Cultural Identity Theory
a month ago
*just random whitterings from a bab who's been doing too much homework....feel free to ignore*
So. I have to do a twenty minute presentation in a few weeks on Cultural Identity Theory and it's actually really quite an interesting topic. I didn't know much about it when I first started researching and assumed, stupidly that it was all about where we come from and how we're brought up... our heritage and our race and our religion, but that was over simplifying it somewhat and whilst yes those facets matter It's not all of it.
Basically every person reading this has multiple identities, the person they are with their family, the person they are when they're at work, maybe you have a neighbourhood that you feel close with, what about your social class? Maybe you support a sports team or a band, what age are you? Your gender? Are you a parent? A sibling? We're all part of so many social groups and that's what Cultural Identity theory is about. The whole person.
Now lets apply that to Furry and what do we get? It's a strange group, stereo typically full of folk who have felt they misfitted somewhere else, but equally doesn't have to be that. We're artists and musicians and writers and cosplayers, geeks and gamers, car enthusiasts, different in neurodiversity, different races, differently able bodied, some folk are really high on the money ladder others are in extreme poverty, queer folk, straight folk and everything in between. Kinky, non kinky. Different ideologies, religions, political views, but we mostly (although again not necessarily) have a character we have created either in reality via paper/fursuit/mixed media or in our minds and we come together with that identity, that fursona.
We are carrying so much with us, there's so much difference in our furry group it's amazing that we can largely get along because of this connection and it's amazing. Cultural identity theory then goes on to explain, that when we strongly identify with a group we'll feel like we're part of the 'in group' and then find an 'out group' to vilify.
I guess in terms of furries a strong one that springs to mind is Furries as the weirdos and then we kinda snub the normies. But we also have in groups and out groups INSIDE of furry. Take the familiar cycle of beating down the babyfurs or the ferals, or the ageism angle of you're creepy if you're still here past 30. Gatekeeping. Who calls the shots, the struggle of sanitising furry so that it's more accessible to minors, but the sex positive crew wanting to keep it weird to keep corporations out and having safe adult spaces to explore sexuality. And what we do to remain in the In groups we identify with, what makes me a babyfur, what happens if I step outside of those boundaries, what if I'm thrown out. We modify our way of relating in order to stay within the groups we identify with. How we learn the etiquette of our chosen groups and toe the line so we can continue to feel like we belong.
We're untamable and chaotic and it's more like a sea of people, sometimes moving as one calm enjoyable ocean and sometimes crashing waves together, messy and dangerous, and how could it be anything less with this many unique individuals here for so many different reasons. I just find it astonishing sometimes that any of it works at all.
I'm looking forward to the presentation I'll be doing. It's been really fascinating to think about.
So. I have to do a twenty minute presentation in a few weeks on Cultural Identity Theory and it's actually really quite an interesting topic. I didn't know much about it when I first started researching and assumed, stupidly that it was all about where we come from and how we're brought up... our heritage and our race and our religion, but that was over simplifying it somewhat and whilst yes those facets matter It's not all of it.
Basically every person reading this has multiple identities, the person they are with their family, the person they are when they're at work, maybe you have a neighbourhood that you feel close with, what about your social class? Maybe you support a sports team or a band, what age are you? Your gender? Are you a parent? A sibling? We're all part of so many social groups and that's what Cultural Identity theory is about. The whole person.
Now lets apply that to Furry and what do we get? It's a strange group, stereo typically full of folk who have felt they misfitted somewhere else, but equally doesn't have to be that. We're artists and musicians and writers and cosplayers, geeks and gamers, car enthusiasts, different in neurodiversity, different races, differently able bodied, some folk are really high on the money ladder others are in extreme poverty, queer folk, straight folk and everything in between. Kinky, non kinky. Different ideologies, religions, political views, but we mostly (although again not necessarily) have a character we have created either in reality via paper/fursuit/mixed media or in our minds and we come together with that identity, that fursona.
We are carrying so much with us, there's so much difference in our furry group it's amazing that we can largely get along because of this connection and it's amazing. Cultural identity theory then goes on to explain, that when we strongly identify with a group we'll feel like we're part of the 'in group' and then find an 'out group' to vilify.
