Motherhood & Parenting Thread - AKA: Why is my daughter eating my chapstick?

[Safir]

Do you think anthro media makes kids into furries, or am I paranoid after being too online and peering into furry depravity?

I think yes, it's a combination of three factors:
- heliparents protecting their pwecious babbies from the world and managing their interests in a specific way
- furry brainrot authors targeting older children (because they have disposable income)
- the death, or more likely political assassination, of boys' adventures (inb4 a solzhenitsyn pipes up: hugely popular in the USSR, you had to collect paper for recycling to be allowed to buy a book).

As a result, children do not graduate to better fiction by the time they reach puberty. If your son's dick comes online when he still watches literal dog and pony shows, the probability he'll want to fuck ponies increases.

 

[Haunted Tamagotchi]

I love when you ask kids they WHY they do this and you get a convoluted explanation as the doc digs around up their nose or in their ear as to why it was absolutely, completely, the logical thing to do.

I’m thankful forever that my first three have never done anything requiring this, and I’m hoping that the current little human baking away in my uterus doesn’t fuck this trend up when she’s old enough to start doing dumb shit.

Side note: You think going from one kids to two is hectic? Try going from one to three. Twins are a handful, my friends.

 

[2mm and 99 others]

Do you think anthro media makes kids into furries, or am I paranoid after being too online and peering into furry depravity? Every furry seems to talk about how some childhood anthro media was their awakening. Should we keep kids away from this media? Is there "safe" anthro children's media, or is it all the same? How do you tell what's ok for kids to consume? As an adult, I notice so much weird shit now that I just thought was normal or "jokes" as a kid.

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Depends on particular cases? Billions of kids watched Duck tales, but you don't see many bird furries. But I'd say severe autism (+being gay or bi), as a reason why one doesn't feel comfortable as a human in the society, is an important risk factor while being obsessed with anthro animals closer to humans.
But then, good luck explaining a little sperg, why exactly do you find wrong a movie with strong moral message of the importance of freedom & how is injustice bad, because there is a wolf or a horse being restrained.

 

[Friend of Dorothy Parker]

Do you think anthro media makes kids into furries, or am I paranoid after being too online and peering into furry depravity? Every furry seems to talk about how some childhood anthro media was their awakening. Should we keep kids away from this media? Is there "safe" anthro children's media, or is it all the same? How do you tell what's ok for kids to consume? As an adult, I notice so much weird shit now that I just thought was normal or "jokes" as a kid.

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1. Terms like "anthro media" are both part of the problem and the symptom. Wtf.

2. No, talking cartoons/animals do not make furries. Bugs Bunny has been around - for that matter, fables and children's literature has been full of talking animals literally forever. This dumb dumb dumb furry ridiculousness is collect insanity of a very online- based sort that taints everything.

 

[Mister Mint]

Do you think anthro media makes kids into furries, or am I paranoid after being too online and peering into furry depravity?

An entire generation grew up with talking animal cartoons and there wasn't an outbreak of people that wanted to suck Wile E. Coyote's pink thing back then.

It really wasn't until the internet gave sex weirdos a place to congregate and get even weirder that saying "I would like to fuck that fictional animal" really exploded.

It didn't ever occur to me growing up that cartoon animals, balloons, or insects could ever be a sexual thing, and the same goes for most of these people until someone told them it is. I'd imagine the strange or taboo aspect of these things is what drives it, so try to minimize their contact with sex weirdo shit and maybe when it's time for the sex talk add in a bit letting them know there's a lot of weirdos on the internet that do a lot of weird shit and no matter how "okay" and "valid" people say it is, it isn't.

 

[Kari Kamiya]

Do you think anthro media makes kids into furries, or am I paranoid after being too online and peering into furry depravity? Every furry seems to talk about how some childhood anthro media was their awakening. Should we keep kids away from this media? Is there "safe" anthro children's media, or is it all the same? How do you tell what's ok for kids to consume? As an adult, I notice so much weird shit now that I just thought was normal or "jokes" as a kid.

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I made a post about this very question in the Cartoon Industry thread because the nature of cartoons is to be cartoony, as in, non-realistic and goofy where our universal laws don't exist in their world; the world of Looney Tunes is a fantastic example of this which is why although there are furry fans of the franchise, the franchise does not count as furry despite having anthro characters. Animation was a medium that was popular with adults until the TV came out, and the rise of cartoons made on the cheap meant that it became more accessible and appealing to children, and many of cartoon tropes from ye olde cinematic times still remained. This was then quickly seen as a "children's medium", so parents were just none-the-wiser since they had also grown up seeing this on TV and in newspaper comics.

