Aline Kominsky-Crumb Is A Horny, Abject Comic Superhero
A meme has been floating around certain corners of the internet.
“WHO WOULD WIN?” it reads in stark black capital letters above two photos. One image depicts a “leftist dad,” a man in a yellow parka holding a protest sign that declares his commitment to “pry” guns from their owners’ lifeless hands. The second depicts a grown man wearing a head-to-toe fox fursuit, cradling a sizable automatic weapon.
The gun-happy furry, the meme implies, would come out victorious.
Like America at large, furry culture is a community divided. Just as the so-called “alt-right” has gained momentum in human circles since the election of President Donald Trump, groups who refer to themselves as the Fur Right and Alt-Furries have reared their heads in furry circles, affixing white supremacist and ultra-conservative views to the furry bottom line of “must love dogs.”
“Trump’s election has for sure surged the influx of alt-right furries in the fandom,” Ayala the Deer, an asexual artist, writer and fursuiter who does not identify as Fur Right, told HuffPost. “There have always been alt-right furs, they’re just more vocal now due to the election. Any fandom that’s as open as us are always going to have bad eggs. We accept everyone and anyone, which is a good and very bad thing.”
It’s easy to misconstrue the world of furries. Although the most notorious faction indulges its animal urges with kink and deviant sex (see: the “Fur and Loathing” episode of “CSI”), many furries are simply fans of anthropomorphized animals in art and fan-fiction. They embrace alter egos called “fursonas” at community meet-ups as an expression of inclusivity ― sometimes in costume, or fur suits, sometimes not.
“To me, being a furry means escapism,” an individual who goes by the Twitter handle Red Kangaroo told HuffPost. “I love how this community offers a way to escape the real world for a little while, while also being a family, non-judgmental place to express yourself. I believe they go hand-in-hand.”
However, the vocal subgroup of Alt-Furries has been hard at work asserting their space within the movement of late, and it’s this very spirit of inclusivity they wish to expunge.
“The furry ‘community’ is a fandom that has been overrun by liberal ‘tolerance’ and ‘acceptance’ and as a result it’s become sanctuary to hardcore paedophiles and people with serious mental problems,” the unnamed author of Nazi furry erotica “The Furred Reich” told The New Statesman, which has been doggedly covering the Alt-Furry scene for years.
The core furry community, then, finds itself in quite the bind: Can a group founded upon the idea of consummate tolerance embrace a clique that’s so staunchly intolerant?
The goal is furry individuality; that must be our prime responsibility. We are the paragons that embody the furry spirit of the fandom, whether we want to be or not and therefore our dream is to preserve the fandom. To do that we must have perseverance and goodwill. pic.twitter.com/byZP4SIv2N
— Furry Raiders (@Furry_Raiders) March 7, 2018
For the opposing furries leading an outright fight against the alt-right, the answer is no. Dogpatch Press, a furry news source offering “fluff pieces every week day,” often rails against Alt-Furries and their attempts at indoctrination. In February, a Dogpatch writer with the fursona Patch O’Furr published a “deep dive into the Altfurry mission to ‘redpill’ fandom with hate,” warning readers about the #AltFurry mission to indoctrinate members of the fandom and spread its white supremacist teachings.
According to O’Furr, furry fandom is a perfect venue for alt-right recruiters. Just as Pepe the Frog (RIP) served as a seemingly harmless, comedic package through which to promulgate racist, misogynist and xenophobic beliefs, fursonas can act as effective, hirsute fronts for extreme views. As Furry fandom member Deo elaborated in a Medium post, furry communities ― often populated by “socially awkward internet nerds” ― are prime targets for alt-right trolls, who target young people, outsiders and insecure, white men.
“This fandom consists of people looking to belong,” Ayala the Deer put it. “Many of the furry raiders will entice people to join their ranks with gifts like artwork. Some people might not even understand what their true agenda is, and will gladly join, finding a place to belong.”
To combat the burgeoning movement, DogPatch suggests downloading @AltFurryBlocker, a CVS file that will remove all Fur Right content from your furry feed. There is also a devoted subculture called Antifa Furries for those “willing to do whatever is necessary to stomp out fascism.”
Do right by your #FursuitFriday and grab yourself some TWITTER TIMELINE BLOCKING SUPER POWER courtesy of @AltFurryBlocker.
— Archantael
Sorry for not being Terry Crews, by the way; I am too British. pic.twitter.com/bbOl4F0pkA
