@article{IR,
      recid = {1416892},
      author = {Pfingston, Ben},
      title = {A Furry Friend: An Autoethnography on the Relationship  Between Gender Identity and Fursonas},
      number = {IR},
      abstract = {Transgender people identify as a gender other than the one  assigned to them at birth, whether this is male, female, or  something else entirely. Furries are people who have an  interest in anthropomorphic animals, and many have a  “fursona”, or an animal representation of the self. Furries  often use fursonas to reflect a sexual or gender identity.   LGBT+ people are a majority in the furry fandom, and there  are more transgender people than in the general population.  Given that transgender people are more common in the furry  community, research looking into the relationship between  gender development and furry identity could yield  interesting insights.

The following project is an  autoethnography done by a trans man who is a furry.  His  previous and current fursonas were dated and redrawn. Then,  these fursonas were analyzed based on appearance and the  author’s life events at the time, with a focus on his  relationship to his gender. The analysis indicates that,  not only did his fursonas change with his gender, but that  the fursonas themselves were used as a tool for gender  exploration. The use of a fursona to explore gender was  useful in many ways, including it being risk-free in terms  of internal discomfort as well as externally. These  findings may be significant for people who are looking for  a safe way to explore their relationship with their  gender.},
      url = {http://library.usi.edu/record/1416892},
}