Now I think intention really does depend on the context, gonna be real with you. Disney's Robin Hood was created by animators and artists emulating the look of stories and art from that very time period (anthropomorphism is older than dirt), and I don't believe any one of them had malicious intent to turn children into future furries. Some people just really liked the look and artistic decision to go with animals instead of humans to tell a human story, and when a like-minded group came together to form a community around it, that was how furries came to be. (I don't know how deeply engrained sexuality was from the get-go. I'm assuming that because it was an adult community, it was to be expected it would be involved, but as the main focus? That had to have come later as a spun-off niche like kink culture and BDSM.)

Now something like Disney's Lion Guard, however, does have malicious intent in forcing in specific fetishes into children's media because actual (modern, Internet-grown) furries are involved, and they're childless pornographers and groomers disguising themselves as animators and artists.

Zootopia in 2015 actually pandered to furries, though you can tell they're being cheeky about it.

And it's highly likely they're about to double-down on it with the sequel (not my screencap) since that doodle taken from an animator's Instagram is a shout-out to Bad Guys 2 (which the series also has anthro characters).


Mind you, this isn't the first time Disney made references to furries as a community. From Phineas & Ferb:


So essentially, it's a judgment call. This is why it's important for parents to preview cartoons and other children's mediums before showing it to their children, or to even watch it with them and be able to make quick decisions to interfere when something on the screen goes against the values you want to teach your children.

Also this comic is relevant:


Apologies for the sperg-out.

 

[Friend of Dorothy Parker]

Zootopia in 2015 actually pandered to furries, though you can tell they're being cheeky about it.

See, there's nothing about that clip that is sexual or "furry." They're just cartoon animals in a world with no humans. I'm aware that they early-target-marketed to "furries," which - yuck. But anyone unfamiliar with that weirdo sexual habit/fetish (stats say about 75% of the fandom experiences some level of sexual aspect to their interest*) would not be titillated or otherwise perceiving anything like that about it. Kids (and normal adults) enjoy talking animals. And the trailer is clear there are no humans in the Zootopia world; they are actual animals, not cosplayers. It's just really annoying to corrupt innocent things to what is, on balance, weird** sexual interests.

*

In one survey with 4,300 furry respondents, 37% answered that sexual attraction is important in their furry activities, 38% were ambivalent, and 24% responded that it has little or nothing to do with their furry activities. In an earlier online survey, 33% of furry respondents answered that they have a "significant sexual interest in furry", another 46% stated they have a "minor sexual interest in furry", and the remaining 21% stated they have a "non-sexual interest in furry". The survey specifically avoided adult-oriented websites to prevent bias.

(quoted text cited and linked below)

**yes, I unapologetically think it is weird and gross as a "lifestyle" or significant sexual interest.

Similarly, the Phineas and Ferb Squirrel Con is most normally perceived as just a funny concept of a bunch of people dressed up in squirrel costumes (not rubbing all over each other). Benignly weird and funny (bc adults dressing up like squirrels is fundamentally silly), but not creepy. And tbh I wish I knew less and could just perceive things like this in that way, but that gets to the main point: none of this would be as big as it is without terminal online-ness and unrestrained creepers being allowed, endorsed by, or leading many of these groups. But even as a full-grown adult with zero vulnerability or draw to this mess, my perceptions have been tainted (fuck you, furries).

That said, the only way any kid cartoons are a "gateway" to anything, as depicted in that cartoon you included, is with the influence of online creepos, and the increasing acceptance, organization, and growth of these things, which could once have been merely benign nerd hobbies, into sexual and lifestyle choices that furries perceive as legit. Imagine being so unserious and escapism-oriented.

All that said, I don't think kids who watch anthropomorphic cartoons are in danger of anything from the cartoons themselves; it's the follow-on obsessive internet rabbit-hole (npi) following and the opportunists that prey on lost and lonely kids/ young people.

Side note: I found these statistics (per wiki, but with citations and presented neutrally, though much from nearly a decade ago) interesting (Tl; dr: square peg young white men, of varying sexuality, who like anime and report a significantly higher (at least self-identified) autistic incidence than average):

The International Anthropomorphic Research Project (IARP), a team of social scientists, has been collecting data on the furry fandom. Their 2016 publication collects several peer-reviewed and self-published studies into a single volume. Among their findings were that the average adult furry is between 23 and 27 years of age, with more than 75% of furries being 25 years of age or younger, and 88% of adult furries being under the age of 30. Minors were not included in the study for professional ethics reasons. IARP estimated that 20% were under the age of 18.

