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AIBU?

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Original poster

Children wearing tails?

389 replies

ShepherdMoons · 12/09/2024 12:44

Dd's friend at drama club has recently started wearing a tail.She sometimes wears ears.It looks quite cute but I also find it a bit odd (they are 11).Dd hasn't asked to wear a tail (yet) but wondering if this might be her next question.I appreciate there's a bit of a trend for this at the moment and seems relatively harmless but I do find it odd.AIBU?

OP posts:
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8
oakleaffy · 12/09/2024 13:42

Goth: '' I'm not a Furry''.

Children wearing tails?
21ZIGGY · 12/09/2024 13:42

Hurdygurdy12 · 12/09/2024 12:51

Sadly it’s adult furry fetishisation creeping into childhood.

Ridiculous. You have no basis to say this. The kid might just want to dress up.

TheaBrandt · 12/09/2024 13:42

Christ maybe I’m old school but this would be nipped in the bud immediately. Imaginative play for smaller children- fantastic to be encouraged but role play in everyday life for the over 10s is just plain weird.

Pyjamatimenow · 12/09/2024 13:41

FooFighter99 · 12/09/2024 12:52

My DD12 (year8) wears a tail, ears and she has paws too (she wants a full fur-suit, but they're expensive!). She classes herself as a Furry/Therian - there's a whole community of them at school and online that she hangs out with

Yes it is a bit odd, but there's absolutely no harm in it

Honestly you need to look at this community online with a more suspicious eye. I looked into all this for work as I work in children’s services and it really isn’t innocent. The videos that the kids watch are often produced by adults, there’s a high risk of grooming and the language they use is very combative against parents and non ‘therians’. There’s also lots of pressure to buy and purchase ‘gear’, masks etc. Kids can easily become targets for bullying both from their peers who will think they’re weird and the ‘community’ if they’re not showing enough dedication to being ‘therian’.

oakleaffy · 12/09/2024 13:41

DrusillaAndTheChaosDemon · 12/09/2024 13:38

Er ... I think I speak for myself and every goth I know when I say that 'being a furry' is nothing like being a goth.

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I knew and loved Goths {wasn't one} but Goths are absolutely the antithesis of Furries.

A plump creepy bloke in a furry onesie is the opposite of a Goth.

DoloresHargreeves · 12/09/2024 13:41

MugPlate · 12/09/2024 13:27

None of this would occur if we hadn’t moved from a play based childhood to a screen based childhood.

I'm a Haidt fan too, but in fairness furries predate social media. They were around in the 90s when I was a kid.

I think the main change has been a more visible online presence for both the playful child centered and the awful adult fetish side of the furry fandom.

Stopbeingawalkoverandwalk · 12/09/2024 13:41

None of this would have happened without the normailisation (ie, brought into the mainstream as family entertainment) of fetish through Pride, drag queens, etc, and the politicisation of identifying as someone or something you are not through "gender" studies and the infiltration into all walks of public life (including schools) of "Stonewall law".

duc748 · 12/09/2024 13:40

I remember a thread on this topic not so long back, and it was full of people saying, I'm a teacher, this doesn't happen, it's all a scare story got up by the Daily Mail....

TheRavenSaid · 12/09/2024 13:40

Hurdygurdy12 · 12/09/2024 12:51

Sadly it’s adult furry fetishisation creeping into childhood.

Its children pretending

Dont make it something its not

DrusillaAndTheChaosDemon · 12/09/2024 13:38

chronicpainmumandadhdson · 12/09/2024 13:37

I seen adults doing this!! And 18 year olds... it's a dad thing like goths

Er ... I think I speak for myself and every goth I know when I say that 'being a furry' is nothing like being a goth.

chronicpainmumandadhdson · 12/09/2024 13:37

I seen adults doing this!! And 18 year olds... it's a dad thing like goths

oakleaffy · 12/09/2024 13:36

As a child, I desperately wanted a ''horse tail'' to swish about - We made them out of raffia and strips of newspaper and did show jumps in the garden over bamboo poles on flower pots.

