No. When i was growing up, never saw this ever and the internet was still around. This is something else
Comment on Why are some many people role playing as animals?
TheAlbatross@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 weeks ago
Imma guess, like most things it seems, they always have been, we just see it more thanks to the internet.
moonluna@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
TheAlbatross@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 weeks ago
Dunno how old you are, but we got internet when I was about ten years old and lemme tell you it’s always been there.
WhatGodIsMadeOf@feddit.org 3 weeks ago
Fredryk phox disagrees
Zyratoxx@fedia.io 2 weeks ago
There are photos of my grandparents dressing up as animals for carnival back when they were living under communist rule so before the Internet. I found them when I was clearing out their house bc they moved to a retirement home. And I think if my ancestors had the ability to make photos of everything they were doing I bet someone already did the same thing before them. And since festivities like carnival also come with an easy atmosphere and quite some alcohol consumption I would not be suprised if they also did some roleplaying if they were already wearing the costumes why not.
The Internet now just brings these communities together and makes them more visible I'd say
ivanafterall@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
This is an interesting point and makes me wonder: are there historical accounts of furries in history? I guess you could count things like werewolf stories, maybe, but that seems like a stretch…? I get the feeling I’m describing an existing field of study and hope there’s something to read about it?
WhatGodIsMadeOf@feddit.org 3 weeks ago
Egyptians and native Americans dressed up as animals… Or maybe I’m very uneducated and this racist.
ivanafterall@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
But does that count as “furry?” I guess? If so, then yeah, tons of furries throughout time. I don’t know enough about it. I guess I’m realizing I presume that furry is a sexual thing, which I think is probably incorrect? I don’t even know enough to be asking about it. I can recall plenty examples of people looking back at historical figures and being like, “yep, definitely gay,” but I can’t recall any examples of, “yep, total furry.” That’s all I’m trying to say. I presume they must be out there.
FaceDeer@fedia.io 3 weeks ago
Lots, this kind of thing goes back deep into pre-history. I mentioned in another comment in this thread that the oldest known sculpture is of a furry and the oldest known cave painted art is furry art. Lots of gods and creatures of myth are human/animal hybrids of various sorts, or straight up animal spirits.
treadful@lemmy.zip 3 weeks ago
Linking anthropomorphized animals to furry culture is quite a stretch. Even old tribal cultures where they might wear animal skins/skulls for rituals doesn’t even really have much in common with what people are doing in fur suits today.
FaceDeer@fedia.io 3 weeks ago
Furries are a modern example of anthropomorphic animals in culture. It's a convenient shorthand.
ivanafterall@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
True. I feel like there must be a book out there. Because I’m secretly hoping for like…Socrates admitting he dressed as a hung fox or whatever (JUST AN EXAMPLE).