Over two-thirds (67.1%) of furries identified themselves as male on the surveys, while 23.3% identified as female. 2% of furries identified themselves as transgender, and 10% of furries identified themselves as genderqueer/non-binary.

Between 83% and 90% of furries self-identify as White, with small minorities of furries self-identifying as Asian (2–4%), Black (2–3%), and Hispanic (3%).

Over a fifth (21%) of furries consider themselves to be bronies, 44% consider themselves to be anime fans, and 11% consider themselves sports fans. Furries, as a group, are more politically liberal and less religious than the average American or other comparable fan groups such as anime fans, while still containing groups such as neo-Nazis and alt-right activists.

According to four different surveys, 14–25% of the fandom members report homosexuality, 37–52% bisexuality, 28–39% heterosexuality, and 3–8% other forms of alternative sexual relationships.

Almost a quarter of furries (23.5%) self-identified as Christian, 16.8% as atheist, 16.8% as agnostic, 11.0% as Pagan/Wiccan, 2.4% as Buddhist, 1.2% as Jewish, 1.1% as Deist, 0.9% as Satanist, and 26.2% as "other" (including "participants who had their own belief systems, were undecided, refused to answer, or had uncommon belief systems").

A Pittsburgh-based researcher has found that up to 15% of furries may be autistic, compared with about 2% in the general population estimated by the CDC. The 15% figure includes people who may have never received a diagnosis but self-identify as autistic.

More than 95% of furries have a fursona.

Some furries identify as partly non-human: 35% say they do not feel 100% human (compared with 7% of non-furries), and 39% say they would be 0% human if they could (compared with 10% of non-furries).

Inclusion and belongingness are central themes in the furry fandom: compared with members of other fandoms such as anime or fantasy sports, furries are significantly more likely to identify with other members of their fan community.

Quotes are from this entry. I don't claim it to be dispositive or heavy science, nor to be free of wiki editor "shaping."

 

[Safir]

(Tl; dr: square peg young white men, of varying sexuality, who like anime and report a significantly higher (at least self-identified) autistic incidence than average):

So why so many whites?
Blacks and latinos are no less fond of anime and no less susceptible to grooming or seeing horrible shit on the online.
4- and 8-year-old colored children (black, latino, asian/pacific islander) are diagnosed with autism more often that whites (you might say "they're neglected and badly behaved" but this is offset by the fact that neglectful parents won't be seeking an autism diagnosis).

 

[Friend of Dorothy Parker]

So why so many whites?
Blacks and latinos are no less fond of anime and no less susceptible to grooming or seeing horrible shit on the online.
4- and 8-year-old colored children (black, latino, asian/pacific islander) are diagnosed with autism more often that whites (you might say "they're neglected and badly behaved" but this is offset by the fact that neglectful parents won't be seeking an autism diagnosis).

Interesting - super-quick look-ups of pretty current data did suggest that anime enjoyment is higher among Asian and black kids vs non-hisp white, and that ASD is about a half-point to a point higher in those populations than in non-hisp white kids. Hadn't really thought about it, but I guess I'm mildly surprised there are consistent, discernable differences.

And so yeah - why do white kids/ adults go full furry creep more than other groups? I have a few speculative thoughts but don't feel like triggering touchy people today. I would think it's a mashup of social/ economic bandwidth and community self-selection/ belonging. Also, white kids are still the largest block by numbers, so even if precedent factors swing to higher rates in other populations, in absolute numbers there are more white kids in the pool, so more opportunities for community, including more extreme communities, may be more easily found.

 

[Otterly]

the death, or more likely political assassination, of boys' adventures

I do agree with you on this. I used to love those sorts of derring-do adventures (I think I’d read all the Willard Price ones out the school library and I know they’re not there these days.) kids lit is hugely skewed towards girls. It’s all feelings and unicorns if you can even find something that’s not actively perverted,
It’s all media really. You see it with cartoons too - tiny kid ones are both sexes, then something happens about the age they hit school and suddenly the ones aimed at girls are all makeup and let’s be famous and bitchiness and the boy ones are talking vehicle merchandising. There are some exceptions , but not that many.
Boys (and the girls who like that stuff) don’t have that kind of adventure stuff any more, and the media aimed at girls is just bloody depressing.
I feel like so much stuff aimed at little girls casts them as a lesser being, and I hate it. We were in a toy shop today with the kids and there’s a big Lego area they all love. There were displays of each type, and some of its great - the City stuff is perfect t. Then there’s this Lego friends display with ‘SHE BUILT IT!’ As if Mein Gott Ze girl child built with ze bricks sis is revolutionary!
Lego just used to be for everyone, I cannot stand the girl Lego.