I guess in terms of furries a strong one that springs to mind is Furries as the weirdos and then we kinda snub the normies. But we also have in groups and out groups INSIDE of furry. Take the familiar cycle of beating down the babyfurs or the ferals, or the ageism angle of you're creepy if you're still here past 30. Gatekeeping. Who calls the shots, the struggle of sanitising furry so that it's more accessible to minors, but the sex positive crew wanting to keep it weird to keep corporations out and having safe adult spaces to explore sexuality. And what we do to remain in the In groups we identify with, what makes me a babyfur, what happens if I step outside of those boundaries, what if I'm thrown out. We modify our way of relating in order to stay within the groups we identify with. How we learn the etiquette of our chosen groups and toe the line so we can continue to feel like we belong.
We're untamable and chaotic and it's more like a sea of people, sometimes moving as one calm enjoyable ocean and sometimes crashing waves together, messy and dangerous, and how could it be anything less with this many unique individuals here for so many different reasons. I just find it astonishing sometimes that any of it works at all.
I'm looking forward to the presentation I'll be doing. It's been really fascinating to think about.
It's also kind of scary to think about with what you said about toeing the line on the norms of what's expected in any group. But at the same time, I don't really have to think about 'being a babyfur' in the sense that I just 'am' that thing.
(p.s. I freakin' love when you make journals about the stuff you're studying, it's so outside my normal range of things I engage with that it always gets my brain going)
Seems like this theory has a nifty amount of nuance. ^^
The diversity within any one group can be really wide which tends to be why narrow kinds of Identity Politics just don't work out so well as much as we all may be for toleration and more inclusion plus some aspects are things we may little effective choice over.
Do think it is something virtually unchangeable in humanity to seek in groups or clicks as they are known and villainize out groups?
I heard it has something to do with tribalism I believe.
Fursona's are interesting considering they come from fables, people used animals as stand in's for certain types of traits, similarly how our fursona's animal identities can be used as a short hand of sorts.
The furry fandom can similarly be perceived as some perceive the universe.
It seems strange how all these forces seem to all work together, yet some how they simply do.
Sounds like it will be a fun presentation to make, hope it is enjoyable and informative to all!
Or maybe I misunderstood everything lol.
As for this;
Who calls the shots, the struggle of sanitising furry so that it's more accessible to minors, but the sex positive crew wanting to keep it weird to keep corporations out and having safe adult spaces to explore sexuality.
Furries/Furryism/FurryFandom should never be forced sanitised on all levels to make room for minors, number one reason being is that if a minor were to come across the art amd or media that an NSFW artist produces it is not on the artist to keep them at bay, it is on the minor's guardians and everyone else in their life who allowed them access to adult materials before they were mature enough to handle it. I severely disdain the idea that people should constantly keep things rated G for minors especially in adult oriented spaces like the FurryFandom. Truth be told I don't think minors belong here at all, because at its core, furry is a fetish, whether anyone wants to believe or agree is not my problem, but furry is a fetish and it will always be one, and minors do not need to be in fetish groups.
its kind of like being American now. it means a whole lot of different things to different people and you can't really judge them all by the same metric, and so many different walks of life call themselves by that identity. No two people agree exactly on what it IS to be an american, and even those things that officially make us such are felt and understood differently by almost everyone.
So you kind of have to assume everyone is on the same page in order to really get involved in the wider thing these days with it all so big, but knowing when you're not will help you find your people specifically.
I'm curious what your thoughts on this are and how that plays in with Cultural Identity Theory.
As human beings it's important to us to have a generalised idea about different groups. It helps keep us safe, let's us know our surroundings quicker. Heck even the look of specific individuals can evoke strong reactions even if they're complete strangers to us. Is this person a threat to me, am I safe?
This whole theory is about trying to NOT let these prejudices colour how we see an individual and that even though they're part of very specific groups they're still an individual.
People project their personalities by the choices they make in a myriad of ways--their clothes, hair, lingo, body decorations, the car they drive, the music they like, the jokes they laugh at...the ones who make me nervous are the people who conceal their real selves.
Being gay and growing up in a specific religion that is against that for example. Two parts are part of you but they struggle to co exist. And sometimes one side feels stronger than the other or both equally important. My little side and my gotta be an adult side often butt heads and don't always co-exist and that feels quite difficult and frankly can be overwhelming at times.
But it just makes all the sense in the world. So many of us wear so many different hats.
“Are you aware of the many and varied selves you harbor within you? The self suffused with divine love, the self capable of demonic cruelty… People live by wearing different masks. Your current self may be only one of those innumerable masks.” - Philemon, Persona 1 (PSP vers.)
For a source of data to help support your presentations have you considered FurScience's published book yet? Might b e a good starting point for building your presentation.