Hi - thank you for asking. My teen son wants to participate but is very trusting so I’m being a helicopter parent. He says the group is made up ofHi - thank you for asking. My teen son wants to participate but is very trusting so I’m being a helicopter parent. He says the group is made up of friendly, good people, but he says that because someone he follows online told him so.
Some of the below are questions I would ask of any group outside of a controlled environment like my son’s school, and others are prompted by what I read on this site.
What is the age range of people who participate in AZFurs in the Phoenix area? I know you have meet ups and FurCon, but what else do you do as a group that distinguishes AZFurs from any other club (for lack of a better word). How are furries related to gaming? Are there any meet ups focused on gaming? Or online groups? On this site I read cautions about behavior for a Peter Piper Pizza meet up and that the group had a hard time finding a venue for FurCon due to past destructive and disrespectful behavior of attendees. Is this all across AZFurs or only with pockets in some parts of AZ? If so, where? Can someone participate and make friends apart from those who use drugs or alcohol or participate in this destructive behavior? What is the likelihood of a highly trusting young person being targeted in a hurtful way? Would you allow your own easily influenced teen son with “different” (autism-related) behaviors to participate?
The range on ages is a good question, and it is probably from 16 to 55, going by anecdotes and personal experience, but the upper limit may be evenThe range on ages is a good question, and it is probably from 16 to 55, going by anecdotes and personal experience, but the upper limit may be even higher than that. I haven't personally met anyone younger than the low 20's recently but I know of some very young people who went to "Itty Bitty Fur Con" in July.
Before getting to the next set of questions, I would hesitate to call "AZFurs" a club. The site itself is more of a clearing house and connection point for a very large collection of people who have some interests in common. The furry fandom contains people who enjoy costuming and wearing suits of characters of their own creation (similar to mascots, but not representing a team or product); people who appreciate animated pieces or video games featuring characters who are not human (from Bugs Bunny cartoons, to the cast of the recent film Zootopia, and the many, many video games who have had animal protagonists); artists who enjoy drawing such characters; writers who enjoy writing about such characters; and anyone who appreciates any of the previous activities.
Naturally, in a group of this many people you could find many other interests (hiking, ghost hunting, photography, astronomy, riding motorcycles, fine dining, target shooting, weightlifting, off road driving, and the list goes on). A lot of the larger meets focus on the costuming ("fursuiting") aspect of the fandom, but many smaller groups meet to discuss these other common interests. So it would not surprise me in the slightest that tabletop RPG's, tabletop card games, and various multiple online player video games would have furries interested in them.
In short: there are likely people out there who indulge in risky or undesirable behavior, but it isn't terribly difficult to avoid them.
As far as warnings about behavior at public places, I have a feeling (this is an educated guess on my part, not backed up by facts which I can quote to you) that these warnings stemmed from isolated, but serious, incidents involving only a handful of people. Something only needs to go wrong once to spoil an event for everyone. I very much doubt that the odds of running into such people are any higher or lower in the furry fandom than they would be at an anime/comic convention, or a Star Trek fan event (for example). They're out there in the general population, to all of our misfortune.
As far as autism goes, I do know many adult members of the fandom have self-identified as being on the autism spectrum; I believe they are accepted and do not feel vulnerable or taken advantage of, though I would hesitate to call any of them out by name--if they'd like to speak for themselves, I'd invite them to do so.
Hopefully this addressed most of your questions, and again I'd invite anyone else with an opinion on this to speak up!
Come hang out with us at our regular meets and events! We love meeting new furs and people who are interested in the fandom. Check out the Events section for more information.
Some of the below are questions I would ask of any group outside of a controlled environment like my son’s school, and others are prompted by what I read on this site.
What is the age range of people who participate in AZFurs in the Phoenix area? I know you have meet ups and FurCon, but what else do you do as a group that distinguishes AZFurs from any other club (for lack of a better word). How are furries related to gaming? Are there any meet ups focused on gaming? Or online groups? On this site I read cautions about behavior for a Peter Piper Pizza meet up and that the group had a hard time finding a venue for FurCon due to past destructive and disrespectful behavior of attendees. Is this all across AZFurs or only with pockets in some parts of AZ? If so, where? Can someone participate and make friends apart from those who use drugs or alcohol or participate in this destructive behavior? What is the likelihood of a highly trusting young person being targeted in a hurtful way? Would you allow your own easily influenced teen son with “different” (autism-related) behaviors to participate?
Thank you More ...
Before getting to the next set of questions, I would hesitate to call "AZFurs" a club. The site itself is more of a clearing house and connection point for a very large collection of people who have some interests in common. The furry fandom contains people who enjoy costuming and wearing suits of characters of their own creation (similar to mascots, but not representing a team or product); people who appreciate animated pieces or video games featuring characters who are not human (from Bugs Bunny cartoons, to the cast of the recent film Zootopia, and the many, many video games who have had animal protagonists); artists who enjoy drawing such characters; writers who enjoy writing about such characters; and anyone who appreciates any of the previous activities.
Naturally, in a group of this many people you could find many other interests (hiking, ghost hunting, photography, astronomy, riding motorcycles, fine dining, target shooting, weightlifting, off road driving, and the list goes on). A lot of the larger meets focus on the costuming ("fursuiting") aspect of the fandom, but many smaller groups meet to discuss these other common interests. So it would not surprise me in the slightest that tabletop RPG's, tabletop card games, and various multiple online player video games would have furries interested in them.
In short: there are likely people out there who indulge in risky or undesirable behavior, but it isn't terribly difficult to avoid them.
As far as warnings about behavior at public places, I have a feeling (this is an educated guess on my part, not backed up by facts which I can quote to you) that these warnings stemmed from isolated, but serious, incidents involving only a handful of people. Something only needs to go wrong once to spoil an event for everyone. I very much doubt that the odds of running into such people are any higher or lower in the furry fandom than they would be at an anime/comic convention, or a Star Trek fan event (for example). They're out there in the general population, to all of our misfortune.
As far as autism goes, I do know many adult members of the fandom have self-identified as being on the autism spectrum; I believe they are accepted and do not feel vulnerable or taken advantage of, though I would hesitate to call any of them out by name--if they'd like to speak for themselves, I'd invite them to do so.
Hopefully this addressed most of your questions, and again I'd invite anyone else with an opinion on this to speak up!
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