 

[Forgive Me Im Retarded]

No I hear that. I have girls and I don’t know if it’s because I’m don’t wear make up, or because we don’t watch tv (we have movies or we might stream an older classic show like A:tLA, or futurama but nothing really with the ads or weird writing you see today) but my kids only see make up as costume play these days. Back in grade 1 they had classmates wearing pressed nails and face makeup to school, but usually those kids also had Barbie moms who idolized the kardashians.

I think the gender-focused toys these days are really telling considering how long we’ve been hearing the complaints about “girls having dolls and boys having sport” or whatever.

It’s probably a combination of shitty whore moms drive their daughter’s interests, and the markets reacts to what sells. Since bad parents don’t care about what gifts their kids want, the pattern is encouraged? Im sounding petty but I’m genuinely relieved my kids are tolerable

 

[2mm and 99 others]

Boys (and the girls who like that stuff) don’t have that kind of adventure stuff any more, and the media aimed at girls is just bloody depressing.

Because the world in which the 'boy stories' take place, has mostly disappeared by now, so contemporary authors lack inspiration and if they had it, their reader base would have a harder time identifying with something they don't see around.
Today's world has been concreted and asphalted over, turned into underground garages, demolished, gentrified, barred, filled with brownoids, instead of mysterious abandoned gardens you have some miserable vegetation and commercial forests. From the euro perspective, instead of ancient dark alleys, you have overtourism-ridden bad joke of an old town with tourist traps, museums of torture and wax figures and those fucking water tanks with fish that nibble at tourist's feet. That interesting cave in the woods or an old quarry has an asphalted road to it and a paid parking place now. And biking somewhere interesting with friends is bothersome or outright dangerous because of the traffic.

A lot of boy adventures were produced in the time a significant part of the Western world was still poor(-ish) or undeveloped and/or between wars or after it, I don't want to say that doing things like extracting explosives from found ammo is a pastime worthy of a promising young gentleman tho.

 

[Mother Gooseberry]

Any other Kiwis here have a child with autism that have been looking at this new “Tylenol + pregnancy =autism” revelation? And a treatment for it being medication given to people that are going through chemotherapy? I’m dubious about the medication part more than anything.

 

[Otterly]

Any other Kiwis here have a child with autism that have been looking at this new “Tylenol + pregnancy =autism” revelation? And a treatment for it being medication given to people that are going through chemotherapy? I’m dubious about the medication part more than anything.

It isn’t ‘a single cause’ - it’s more like one of many causes. If you took a couple of paracetamol while you were pregnant to get a fever down then do t beat yourself up, it’s a very marginal effect at best. Autism is like a threshold thing - genetics take you part of the way there and environment the rest. The leucovorin stuff again isn’t some magical cure for autism, more work needed etc.

 

[Clotso Coof]

There's nothing like your children to make you feel old.
Conversation today:

Child: "So you're from the 19s, right?"
Me: "Do you mean born in the 19s? Yes."
Child, eyes widened: "HOW ARE YOU ALIVE if you're from the 19s?"

Me: "Uh...well, the 19s were a long time ago. But not a long, long time ago. It's not like it was a hundred years ago."
Child: "So you survived?"
Me: "Yes"

Every furry seems to talk about how some childhood anthro media was their awakening.

I wonder if that's falsely reconstructing their childhoods to account for their pervert obsessions? Sure, they may think X characters are sexual in 2025 now that they've grown up into a disgusting furry. But that doesn't mean that's what they were actually thinking watching X cartoon as a kid 15 yrs ago.

Masculine late-transitioning AGPs often try to reconstruct their childhoods to excuse their porn sickness and obsessive fetish. "I knew I was a girl when I was in kindergarten. I was picked on by the other boys for being feminine. I was bullied relentlessly." Meanwhile he was a high school football star and a Navy Seal.

 

[Otterly]

So you survived?"

I have had more or less this same conversation. they were so horrified

 

[Kari Kamiya]

Child: "So you're from the 19s, right?"
Me: "Do you mean born in the 19s? Yes."
Child, eyes widened: "HOW ARE YOU ALIVE if you're from the 19s?"

Don't tell them about their grandparents...

 

[Dagoth AMOGUS]

To any parents or expecting parents in this thread, I just want to tell you both good luck. We’re all counting on you.

 

[Laylithe]

Of all the places I wished to go....damn. I hit rock bottom.

 

[tygressofaera]

My daughter just turned 3 months old and is sleeping for one 5 hour stretch at night. No more waking up every 2 hours. She smiles a ton now. I feel refreshed and alive for the first time since the third trimester. Life is good.