A question I have heard more than once; "why are you a furry? What's up with that?" Usually a closeminded mock-question, but on a few occasions, pure curiosity. It occured to me one day that it may be in my interest to ponder this myself: Why are we furries? Indeed, what in the blue hell is up with that?

On the surface, trying to discover the motivations of someone who invisions themselves as a sentient mythical beast may prove more than just a little difficult. A question like this will most definitely take more than just a single general theory to answer, but I'd like to think that my musings may inspire someone of greater intellect to tread further into it.

"What is an anthro/furry?"
Well, voices in my head, While most would classify this as any physical cross between man and beast, much like a werewolf, I have found the main difference to be a humanesque intellect coupled with a dominant animal-like appearance of some sort. These types of mythical creatures have been in Man's mind for millenia and are still present in our culture. From the oldest examples of them, such as Anubis (Egyptian mythology) and Tanuki, (Shinto mythology) to Mickey Mouse (Disney's mythology) and Smoky the Bear.

"Okay. So that's what they are, and they've been around a while. That still doesn't explain just why they exist."
Very true, Richard Nixon; I will attempt to explain this to the best of my ability. You see, Man is a thinking animal above all else, and while other animals are capable of communication, it never seems to be in a language that Man can understand. When a human becomes unsatisfied with their neighbors, some will not take the frustration out in a way that destroys, but instead create. You see, when frustrated with the people around us, sometimes we like to be alone. If one continually found themselves in this situation, they would eventually grow lonely. Imaginary friends are a common phenominon for people like this. Who, then, would we choose for a friend that will not cause us the grief of our real-world neighbors? Not a human, no; that would surely lead to more frustration. Instead, one might turn to pets or other animals to interact with. This can go far, but only so much so. After so long, the person would wish to speak with their animal friends, to relate with them on the same level. Animals may have the intellect to interact, but the communication gap is a bit wide. Never to fear, though, for where reality lacks, imagination fills in the holes. Thus, we endow our animals, be they real or imagined, with the intellect, language and social skills which they can use to talk to us.

"Uhh...are we at the part when you tell me just where the hell the porcupine with C cups came into the picture?"
Patience, Sidetable Drawer. Now that our new friends are in our heads, we may want to make them a bit more like us, so that we may relate to them more. Since arms, legs and opposable thumbs are necessary to sit down and drink tea, maybe we should give them these things. Since the human torso is best suited to deal with these limbs, we should prolly endow them with that, too. We can't have them looking completely human, though, so we'll leave the fur, quills, fangs, claws, number of toes; whatever. Well, this friend looks very interesting, and surely they must be tired of humans, too. At this point, we may wish to envision ourselves as something similar.

"So what about teh furry sex0rz? WTF is that all about lolz?"
Well, Jeff K, let's face one simple fact: people fantasize about sex. In your fantasy world, Pamela Anderson might appear suddenly at your door and want to do the nasty. Frankly, a furry fantasy are about as likely to happen as this is (i.e., NEITHER of them will happen. Ever). Renditions of our imaginations are common, whatever they may be, and what they are depends on just how open we are.

"One last question. Just what the hell is with this 'OMFG KAWAII' shit?"
Have you ever gotten together with your friends and acted stupidly? Thought so.