To not buy her a tail, so she can be like her friend who ‘is a therian’

Ugh I thought all this nonsense was dying out?

Personally I’d stop my child playing with this friend. You don’t want them anywhere near this nonsense in the teen years.

Sorry, are you seriously suggesting the OP show her 10-year old child pictures of people in fetish gear?

Post reported.

Brilliant. Full George Galloway cringe.

@Leafstamp take a wild guess at what I think of your reply.

Fortunately, when these threads appear outside FWR, it's increasingly the case that the responses are much more balanced and sensible.

Of course there's still the hardcore of anti trans/anti non-binary/whatever people trying to pretend that a 10 year old wanting a cat costume is part of a global anti-women conspiracy, but their numbers are becoming fewer. The obvious overlap with the hard right doesn't help.

My mum made me a tail for a dressing up thing when I was 8 or 9. I loved it and used to wear it round the house occasionally for the next year or two. Fortunately it was the 80s so no one panicked I was turning into a fetishist.

How is this weirder than say, LARPing or improv? Just get her a cat costume. What is the slippery slope you’re worried about exactly?

When you were ten?
I played those games too, around age 6/7. Not year 6.

Let her go as a cat....but tell her it has to be a Manx cat.

Honestly the MN frothing is hysterical.We all used to pretend we were horses and gallop around the park when we were kids , ditto role playing cats and dogs.

Maybe MN should publish a list of what some posters deem acceptable in the world of make believe. Honestly I pity the way some of the way brains on here work. It must be exhausting and miserable.

Furry/therian "culture" is heavily sexualised and pornified online, pretty sure that's why a lot of mothers don't want their daughters wearing tails & ears in public. It's very much a sex thing for the adults, and they get off on seeing young kids joining in.

It's also just weird and too infantile for 10 year olds. They're still kids but well past the age where they should be wanting to be in fancy dress all day long.

This. Nope not in any way should you indulge it

I know loads of young 'therians' and it's just creative play 😂
They make masks and wear tails and gallop around the park on all 4s.

Is this a joke? I feel like I am in a parallel universe. My kids are at University now. Is this what loads of kids are doing? Wearing tails and going on all fours in the park? I mean, my daughter liked some cat ears at Halloween but this feels so unusual to me.

Through school! I just heard of some of my daughter’s classmates who have tails which they wore for non uniform day! My daughter is 9 years old for reference. So they hear about these things through school.

You do sound nutty 😉😆

Tell her you'll get one too? And then start miauling everytime she asks for something.

Me neither. Its nonsense and I wouldn't tolerate it. I think some parents are very wishy washy and then get surprised when their DC run rings around them.

This is a very flippant and unhelpful post about an extremely serious issue.

Encouraging children to alienate their loving family does happen in the crazy world where people think that a child can be “born in the wrong body”.

OP, your instinct is right about “therian” - and so is the poster saying it’s often a thin end of the wedge.

😀😀😀

Her friends parents obviously think its just a phase and she will grow out of it.

It depends if they are aware of it as a growing issue among children who do not see it as make believe.

You can buy a cat costume for kids on amazon for halloween. The tail ties on with ribbon. It is not in the least bit realistic Keep it in the dressing up box. Get the crappiest one you can find and dont replace it.

I saw a smartly dressed woman on the tube. But there was sonething off. Took me a moment to realise it was the very realistic end of a furry tail dangling from.under her skirt. Could see tail outline under her skirt up to her bum. It looked like a giant furry tampon string.

Full blown furry:) but they do keep it a secret which of course tells you they know its weird among their peers. And that someone is telling them differently.

Have you not frequented the 'FWR' board? All these weird trans, non binary etc. people are all in a cult, and they go round basically stealing people's kids. There's a special hidden internet they all meet on. They hypnotise them or something and then won't speak to their usually glaringly transphobic parents.

Being serious, I agree. I think the cat costume is fine and normal. Don't overthink it.

I personally don't see a problem with this. But then, I'm a squirrel, so my perspective may not be everyone's.

I’d say if you don’t want to buy her one don’t, let her dress up as something else and tell her why. You are not comfortable about it, she is a child and not a cat.

I was just thinking how none of my friends or I, or anyone at school, thought they were an animal!

I love a good Mumsnet moral panic. If she wants to have a cat costume with a tail let her do it. Don’t make a big deal about it. The internet can’t make you gay or transgender, and this is not remotely connected to that.

YANBU. Who knows where DD's friend picked up on the term therian, I'm sure they don't understand, but it's a dangerous and weird fetish and you don't want your DD dabbling in it. And don't be buying her a cat costume whatever you do! Be the parent that puts a stop to it.