- Jun 2020
-
Local file Local file
-
Popular media provided the only available information (Stahl & Lewis, 2003; Gurley, 2001), which suggested that furries had interests in zoomorphism and anthropomor-phism. These media portrayals were resoundingly unfavorable toward furries and empirically unfounded.
A good example of this was the CSI: Miami episode "Fur and Loathing".
According to the Reception section of the article on this episode on Wikipedia: "Toronto-based filmmaker Michael McNamara, who had been working on his own documentary episode on furry fandom, said that the CSI episode "portrayed the community as a community of sexual deviants who like to have sex in fur costumes" and expressed concern that "it winds up giving the whole fandom a bad name, which made them nervous and camera-shy, so it was tricky to get their trust".[2] He wrote that the deviancy "probably represents about two percent of fandom but it’s the one obviously that the press always gleefully jumps."[3] Greg Gaudio of The Virginian-Pilot wrote that "The steamier side of the Furry Fandom – sexual behavior involving animal costumes and stuffed animals – has grabbed media attention in recent years, most notably as the subject of a 2003 episode of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. The episode showed attendees at a furry convention engaging in a costume-clad orgy"; however, one of the furry fandom attendees he interviewed replied that such behavior "only involves a tiny percentage of furries and is not something that’s part of the local scene."[4] Negative perception towards members of the furry fandom for purported sexual deviancy has been a historical shame(?) (<-- figure out correct word in annotated bibliography) amongst members of the furry community, and acts as a harmful stereotype despite the small percentage of furry fandom members participating in acts of plushophilia or autozoophilia.
-