when I was about ten years old and lemme tell you it’s always been there.
WhatGodIsMadeOf@feddit.org 3 weeks ago
Fredryk phox disagrees
Zyratoxx@fedia.io 2 weeks ago
There are photos of my grandparents dressing up as animals for carnival back when they were living under communist rule so before the Internet. I found them when I was clearing out their house bc they moved to a retirement home. And I think if my ancestors had the ability to make photos of everything they were doing I bet someone already did the same thing before them. And since festivities like carnival also come with an easy atmosphere and quite some alcohol consumption I would not be suprised if they also did some roleplaying if they were already wearing the costumes why not.
The Internet now just brings these communities together and makes them more visible I'd say
SaltSong@startrek.website 3 weeks ago
If you’re not talking about furries, then you’re gonna need to use more words to ask your question. Who is role playing animals, under what circumstances. Are you talking about a game? Are you making political commentary? Street Theater? Help us help you.
KoboldCoterie@pawb.social 3 weeks ago
OH, are they maybe talking about all of the inflatable animal costumes worn by protesters in the US? There’ve been a lot of pictures of that recently due to the No Kings protest over the weekend.
SaltSong@startrek.website 3 weeks ago
Possible. I’d hardly call that role playing, but I could see it.
OP should take the chance to clear that up for us.
chosensilence@pawb.social 3 weeks ago
…? you mean us furries? why are there so many furries? lol
if so, the human fascination with animals is ancient. over time we began attributing human traits to their behaviors and started connecting to them on personal and spiritual levels. then when we started making art we depicting those anthropomorphic animals on cave walls.
furries simply inhabit a persona (fursona) to express themselves behind the security of the confidence being that character gives them. a lot of us feel like our fursona is an ideal representation of ourselves. it helps us connect to our own personhood, strangely.
it’s also fun and can be sexy if ya want.
stinerman@midwest.social 3 weeks ago
I think it is interesting that relatively recently it became possible for furries to wear suits that allow them to express themselves in this matter. How many people throughout human history wished to be able to do this, but couldn’t because the “technology” simply wasn’t there.
chosensilence@pawb.social 3 weeks ago
i agree heh. i’m glad i’m a furry during a good time to be one. also, with more tech we get more advanced suits and species like protogens can exist IRL. there’s a lot of suit makers too, so there’s tons of unique styles. it’s neat.
squirrel@discuss.tchncs.de 3 weeks ago
I’m a squirrel… no further questions
MedicPigBabySaver@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Being savvy enough to be on the Internet must mean you have a helluva nut collection!
You buy special nuts from around the globe?
WhatGodIsMadeOf@feddit.org 3 weeks ago
Probably because humanity has become so pathetic. /S
moonluna@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
I don’t think humanity is pathetic. What makes you say that?
Chozo@fedia.io 3 weeks ago
[gestures broadly at everything]
dbx12@programming.dev 3 weeks ago
It’s true, humans fighting humans just to reclaim borders from some point in the history. A country cheers on autocratic behavior of their leader. The planet itself is dying because humanity consumes more resources to than it can restore. The universe would do us a favor if the heat death happens sooner than prognosed.
FaceDeer@fedia.io 3 weeks ago
Um, no idea what you mean. 👉👈😅
The oldest known sculpture is of a furry, and the oldest known cave painted art is furry art. We've been imagining what it's like to not be human for as long as we've been human. Nothing weird about it unless people want to make it weird.
moonluna@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
So a sculpture depicting a feline standing on it’s hind legs which they do when reaching up a tree is a furry to you?
FaceDeer@fedia.io 3 weeks ago
Did you actually look at the image of the sculpture? It's not reaching up. It's just standing.
yyyesss@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
it seems like a huuuuge stretch to call either of those “furry art”.
FaceDeer@fedia.io 2 weeks ago
Given that OP has ended with a complete lack of clarity in what his question actually means, I see no further point in discussing details like this.
slazer2au@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Because the internet is full of furries. Which isn’t a bad thing it’s just people are judgemental as fuck and think being a furries is childish.
moonluna@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
That’s not explaining why they are doing it
slazer2au@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Because they can is a perfectly adequate reason.
KoboldCoterie@pawb.social 3 weeks ago
Because we find it enjoyable; what more reason does anyone need to engage in an activity?
dwemthy@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Are you not an animal? Be you vegetable or mineral?
devolution@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Appropriate answer: Escapism.
Lemmy answer: people want to fuck animals.
magnetosphere@fedia.io 3 weeks ago
I’m going to guess that it’s because most animals spend their days eating, sleeping, and fucking. Some of them don’t even “raise” their kids. They don’t have the same responsibilities that humans do. Animals are assumed to be innocent. It’s an idealized life.
remon@ani.social 3 weeks ago
I mean, most role playing will be as other humans, and we are animals. So that explains most.
After that I feel it’s mostly mammals. I guess it’s easier the more similar the animal?
sem@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 weeks ago
Where are ppl doing that?
toomanypancakes@piefed.world 3 weeks ago
Are you spending lots of time in VR chat roleplay servers?
HubertManne@piefed.social 3 weeks ago
Are they? Im partial to elven or half elven druids.
Anarki_@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 weeks ago
Where?
loomi@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
I guess frogs are protesting against ICE. Hope this helps
kip@piefed.zip 3 weeks ago
first you see anthropomorphic cartoon animals and find them appealing, then the internet shits in your brain and makes you want to fuck them. after that you start pretending to be one on the internet. if somebody intervenes at this point or your remaining sense of shame kicks in you may be able to recover, otherwise your condition will deteriorate until you are found dead under a bodily fluid sodden pile of threadbare animal toys with holes cut in the crotches
Satellaview@lemmy.zip 3 weeks ago
It lets you view modern life from outside.
Which of the things we do every day are truly necessary? When you remove something or add another, what happens to the greater shape of society? What do our relationships to each other look like without cars, without jobs, without money? What might take their place?
What does it mean to be sentient? What does it mean to be human? What’s the shape of the gap between those two things?
I find it philosophically entertaining.
SoftestSapphic@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
People who have a fetish for domestication or infantilization usually have a desire to relinquish control in a controlled environment.
TempermentalAnomaly@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Sometimes I roleplay as a human animal.
celeste@kbin.earth 3 weeks ago
You mean as animals, instead of humans with animal features? I don't know what specifically you're talking about, but usually it springs from a desire to play with traits the animals are assumed to have. The less they're playing at being a human with fur or echolocation or whatever, the more it's about a desire to disconnect from human responsibilities and worries.
Some people who have been abused in a way that resembles how humans treat animals (assumption of stupidity, obedience required with the assumption you're incapable of understanding why you need to do things, etc) will play at it when they're free of it as a way to process the shitty way they were treated in a way they can control.
But it mostly seems to stem from a desire to not think about human concerns for a while, and just exist in your body as we assume animals do.
FaceDeer@fedia.io 3 weeks ago
I think you'll need to be a little clearer about what you think the distinction is here. What is "animal roleplay" to you? Where are you seeing it being done?