A fursona is a personalized animal character created by someone in the
furry fandom
The furry fandom is a subculture interested in anthropomorphic animal characters. Examples of anthropomorphic attributes include exhibiting human intelligence and facial expressions, speaking, walking on two legs, and wearing clothes. The term ...
.
Fursonas may be anthropomorphic personas, idealized versions of their owners, fleshed out roleplay characters, or simply digital mascots.
The vast majority of furries have fursonas; the Anthropomorphic Research Project states that nearly every furry has a fursona, and ''The New Science of Narcissism'' estimates that 95% of the fandom have a fursona. The Anthropomorphic Research Project additionally states that the average furry has between two and three fursonas over the course of their life.
Individuals' fursonas are acted out primarily online,
but also at
furry convention
A furry convention (also furry con or fur con) is a formal gathering of members of the furry fandom — people who are interested in the concept of fictional non-human animal characters with human characteristics. These conventions provide a ...
s and in other public spaces. Acting out one's fursona in person may involve wearing a
fursuit
Fursuits are custom-made animal costumes owned and worn by cosplayers and members of the furry fandom, commonly known as "furries"; a furry who wears a fursuit is called a fursuiter. The term is believed to have been coined in 1993 by Robert Kin ...
.
A small minority of furries express a desire to become, or already see themselves as, their fursona's species. These people may additionally identify as
therians
Theria (; Greek: , wild beast) is a subclass of mammals amongst the Theriiformes. Theria includes the eutherians (including the placental mammals) and the metatherians (including the marsupials) but excludes the egg-laying monotremes.
C ...
or
otherkin
Otherkin are a subculture of people who identify as not entirely human. Some otherkin believe their identity derives from reincarnation, a non-human soul, ancestry, symbolism, or metaphor. Others attribute it to unusual psychology and do not h ...
.
History and etymology
The term "fursona" is a
portmanteau
A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of words[persona
A persona (plural personae or personas), depending on the context, is the public image of one's personality, the social role that one adopts, or simply a fictional Character (arts), character. The word derives from Latin, where it originally ref ...](_blank)
". While the precise origins of the term are unknown, it had become commonplace in the fandom by the mid-1990s.
Fursona species
Despite the name, fursonas may be any animal species.
They can also be mythological, fictional, or hybrid creatures.
According to the Anthropomorphic Research Project, the most common fursona species are
wolves
The wolf (''Canis lupus''; plural, : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large Canis, canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of Canis lupus, subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been reco ...
,
foxes
Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush'').
Twelve sp ...
,
dogs
The dog (''Canis familiaris'' or ''Canis lupus familiaris'') is a domesticated descendant of the wolf. Also called the domestic dog, it is derived from the extinct Pleistocene wolf, and the modern wolf is the dog's nearest living relative. Do ...
,
big cat
The term "big cat" is typically used to refer to any of the five living members of the genus '' Panthera'', namely the tiger, lion, jaguar, leopard, and snow leopard.
Despite enormous differences in size, various cat species are quite similar ...
s, and
dragon
A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...
s.
Less common are
rodent
Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the order Rodentia (), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal species are rodents. They are na ...
s,
rabbit
Rabbits, also known as bunnies or bunny rabbits, are small mammals in the family Leporidae (which also contains the hares) of the order Lagomorpha (which also contains the pikas). ''Oryctolagus cuniculus'' includes the European rabbit speci ...
s,
reptile
Reptiles, as most commonly defined are the animals in the class Reptilia ( ), a paraphyletic grouping comprising all sauropsids except birds. Living reptiles comprise turtles, crocodilians, squamates (lizards and snakes) and rhynchocephalians ( ...
s,
bird
Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...
s and
horse
The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million y ...
s.
Furries rarely identify with nonhuman primates.
Fursona creation
The creation of a fursona has been described as "one of the most universal behaviours in the furry fandom".
One study found that furries also tend to create fursonas to distinguish themselves from each other.
Although the inspiration varies from individual to individual, many furries describe their fursona being inspired by their favorite media or mythology. However, the majority state that their fursona was primarily internally generated.
The majority of furries also cite shared characteristic as a reason for choosing a particular species.
These are usually archetypal traits as ascribed to the species by humans, as opposed to actual animal behaviours.
Some popular fursona species are particularly strongly associated with certain traits, for example, dogs being considered ‘loyal’ or rabbits being considered ‘promiscuous’.
Some furries state that they simply have an innate connection to their chosen species.
A small minority believes that their chosen species was a past life, is a spirit guide, or that they were supposed to be born as such. These notions overlap strongly with the experiences of otherkinity and therianthropy.
Furries often take a long time to decide on their fursona.
25-50% of furries surveyed have had more than one fursona over the course of their lives, and about 25% stated that they had more than one concurrently.
Furries with multiple fursonas usually do not see them as representing multiple selves, but facets of the same self, possibly related to how they express themselves in different social contexts.
Additionally, a fursona’s characteristics may change over time along with its owner.
This is usually in personality, but species may change as well.
Just as art is central to the furry fandom in general, it also plays a critical role in the creation and representation of fursonas. Furries who are not artistic themselves may commission artwork of their fursona from other members of the fandom as part of the creation process.
Relationship with self
Jake Dunn argues that a furry’s fursona cannot be separated from their own sense of self, and many furries in fact see the performance of their fursona as a way of being their ‘truest’ self.
On average, furries rate their fursonas higher on all dimensions of the
big five personality traits
The Big Five personality traits is a suggested taxonomy, or grouping, for personality traits, developed from the 1980s onward in psychological trait theory.
Starting in the 1990s, the theory identified five factors by labels, for the US English ...
. They view their fursonas as having more desirable traits than they do, and fewer undesirable traits.
Various researchers suggest that there is an extent to which fursonas serve as idealized versions of their owners.
Projecting this idealized self can ease social tensions and reduce social anxiety.
Dunn also argues that eventually, these idealized traits are incorporated back into the self. While he notes that the most common idealized traits given to fursonas are also considered ideal by society at large,
S. E. Roberts et al hypothesize that to some, fursonas serve as a safe way to explore traits that are socially ''un''desirable.
Furries are often highly concerned with their fursona being unique. When they deem that their fursona has been ‘copied’, their sense of self may be threatened.
Furries may use their fursonas to explore their conceptualization of their
gender
Gender is the range of characteristics pertaining to femininity and masculinity and differentiating between them. Depending on the context, this may include sex-based social structures (i.e. gender roles) and gender identity. Most cultures u ...
and presentation,
and some furries' fursonas have a different gender, age, or sexual orientation than their own.
Transgender
A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through tr ...
individuals with a sense of
gender identity
Gender identity is the personal sense of one's own gender. Gender identity can correlate with a person's assigned sex or can differ from it. In most individuals, the various biological determinants of sex are congruent, and consistent with the i ...
and generalized identity that does not match their physical appearance and/or
sex assigned at birth
Sex assignment (sometimes known as gender assignment) is the discernment of an infant's sex at or before birth. A relative, midwife, nurse or physician inspects the external genitalia when the baby is delivered and, in more than 99.95% of birt ...
frequently possess a fursona or fursonas that present their idealized selves. Similar situations exist for those with other kinds of body
dysphoria
Dysphoria (; ) is a profound state of unease or dissatisfaction. It is the semantic opposite of euphoria. In a psychiatric context, dysphoria may accompany depression, anxiety, or agitation.
In psychiatry
Intense states of distress and unea ...
and related struggles.
References
External links
Fursonaat WikiFur
{{Fandom
Furry fandom