Spring Break
Get furry
Aggies unleash their animalistic nature
By: Sonia Moghe
Issue date: 3/24/05 Section: Aggielife
"I was probably a (jerk) when he moved out," Harder said. "I was really scared. I didn't know what to do. I told him I couldn't live with his lifestyle."
Harder said that before Jones told him the specifics of being a furry, he noticed a number of drawings of foxes adorning Jones' walls, and when asked, Jones told him that they were pictures of his boyfriend.
Piles and piles of stuffed animals could be found around the room, he said, and recounts walking in on his roommate lying disrobed between the bed sheets with every single one of them.
"I didn't know what to do," Harder said. "I talked to my mom, and she said it was really gross and perverted."
Jones explained that he liked the stuffed animals because they look like animals, and they are "fun to snuggle with." Snuggling and cuddling are a big part of Jones' draw to the furry fandom, or culture.
"(Snuggling is) one of the side effects of being a furry," Jones said.
Jones' sexuality and lifestyle bothered Harder, and eventually Jones moved out of the dorm room into his own apartment.
Arnold Leunes, an A&M professor of psychology, said that because many furries are homosexual, and their behavior could be an alternate way to manifest their sexual preferences.
"It strikes me that there's a sexual motive," Leunes said. "It's not easy being gay in this society. (This) might be an attempt to find a little gentler touch to the whole thing. Americans aren't too at ease with sex anyway."
Because people like Jones and some of his other Furry friends became involved as furries when they didn't fit in with any particular clique in high school, Leunes thinks their furry antics may be an attention-grabbing mechanism.
"Kids tend to be outrageous sometimes, " he said. "That's one of the nice things about being young; you can do some crazy, outrageous things."
Harder said that before Jones told him the specifics of being a furry, he noticed a number of drawings of foxes adorning Jones' walls, and when asked, Jones told him that they were pictures of his boyfriend.
Piles and piles of stuffed animals could be found around the room, he said, and recounts walking in on his roommate lying disrobed between the bed sheets with every single one of them.
"I didn't know what to do," Harder said. "I talked to my mom, and she said it was really gross and perverted."
Jones explained that he liked the stuffed animals because they look like animals, and they are "fun to snuggle with." Snuggling and cuddling are a big part of Jones' draw to the furry fandom, or culture.
"(Snuggling is) one of the side effects of being a furry," Jones said.
Jones' sexuality and lifestyle bothered Harder, and eventually Jones moved out of the dorm room into his own apartment.
Arnold Leunes, an A&M professor of psychology, said that because many furries are homosexual, and their behavior could be an alternate way to manifest their sexual preferences.
"It strikes me that there's a sexual motive," Leunes said. "It's not easy being gay in this society. (This) might be an attempt to find a little gentler touch to the whole thing. Americans aren't too at ease with sex anyway."
Because people like Jones and some of his other Furry friends became involved as furries when they didn't fit in with any particular clique in high school, Leunes thinks their furry antics may be an attention-grabbing mechanism.
"Kids tend to be outrageous sometimes, " he said. "That's one of the nice things about being young; you can do some crazy, outrageous things."
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