Plushophilia

Plushophilia is a subgenre of objectophilia, which is a sexual and/or romantic attraction to objects, in this case to plushies. Plushophilia is tied to the furry fandom, and was one of the kinks that the Burned Fur movement abhorred (along with pool toy furries, another subgenre of objectophilia). Though having origins with furries, plushophilia is broad and extends past furries, with some plushophiles including canon character plushies in with their beloved objects, for example Pokémon plushies.
While the original 1990s FAQ from alt.sex.plushie said that plushophiles refer to themselves as "plushies," this is outdated as plushophiles/plushum in the 2020s do not do this. Instead, they just refer to themself as plushophiles, plushum, pelusexual, or more broadly as objectum.
==History==
The earliest surviving mentions of plushophilia online come from 1993 on the furry newsgroup alt.fan.furry.Plush Furries?, alt.fan.furry. July 20, 1993 (Accessed 9/14/2023) It discusses a (likely lost) thread discussing sexual attraction towards plushies and gave an address to P.L.U.S.H., a custom plushie maker club and bulletin board system. Next, two plushophile newsgroups were made in 1994; a German group named de.alt.fan.pluesch on Jan 4, 1994 and and English group named alt.sex.plushies on Aug 9, 1994. Dr.Cat, one of the creators of Furcadia, was among one of the early furries to be on alt.sex.plushies, where he may have been an admin or moderator based on his frequent re-posting of the Plushophile FAQ.alt.sex.plushies Frequently Asked Questions, alt.sex.plushies. Jun 29, 1996 (Accessed 9/17/2023)
In the 2010s plushophilia began to become less obscure, with r/plushlove being made on Reddit in 2012 and r/plushophile in 2013. "Objectum-sexuality" is coined potentially around 2007, which would later influence plushophilia language in the 2020s with the word "plushum," a broader category that removes sexual connotations, coined in 2019 by Tumblr user fairycheesecake. "Pleusexual" was also coined in 2018 by Tumblr user genderplaylist from the French word for plush, literally meaning plush-sexual.Plushophilia/Plushum/Pelusexual FAQs, Tumblr. May 23, 2023 (Accessed 9/17/2023)
==Controversies==
Burned Fur included plushphilia in its mission statement beside bestiality and fursuit sex, the excerpt is quoted below.
Plushophilia may be seen as taboo by some due to the association between children and plushies, though not every plushophile engages in "childhood" kinks, such as diapers or DD/LG.Comparing a literally harmless kink (plushophilia) to pedophilia, Tumblr. Jun 3, 2023 (Accessed 9/17/2023) This includes being disliked by some other objectophiles, which plushophiles see as gatekeeping.i think some people gotta realize that being objectum is a sexuality. Tumblr, Aug 18, 2023. Accessed 9/17/2023.
In furry fandom, plushophiles with quadrupedal plush partners are seen as ferals, which is a point of contention among many furries even outside of plushophilia. Some plushophiles modifies their plushies with strategically placed holes (SPH) which resemble animal genitalia; this is especially common with Pokémon plushie modification on the plushophile Reddit.Plushophilia, Reddit. (Accessed 9/17/2023) However, some plushophiles may argue that animal plushies are not the same as attraction to real animals, because plushies only marginally resemble real counterparts.
Some plushophiles are upset or discomforted by plushie destruction, such as ripping a plushie apart, while others may find this to be a kink in itself, sometimes called plushgore. On the plushophile Reddit plushie destruction is not allowed, and users are also not allowed to request that others destroy or "hurt" their plushies.POLL: In what capacity should we allow users on here that destroy plushies?, Plushophile Reddit. Sept 9, 2013 (Accessed 9/17/2023)
==Gallery==
File:Plushie pride flags 2.png|objectum pride flag by desideriumdaydreams
==Further Reading==
*1990s alt.sex.plushie Plushophilia FAQ
*2023 Plushophilia/Plushum/Pelusexual FAQs on Tumblr
*PlushYiff Survey Results, 2001
==References==
Category:Sexual Tropes & Kinks 
Category:Furry Fandom Glossary‎