I've felt shame about it since my high school days. It's not as intense now, but I still don't tell anyone about it, because I don't want anyone else to know about that part of myself. I'm afraid of sharing (SFW) media I enjoy with friends because it would be "too furry." This extends to stuff like my bear obsession, which I've only indulged in when I went with some friends to Pidgeon Forge, because there's a lot of bear-themed stuff there.

Nobody in my life knows, but I do feel shameful. I don't know if when I let a significant other into my life if this part of me would be a massive turn off. Maybe I'll come across a fellow furry. Who knows?

I was into Japanese animation and comic books back in high school (late 90s/early 00s) and regularly received shit for it.

Furry stuff is mainstream in 2025. The biggest furry conventions in the US have 3Xed in attendance the last 2 years.

Go on IG or Twitter and you'll see crazy degen furry porn with 200k likes. It's completely normalized.

No reason really to feel shame.

oneohthrix said:
Furry stuff is mainstream in 2025. The biggest furry conventions in the US have 3Xed in attendance the last 2 years.

Go on IG or Twitter and you'll see crazy degen furry porn with 200k likes. It's completely normalized.

No reason really to feel shame.

I'm finding it hard to believe that it's being normalized. I still feel filthy about it.

I've never felt any shame and I've never felt like I had a reason to feel ashamed.

Been a "furry" as long as I can remember because the first things I learned to draw were dragons, and I would only draw dragons until I was essentially in middle school. Even now I basically only draw furry and nonhuman characters. I've thankfully never got shit for it because I went to school in a place that was like, basically all autistic kids, including me. Being a furry was the least problematic part of being a teenager where I was at, and now I hang out in basically exclusively "furry" [or at least furry-positive] spaces, so it's no issue.
So, no, can't say I have ever felt shame. It's always just been me liking animals and dragons. If you come at it from that perspective, as an interest in animals instead of anything else, then I'd say it's hard for me to feel shame. Being a furry imo is no more shameful than being into birdwatching or bugs.

Can't say I ever have.

I also don't really feel shame, at least not for my interests or identities. Shame is something I feel when I commit a wrongdoing and I've never really understood why people believe that being a furry is immoral, discounting their misconceptions of course, which I've never shared.

I've never felt compelled to share that I'm a furry outside of the people I've met online more because furries are a very rare thing to find in my area and I've never had a person IRL to share the interest with, but it's not a shame thing and if someone ever did bring it up to me IRL I would probably engage with it

Nope! I've pretty much always reveled in it. It's fun. I also don't surround myself with people who would judge me for my interests- if they'd hate me for being a furry, they wouldn't really be my friend to begin with.

Nope. I was afraid about during the early days, but now I have a "don't care" attitude (there is absolutely no reason to be afraid of something like this) . The only reason I don't tell to other people is because I don't see a reason to do so. I do enjoy keep it as a "my thing", but if people finds out, is fine.

Not in the slightest, i'm proud and happy to be diffurent. When i learned that i was indeed a furry, i was like, "Whoa, there's a whole group of people like me? That's so cool!". I don't go parading about it anywhere, but if someone finds out, i don't mind.

I used to for a bit, having grown up in the "eww furries are cringe and *insert your favorite slur*", then I realized the whole "insulting furries was a stealthy way to be homophobic online while not getting banned" debacle, came out as gay after some self reflection, and now I'm happy I shed off that shitty mentality

Last time someone created a thread like this some months later they deleted their account, hope it doesn't happen again...

But you are right to hide your "power level", I just think you may need some more open minded or even furry friends so you can share your interests with someone.

A bit. I'm afraid of what my family would think of me if they found out, especially since my sister told me she dislikes furries ( she thinks we are weird, especially the roleplayers).

Though, my 'furryness' is relatively low, if you could say that. I love the art - both SFW and NSFW- , I love this site, I love the people - rarely did I feel more accepted in any other community. But I am not roleplaying, nor do I cosplay as my fursona. It stays fictional as the protagonist of my personal fantasy epic.

