Editing Furry fandom (section)

==History==
In 1976, cartoonists Ken Fletcher and Reed Waller created the [[amateur press association]] ''Vootie'', which was dedicated to animal-focused art.<ref>{{Citation |last=Waller |first=Reed |date=29 February 1976 |editor-last=Waller |editor-first=Reed |editor2-last=Fletcher |editor2-first=Ken |title=Pre-Vootie apa-zine flyer - page 1 |url=https://www.furaffinity.net/view/19451045/ |access-date=11 October 2024 |via=[[FurAffinity]]}}</ref> Many of its featured works contained adult themes, such as ''[["Omaha" the Cat Dancer]]'', which contained explicit sex.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Waller, Reed.|title=The collected 'Omaha': the cat dancer; Vol. 1|date=1995|publisher=Fantagraphics Books|others=Worley, Kate.|isbn=1-56097-161-4|edition=1st Fantagraphics books|location=Seattle, Wash.|oclc=122275829}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Skinn, Dez. |url=https://archive.org/details/comixunderground0000skin |title=Comix: the underground revolution |date=2004 |publisher=Thunder's Mouth Press |isbn=1-56025-572-2 |location=New York |oclc=55592337 |url-access=registration |pages=71, 106 |quote=A furry animal turned erotic dancer...Omaha...is full of nubile animals of all sexual persuasions. Omaha...integrated sex into the storyline rather than just for shock value}}</ref> ''Vootie'' grew a small following over the next several years, and its contributors began meeting at science fiction and comics conventions.

According to fandom historian [[Fred Patten]], the concept of ''furry'' originated at a [[science fiction convention]] in 1980,<ref name="YarfChronology">{{cite news|author=Patten, Fred|author-link=Fred Patten|url=http://www.flayrah.com/4117/retrospective-illustrated-chronology-furry-fandom-1966-1996|title=Retrospective: An Illustrated Chronology of Furry Fandom, 1966–1996|publisher=[[WikiFur:Flayrah|Flayrah]]|date=2012-07-15|access-date=2012-07-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160405235823/https://www.flayrah.com/4117/retrospective-illustrated-chronology-furry-fandom-1966-1996|archive-date=2016-04-05|url-status=live}}</ref> when a character drawing from Steve Gallacci's ''[[Albedo Anthropomorphics]]'' started a discussion of anthropomorphic characters in science fiction novels. This led to the formation of a discussion group that met at science fiction conventions and [[comics convention]]s.

The specific term ''furry fandom'' was being used in [[fanzine]]s as early as 1983, and had become the standard name for the genre by the mid-1990s when it was defined as "the organized appreciation and dissemination of art and prose regarding 'Furries', or fictional [[mammal]]ian anthropomorphic characters".<ref>{{cite news|first=Fred|last=Patten|url=http://www.anthrozine.com/site/lbry/yarf.reviews.b.html|title=The Yarf! reviews|work=[[WikiFur:Anthro|ANTHRO]]|access-date=2007-09-24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160313204950/http://anthrozine.com/site/lbry/yarf.reviews.b.html|archive-date=2016-03-13|url-status=live}}</ref> Fans consider the origins of furry fandom to be much earlier, with fictional works such as ''[[Kimba the White Lion|Kimba, the White Lion]]'', released in 1965, [[Richard Adams]]' novel ''[[Watership Down]]'', published in 1972 (and its [[Watership Down (film)|1978 film adaptation]]), as well as [[Robin Hood (1973 film)|Disney's ''Robin Hood'']], as oft-cited examples.<ref name="YarfChronology"/> Internet newsgroup discussion in the 1990s created some separation between fans of "[[funny animal]]" characters and furry characters, meant to avoid the baggage that was associated with the term "furry".<ref>{{cite book |last=Sandler |first=Kevin S. |url=https://archive.org/details/readingrabbitexp0000unse |title=Reading the Rabbit: Explorations in Warner Bros. Animation |publisher=[[Rutgers University Press]] |year=1998 |isbn=0-8135-2537-3 |location=New Brunswick, N.J. |pages=202 |oclc=37890394 |quote=[The distinction between "furry" and "funny animal"] is largely because of the baggage the term 'furry' carries with it, as a number of people see 'furries' [to be] obsessed with the sexuality of their fictitious characters. |url-access=registration}}</ref>

During the 1980s, furry fans began to publish fanzines, developing a social group that eventually began to schedule social gatherings. By 1989, there was sufficient interest to stage the first furry convention: Confurence 0,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Patten |first1=Fred |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6EMODgAAQBAJ&pg=PA57 |title=Furry Fandom Conventions, 1989-2015 |publisher=McFarland |year=2017 |isbn=9781476663814 |pages=57 |author-link=Fred Patten |no-pp=y |access-date=2023-03-19 |archive-date=2023-04-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230408201553/https://books.google.com/books?id=6EMODgAAQBAJ&pg=PA57 |url-status=live }}</ref> and it was held at the Holiday Inn Bristol Plaza in [[Costa Mesa, California]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Klee |first1=Miles |date=Oct 16, 2016 |title=Here's some amazing raw footage from the world's first furry convention |work=The Daily Dot |url=https://www.dailydot.com/unclick/first-furry-convention-1989/ |url-status=live |access-date=28 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180628185111/https://www.dailydot.com/unclick/first-furry-convention-1989/ |archive-date=28 June 2018}}</ref> Once the Internet became accessible to the general population in the 1990s, it became the most popular means for furry fans to socialize.<ref name="BBC">{{cite news |title=Who are the furries? |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/8355287.stm |first=Denise |last=Winterman |work=[[BBC News|BBC News Magazine]] |date=November 13, 2009 |access-date=2009-11-29 |archive-date=2020-11-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201109040643/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/8355287.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> The [[Usenet newsgroup|newsgroup]] ''alt.fan.furry'' was created in November 1990, and virtual environments such as [[TinyMUCK|MUCKs]] also became popular places on the internet for fans to communicate.<ref name="FurryMUCK">{{cite web |last=Stamper |first=Chris |title=Furry Muckity-Muck |publisher=The Netly News |date=March 29, 1996 |url=http://www.pressedfur.com/press/muckity-muck.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927162630/http://www.pressedfur.com/press/muckity-muck.html |archive-date=2007-09-27 |access-date=2007-04-13}}</ref>