What is all the fuzz about? An anthropological study of furries fursona construction
(2026) SANK03 20261Social Anthropology
- Abstract
- This thesis explores the furry fandom and, more specifically, fursona construction and realization of the furries’ “fursona”. The furry fandom is a community of people with a “fan-like interest” in media centering anthropomorphic animals, and members of the fandom are called furries. Drawing on the individual experiences of furries through nine semi-structured interviews, the study aims to give an anthropological account of how the fursona – a personalized anthropomorphic animal character – is constructed through online and offline practices. Further, this thesis focuses on how the fursona is embodied through material objects, such as fursuits. The thesis is also concerned with how the fursona can be a means of expressing one’s gender... (More)
- This thesis explores the furry fandom and, more specifically, fursona construction and realization of the furries’ “fursona”. The furry fandom is a community of people with a “fan-like interest” in media centering anthropomorphic animals, and members of the fandom are called furries. Drawing on the individual experiences of furries through nine semi-structured interviews, the study aims to give an anthropological account of how the fursona – a personalized anthropomorphic animal character – is constructed through online and offline practices. Further, this thesis focuses on how the fursona is embodied through material objects, such as fursuits. The thesis is also concerned with how the fursona can be a means of expressing one’s gender identity and sexual orientation. The ethnographic fieldwork for this study was conducted both online and offline during four weeks. One of the weeks was spent at the furry convention NordicFuzzCon in Malmö. Previous anthropological, as well as psychological and sociological, research on the phenomenon has been used to inform this thesis. To analyze the empirical data, theoretical perspectives from Daniel Miller, Michael Fuchs, Erving Goffman and Tom Boelstorff have been used. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9232963
- author
- Alexandersson, Emilia LU
- supervisor
-
- Sara Kauko LU
- organization
- course
- SANK03 20261
- year
- 2026
- type
- M2 - Bachelor Degree
- subject
- keywords
- Social anthropology, furries, fursona, materiality, self-expression, gender
- language
- English
- id
- 9232963
- date added to LUP
- 2026-06-08 22:36:52
- date last changed
- 2026-06-08 22:36:52
@misc{9232963,
abstract = {{This thesis explores the furry fandom and, more specifically, fursona construction and realization of the furries’ “fursona”. The furry fandom is a community of people with a “fan-like interest” in media centering anthropomorphic animals, and members of the fandom are called furries. Drawing on the individual experiences of furries through nine semi-structured interviews, the study aims to give an anthropological account of how the fursona – a personalized anthropomorphic animal character – is constructed through online and offline practices. Further, this thesis focuses on how the fursona is embodied through material objects, such as fursuits. The thesis is also concerned with how the fursona can be a means of expressing one’s gender identity and sexual orientation. The ethnographic fieldwork for this study was conducted both online and offline during four weeks. One of the weeks was spent at the furry convention NordicFuzzCon in Malmö. Previous anthropological, as well as psychological and sociological, research on the phenomenon has been used to inform this thesis. To analyze the empirical data, theoretical perspectives from Daniel Miller, Michael Fuchs, Erving Goffman and Tom Boelstorff have been used.}},
author = {{Alexandersson, Emilia}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{What is all the fuzz about? An anthropological study of furries fursona construction}},
year = {{2026}},
}