Yet I feel like this is already enough to make my close ones who are not into the fandom (which are none of them as far as I can tell, though I have suspicions about certain ones) look at me funny at least. If I can, I drop hints, so they either come to me and tell me they know or are at least not too surprised when it should slip out accidentally. Until then it will be a close secret I am willing to take with me to the grave

do I feel shame for being a furry?

not really

will I tell my parents about my fetish?

fuck no, I'm taking this shit to my grave.

No shame.
The most accurate description is that I have respect for myself, while others may not have respect for me. That is their problem.

I'm into all kinds of art so I've always viewed furry art as a slice of my artistic interests.
My first large exposure to this kind of nsfw stuff made me feel a bit ashamed of that particular aspect. But it quickly resolved itself.

oneohthrix said:
Furry stuff is mainstream in 2025. The biggest furry conventions in the US have 3Xed in attendance the last 2 years.

Go on IG or Twitter and you'll see crazy degen furry porn with 200k likes. It's completely normalized.

Normalized? Maybe. I doubt you'd get much trouble for admitting you're such today but not sure I'd say mainstream.

Personally I shouldn't be ashamed of being an furry, but I still keep it mostly hidden, it may be more mainstream and (somewhat) understood, I still fear of being misunderstood by people and having conversations that'll rip my hair out and/or get insulted with horrific titles, the only people that knows is my siblings and the odd fellow furries I walk into

Nah. I mostly joked about until I accepted. Still joke about, but I embrace it no problem. If someone else has a problem with it they can shove it.

No. I do sometimes feel a bit of an "imposter syndrome" as a straight guy and a furry. I ask myself: "do these things add up?" "can I be both?" "can I truly be part of the fandom if I'm a straight male?" ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Obviously the answer is yes but subconsiously, I have my doubts. :(

yes constantly, wish i wasnt a furry I hate it but my brain is so messed up now so I can't go back

No way. I can't even imagine it, and wouldn't have it any other way. It's one of the few bright spots in this blighted existence.

honestly, never.

i was raised on movies like the land before time and all dogs go to heaven. anthropomorphic animals were always a large presence in my life. i was drawing furries before i knew what furries were.

i was probably 8 or 9 when i discovered the furry fandom. i was overjoyed to put a name to an interest i already had. it never occured to me that this was something other people would find "weird".

i've been shamed for it, of course. my immediate family never cared, but i was shamed by my classmates, shamed by my cousins. i've never been one to give into peer pressure. probably an autism thing. i'm not bothered by my "weird" interests -- if it offends you, that's your problem, not mine.

For me no but I never told anyone

notknow said:
I just think you may need some more open minded or even furry friends so you can share your interests with someone.

Yes! Make furry friends! It's good.

I am like turbo closeted, after being made fun of for likening certain things. I don't let anyone else know about it and just keep it to myself at this point.

Nah, but it's still not something I've ever shared with anyone I know IRL. This is mainly for their sake. I don't want to weird out people around me and make them uncomfortable, and that is pretty much guaranteed to happen if you bring up the fandom to some random IRL person.

I know, the fandom is absolutely not exclusively about porn and sexual stuff. However, it doesn't matter if you happen to be the SFW-est, most family-friendly furry prude on the planet and you're showing off a picture of your fully clothed fursona doing their income taxes. That random person you're talking to is gonna go look up "furry" on the internet and come across some lewd and/or weird shit, (heaven forbid, they may even end up on e621), and things will get awkward for everyone involved. It's just not a good idea.

For me personally, I don't even have the "but there's nothing lewd about taxes" excuse because I am actually mostly into NSFW stuff anyway. So I treat it like a kink or other sensitive personal topic, which means I don't discuss it non-anonymously with anyone outside of a tiny group of close online friends. I wouldn't bring it up around anyone else unless they asked, or were dropping hints about on level with wearing a fursuit and an e621 sign.

But ashamed? No.

