2026-09-20T00:28:41Zhttps://dspace.mit.edu/server/oai/requestoai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/1276622025-10-27T18:00:45Zcom_1721.1_7582com_1721.1_7581col_1721.1_131023
Ian Condry.
Silverman, Ben(Benjamin Luke Matanos)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Comparative Media Studies.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Program in Comparative Media Studies/Writing
2020-09-21T16:42:10Z
2020-09-21T16:42:10Z
2020
2020
https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/127662
1192966622
Thesis: S.M. in Comparative Media Studies, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Comparative Media Studies/Writing, May, 2020
Cataloged from the official PDF of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 72-75).
The furry fandom is a loose-knit online subculture of fans devoted to anthropomorphic animal characters. Furries are not necessarily fans of specific media properties, but instead often create their own media, including the "fursona," an anthropomorphic animal character to represent oneself in the community. Conducting empirical research through interviews, participant observation, auto ethnography, and virtual ethnography, I have sought to understand this aspect of furry identity and sociality through a number of disciplinary lenses. In this thesis, I argue that furry queers fandom through several interrelated processes: severing fandom from textual objects; developing queer sex publics; paving new pathways to queer becoming; and displacing online identity through stylized, affective modes of embodiment. These fan practices, as articulated through the fursona, cohere into a queer worlding of virtual spaces.
by Ben Silverman.
S.M. in Comparative Media Studies
S.M.inComparativeMediaStudies Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Comparative Media Studies/Writing
75 pages ;
eng
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
MIT theses may be protected by copyright. Please reuse MIT thesis content according to the MIT Libraries Permissions Policy, which is available through the URL provided.
http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582
Comparative Media Studies.
Fursonas : furries, community, and identity online
Furries, community, and identity online
Thesis
application/pdf
2020-09-21T16:42:09Z
Publication
Master
CMS
unknown
unknown
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<Abstract>The furry fandom is a loose-knit online subculture of fans devoted to anthropomorphic animal characters. Furries are not necessarily fans of specific media properties, but instead often create their own media, including the "fursona," an anthropomorphic animal character to represent oneself in the community. Conducting empirical research through interviews, participant observation, auto ethnography, and virtual ethnography, I have sought to understand this aspect of furry identity and sociality through a number of disciplinary lenses. In this thesis, I argue that furry queers fandom through several interrelated processes: severing fandom from textual objects; developing queer sex publics; paving new pathways to queer becoming; and displacing online identity through stylized, affective modes of embodiment. These fan practices, as articulated through the fursona, cohere into a queer worlding of virtual spaces.</Abstract>
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