What is a Furry? Survey

The "What is a Furry?" survey was a short survey hosted on Google Forms with the intent of gathering data on the beliefs of the furry community and those who are familiar with the furry community. It was advertised in several online locations, including: Toyhouse, furry groups on DeviantART, the furry Reddit, Tumblr, and Furrypile. It gathered 162 responses, including from the surveyor herself. The results may be viewed .
==Questions==
There were 11 required multiple choice questions and one optional written response.
* Do you identify as a furry?
*Do you have anthro or quad animal characters, but don't identify as a furry?
* How long have you been a furry for?
* Is "Furry" a fandom?
*Can a furry be based on media? (The Lion King, Zootopia, Watership Down, etc)
*Is an animal character based on animal media a fan-character or a furry?
*Can an animal character who neither walks nor talks be a furry or a fursona?
*If someone has a fursona are they automatically a furry, regardless of how they identify?
*Do you believe the designation of someone as a furry is dependent upon how that person identifies, regardless of if they have anthro, feral, or fan characters?
*If an artist who ONLY draws media-based animal characters, such as The Lion King, says that they are a furry, are they a furry despite being confined to one animal-based fandom?
*Do you believe there is gate keeping among furries as to who is or isn't a furry?
*Any last thoughts?
==Promotion==
The survey did not include questions about where respondents came from. However, Toyhouse users were especially responsive and quick to take the survey, as the first day the survey was open it was only advertised on Toyhouse. A large majority of these original responses were not furries, but one should note their responses were relatively the same as actual responses from furries.
File:Furry survey 1.png
File:Furry survey 2.png
File:Furry survey 3.png
==Results==
===Demographics===
The demographics between furries and non-furries was a nearly even split, with 50.6% identifying as furries and 49.4% as non-furries. Of the non-furries 38.9% had anthropomorphic or animal characters, leaving only 10.5% who had no animal characters at all. Of those who identified as furries, 14.8% had been furries for 1-3 years, 14.2% for 4-6 years, 9.3% for 7-10 years, 11.7% for over a decade, and only 1.9% had been a furry for less than a year.
===What is a Furry?===
Of the 162 responses, 84% believed furry is a fandom. 89.5% believe a furry can be based on media, such as the Lion King, Zootopia, or Watership Down, leaving a mere 17 responses (10.5%) who believed otherwise. In that vein, when asked if such a character is a fan character or a furry, 85.14% believe the character can be both depending on what the artist identifies as. 10.6% believed it would be a fan character only, and 3.1% believed it would be a furry only. 
68.5% believed an animal character who neither walks nor talks can be a fursona, while 31.5% disagreed. 80.2% believed having a fursona does not automatically make one a furry, while 19.8% believed having a fursona automatically makes one a furry regardless of how they identify. Similarly, 80.9% believed furry is a self identifier and 19.1% did not. A more wordy question presented a scenario in which an artist who only draws the Lion King characters says they are a furry, though they are restricted to one media-based source. The majority, 90.7%, believed that yes, this person would qualify as a furry. A small minority, 9.3%, said they wouldn't. When asked if they believed there is gatekeeping among the furry community, 46.5% said they didn't know, 38.3% said yes, and 14.2% said no, making the issue rather divided.
The question about whether an animal who neither walks nor talks, while meant in reference to feral animals who speak no human language nor stand upright, was, though unintentional, worded ableistly. At the point the questionnaire host was informed of this the survey had already been closed. This likely lead to some confusion among respondents and may have resulted in this question having inaccurate results, as non-verbal furries are still furries and furries who cannot walk are still furries.
===Comments===
The final question was an optional question calling for any last thoughts. 53 of the 162 opted to respond to this question. These are a few notable quotes.
====Toyhouse Comments====
A few respondents opted to voice their opinions in the original Toyhouse thread instead of the survey.Survey Closed, Feb 1, 2020 (Accessed 2/6/2022) (Archived 2/6/2022)
 
==References==
Category:Furry
Category:2020 Fan Surveys
Category:2020 Featured Articles