I can relate a bit to Czyszy's mention of "imposter syndrome", though. I don't have a fursuit, I don't have a fursona, I don't roleplay and I've never been to a convention. This sometimes makes me feel a little embarrassed about how much of a filthy (furry) casual I am, even though most online furry communities seem rather nice and welcoming regardless of how heavily invested (or not) you are in the fandom.

mklxiv said:
Yes! Make furry friends! It's good.

Where would I go to find them? Someone mentioned the app Barq before, but it doesn't feel very active, nor do anyone respond to my likes or messages. I feel that might be the avenue I need to take so I won't feel like an outcast

lonelylucario said:
Where would I go to find them? Someone mentioned the app Barq before, but it doesn't feel very active, nor do anyone respond to my likes or messages. I feel that might be the avenue I need to take so I won't feel like an outcast

Barq is a hookup/dating app and not really for general friend-making. I chatter with people online a lot and meet a lot of people that way (though usually not IRL). Some areas like where I live are actually pretty barren of furries, yours could be the same. Though I definitely get what you mean about being an outcast as that's kinda me too though I can still make friends.

A bit, maybe. Most people I have talked to about furry in general think it is all about the fursuiting, and some few are so uninformed that they believe it to be bestiality

I am essentially only into (and sometimes out when I need a break) the fandom for the art, so other's opinions do not matter overmuch to me; I have met some good people over the years, despite trying to mostly avoid the social aspects of furry

mklxiv said:
Barq is a hookup/dating app and not really for general friend-making. I chatter with people online a lot and meet a lot of people that way (though usually not IRL). Some areas like where I live are actually pretty barren of furries, yours could be the same. Though I definitely get what you mean about being an outcast as that's kinda me too though I can still make friends.

I'm not looking for just friends. I hope to one day stop being single. It does kinda feel like a dating app, and I have an aversion to those. I can't do hookups either because 1- I can't get horny around a stranger, and 2- I don't want it to be a one time thing

I don't really consider myself a furry, and I don't see the furry characters I jack off to as being fundamentally different from any other thing I masturbate to. So no not really.

never felt shame for being a furry, my family fully supports me and has no problem with it.

Not really. Others aren’t ashamed of what they’re into, so why should I be ashamed for liking furry content? And nine times out of ten the people who try to shame you are into things that would raise some eyebrows. (Note, I’m not aiming this at peeps who are into these things and are decent individuals, just the ones who shame you and act like their kinks/interests are the “healthy ones”.)

emionix said:
I've never felt any shame and I've never felt like I had a reason to feel ashamed.

I'm of the same mindset. Who cares what I'm into when I am in the privacy of my own home? It's not illegal, I'm not hurting anyone or anything. I'm not plotting any sort of rebellion. No one really needs to know what groups I'm a part of, unless they ask, and I feel that I can tell them.

Have I ever felt shame for being a furry?
Nah, never. What's there to be ashamed of? Honest question. Normies like anime and violent cartoons, its really not that different from any other pop culture item to have fun with. League of Legends players have no room to judge.

Have I ever felt shame for being around furry porn though? (these should be separate questions really)
Nah, never. People paid money on onlyfans to worship feet and gamergirl bath water. They can get off their high horses.

There is some collective shame (from humans and furries alike) being around porn though, insofar as that's usually a bedroom activity

Not really, but I still remember ye olden days before I began talking to friends who were furries. Back then the only exposure I had was hearing all the horror stories about them… or us, I guess.

You know, the usual offenders like dung, diapers, kinks, Rainfurest and knotzis… Hell, I’m pretty sure my first exposure to this site was from seeing a… particularly rancid image from a common search engine.

I don’t even know who drew it or where it is now but I do remember seeing the expressions of horror from those who gazed upon it in all its hyper-fat-selfserve-cock-piss-scat magnificence.

… I think that one experience alone scared me away from this place for awhile, up until I learned it has a blacklist feature and it was easy pickings from there.

Suffice to say: I didn’t have anything against furries like some people do, but the recesses of the community still confused and scared me… Now look at where I am.

There’s no real shame in hobbies so long as you don’t hurt anyone with them.