%0 Journal Article
%T What does the fur Hide? The Process of Identity Creation inside the Furry Fandom: The Role of Fandoms and the Internet
%A Krzemiński, Witold
%J Zoon Politikon
%V 2022
%R 10.4467/2543408XZOP.22.004.16150
%N 13/2022
%P 93-129
%K fandoms, furry fandom, Internet, identification process, social worlds framework
%@ 2082-7806
%D 2022
%U https://ejournals.eu/en/journal/zoon-politikon/article/co-skrywa-futro-proces-kreowania-tozsamosci-wewnatrz-fandomu-furry-rola-fandomu-i-internetu
%X 
	This paper attempts to describe the process of identity creation for participants in the furry fandom, within the framework of Anselm Strauss's theory of social worlds. The discussion is based on the results of a netnographic four-month field study conducted by the author in 2021 in an online community that describes itself as "furry". These are individuals who, as part of their roleplaying practices, play as anthropomorphic animals with whose supposed traits they not only identify but also expand their list of traits in order to negotiate individual identity. As the results of this study show the Polish furry fandom gathers teenagers for whom the virtual relationship is an end in itself (the "furry world"), and at the same time, a space and a tool for the search for one's own sexual self-identification (which was delineated using the concepts of Emic Evaluation Approach).