But the new ''furry'' thing seems like a creepy fetish

GalileoHumpkins · 12/09/2024 13:36

Lordofmyflies · 12/09/2024 13:33

Yep, absolutely. Gross. DD and rest of the flat were horrified.

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.

Lies No GIF
DoloresHargreeves · 12/09/2024 13:36

Sartre · 12/09/2024 12:54

Furry bollocks. Teachers actually have to have furry training now if you can believe it. There are kids literally crawling around meowing rather than talking because they identify as a cat. Wish I was kidding.

This misinformation pops up once a month on this forum.

It's just a bit of a play/fashion as kids move from that awkward child phase to preteens.

Supersimkin7 · 12/09/2024 13:36

Could be innocent, could be exploitation by a fetishist. Suggest checking.

TallulahBetty · 12/09/2024 13:35

Lordofmyflies · 12/09/2024 13:33

Yep, absolutely. Gross. DD and rest of the flat were horrified.

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And left it there, to be cleaned up (presumably?) by the others? It's not often I am rendered speechless..

MsLavender · 12/09/2024 13:34

I'd be mindful about what they consume online and watch that they're not hanging out on Furry/Therian communities.

For those who don't think it's a fetish I'd urge you to have a look in those communities or just attend any Pride march, I'm sure you'll change your tune.

Fudgetheparrot · 12/09/2024 13:34

Speedweed · 12/09/2024 12:50

Ask them if they are furries - if so, google it and decide how you feel about that.

It does feel a bit childish at 11, but maybe better than rolling their skirts up and borrowing your makeup?

Don’t ask them if they’re furries, they might just be innocently playing dress up and you don’t necessarily want THEM googling it. I would be fuming if another parent brought up random fetishes to my kids!

user47 · 12/09/2024 13:34

There is no issue with kids dressing up and messing about but "furry" websites are very dangerous places full of men grooming vulnerable young people. I would not let my children near this as it puts them in a group with some very harmful men. I will not link or post here because it is very distressing content but google Nathan Knight and Aimee Challenor if you want to know more.

Allthegoodnamesarechosen · 12/09/2024 13:33

FooFighter99 · 12/09/2024 12:52

My DD12 (year8) wears a tail, ears and she has paws too (she wants a full fur-suit, but they're expensive!). She classes herself as a Furry/Therian - there's a whole community of them at school and online that she hangs out with

Yes it is a bit odd, but there's absolutely no harm in it

Oh no, no harm at all.No fetishisation to be exploited by adults, none whatsoever .

Children wearing tails?
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Children wearing tails?
Lordofmyflies · 12/09/2024 13:33

TallulahBetty · 12/09/2024 13:30

And actually used said litter tray?

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Yep, absolutely. Gross. DD and rest of the flat were horrified.

Bellaboo01 · 12/09/2024 13:33

This reply has been withdrawn

This message has been withdrawn at the poster's request

TallulahBetty · 12/09/2024 13:30

Lordofmyflies · 12/09/2024 13:26

Sounds like 'furry fetish'. My DD (then 18 yrs old) had a very difficult first year at Uni as one of her flatmates identified as a Cat in her halls and would put a litter tray in the communal bathroom. Honestly not making it up! It was really hard for the rest of the flatmates to do anything about it but eventually the 'furry' moved it into their bedroom after the accommodation manager got involved. Disturbing.

And actually used said litter tray?

Velvian · 12/09/2024 13:30

I think it is intertwined with grooming of children. It would be lovely if it was just innocent dressing up, but I think this is percolating down from an adult world. I'm also very cautious about anime, as I think this has similar elements of grooming.

If your DC have grown out of dressing up, but then start dressing up 2 or 3 years later, it is probably worth checking you know what they are looking at online.

There is also a much wider 'craze' with a similar origin that is fully entrenched in schools and and affirmed by teachers and those in authority more generally.

Pyjamatimenow · 12/09/2024 13:30

Therian and furry trend. It’s concerning. Lots of grooming and bullying online from adults. It’s on all the social media platforms, including games like Roblox. Hard for parents to really monitor