Media does what media wants with what it wants

As a person who is into many many fandoms/ sub cultures I often see media make fun of many of them in some way, shape, or form. Here I will be talking about the HUGE negative view of the furry fandom/culture (I will be using these words interchangeably) that the media has given it.

Many members of the fandom  like to think that the negative views and stereotypes of the fandom started with this CSI episode but not just that, another known negative media example is seen in an episode of 1,000 Way to Die. This media attention focused on the fandom in a very negative way, making the sexual parts of the fandom seemingly the only parts. The media then never followed up all the negative media with any positive media. This is still actually going on today, most recently in an episode of Pawn Stars in which the suiters pictured even released a statement to the fandom saying that they weren't really going to Miami for a sporting event but were actually in town for a convention , in addition all the suiters pictured in the clip have well kept suits that are probably regularly washed- so the chance of them smelling is very very small. There are so many examples of negative views in the media of the fandom that it is usually the only thing people know about the fandom.

However on the flip side, there is some good media on the fandom too! Although these examples take some digging and can be hard to find. The most recent article that I came across that gave the fandom a positive view was an article by BuzzFeed where a reporter actually went to a convention and experienced the culture for him/her self. There is even a news paper article released a while ago about how the fandom's biggest convention is a $3 million cash cow for Pittsburgh every year. What negative media also fails to acknowledge is that at every single furry convention, there is money raised (on average 10k) for a local animal rescue. What the media also likes to not tell people is the general definition of the fandom, which is simply, a fan of anthropomorphic art. If you have ever watched The Lion King, Disney's Robin Hood, even Winnie the Pooh you have watched and know that it means for something to be Anthropomorphic. Many members of the fandom also think that way back when, when the media got tired of Trekkies they needed a new group of people to pick on. So they found the furries.

In some sense the furry fandom could be viewed as a counter culture of sorts as it is usually given negative attention by the media. However maybe it isn't as many many people can relate to what the definition of the fandom is. Many many people don't realize that the members of this fandom, and many others, share many of the same interests and views that people outside of that fandom do. Could media even be trying to make a counter culture out of something that just isn't a counter culture?

The furry fandom is huge and has many aspects of it, both good and bad, but it does not deserve the negative attention that it is given.