What Is A Therian?
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So what is exactly is a “Therian”? More specifically what is therianthropy? And what is a therianthrope?
Well according to the Therian Wiki
The noun/term ’therianthropy’ is used to refer to the intrinsic experience surrounding someone’s therian identity. It is the term used to encapsulate the broader experience, while the term ’therianthrope’ (someone who involuntarily identifies as a non-human animalistic creature) refers to the individual who experiences it.
The word therianthropy existed well before the community first used it. The term originates from a portmanteau of Greek words, those being thēríon, meaning beast. And anthropos or anthrópinos, meaning human. So the term loosely translates to “animal person”.
This is my personal interpretation and what it means for ME to be therian. I cannot and will not pretend that my personal definition of what it means to be therian applies to others who identify as therian/otherkin
The term Therianthropy also relates to humans who can shapeshift or metamorphosize in to animals in mythology. It’s actually referenced quite frequently dating back hundreds of years not only in mythology but even in fictional entertainment today including DC, Marvel and Starwars! But that doesn’t explain what a therian is or how someone comes to identify as therianthrope.
While the causes of what brings someone to discover their identity as a therianthrope are unknown, it’s widely accepted that those who identify as therian don’t do so by choice and that it often is a deep and intrinsic connection to a non-human animal. This connection is often discovered through a process of self-relization called awakening. The term awakening has been used as far back as 1994 with it’s first documented use being Werecard This is a time where a therian begins to discover their identity as it relates to typetherio (the creatures that a therian identifies as).
An awakening is different for every therian. Awakenings can happen for any number of reasons and at any point in life with not all therians being born as therian. Which seems to contradict the point made above that those who identify as therian don’t do so by choice. So what’s the deal with that?
Well someone can identify as a therian for many reasons beyond the intrinsic connection including the identity being use as a coping mechanism for dealing with tough experiences like bullying or a general sense of alienation from society. It can also be imprinted on younger individuals during their childhood through friends or family who also identify as therian. But this doesn’t invalidate the experience or the connection felt to a theriotype. Though, there is a term for the use of therianthropy as a coping mechanism which is copinglink (someone who chooses to create and identify as a non-human as a means of coping) with one of the first documented uses of the term coming from a post by fearlykid in 2016.
No matter the reason an individual chooses to identify as therian, their identity is valid and should be respected as such
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So what about me personally?
It’s an interesting question because writing this page has had me thinking about it a lot. Not because of being shaky in my identity as a therian but just learning more about myself and my identity. I honestly didn’t expect writing this section of the page to be as hard as it is. Trying to figure out where to start and offering a more intimate and open way of communicating my identity rather than a robotic or more “facts and definitions” explanation of my identity. What about therianthropy and my identity as therian makes me, me?
So the first question I probably need to address is “was I born therian?”. And to be honest, I don’t think I was, though, I don’t feel my identity was done by choice. I don’t honestly remember much of my childhood, and honestly, if you asked me if I remembered events even in the last 5 years, I’d tell you not really. Most of my life has been very fuzzy due to trauma and negative experiences in life but that’s way beyond the scope of this write up.
So for me, my journey actually started as a kid. I’d often watch a lot of movies and TV shows and played games like Toontown that portrayed anthropomorphic characters or animals with human traits like the ability to talk. Shows and movies included (but are definitely not limited to) A Goofy Movie, Alpha and Omega, The Aristocats, Bambi, Barnyard, Brother Bear, Cats, The Fox And The Hound, Hoodwinked, Hop, Ice Age, My Little Pony, Madagascar, various movies featuring Mickey Mouse….. I think you get the idea
While at the time I had strange thoughts and feelings wishing I was like the characters in the movies and TV shows (A Goofy Movie and Alpha and Omega were two MASSIVE ones that to this day, I watch over and over again). As I grew older, I was forced in to a very specific role and set of expectations of how I should present, act, etc. It wasn’t until I started exploring myself on a deeper level that I started to dive in to what those feelings were.
In 2020, with COVID raging and me personally already being rather chronically online since that’s where I would connect with all of my friends, with the pandemic amplifying that even more, I discovered the femboy subculture (keep in mind, I still thought I was a cisgender guy at this point). I had strange feelings surrounding them and finding them attractive but knowing it was very wrong based on the background that I was raised with. Though, it didn’t take long for that nut to crack which is when I came out as bisexual in late 2020.
While this page isn’t going to dive into details about my transition, I felt this was an important aspect to the story of discovering my therianthropic identity
As 2020 starts to close, and 2021 begins to roll in, I started actually learning more about the furry community. I started to realize that lots of things that I enjoyed as a kid and an adult, were ok to enjoy and that all of the teasing from friends at the time of being a closeted furry might have more grounds in reality than I expected and in late 2021 I had commissioned an artist to help me design my fursona and created my furry oriented Twitter account. This is also around the time that I started to experiment with being a femboy more. Wearing thigh-high socks, skirts, the works.
My original fursona reference sheet
As time went on, I started to continue to lean in to being a furry as well as my bisexuality. I also continued to experimenting with being a femboy. I also was living vicariously through my fursona, who was female, just with a different name.
As 2022 starts to come to a close, I had started regularly going to therapy and started to question more about myself. At the time, I had a friend who had come out as trans several years before. I started asking questions about how she knew she was trans and started to have conversations with my therapist about what that would look like or if I was just in my own head. Long story short, come early 2023, I came to terms with being transgender. It was also around this time that I also had my fursona’s reference sheet updated and also changed her name to Maddi, which was also my chosen name because I wanted my fursona to be a direct reflection of me since she was me (starting to see the pieces coming together yet?).
As 2023 continued on, I still didn’t feel quite right. Transitioning was the right thing, I knew that, but something was still missing. I couldn’t shake this feeling of not quite feeling like I was me. I continued to enjoy being a furry online and made some really amazing friends who were also trans and furry. This was when I started to experience what it was like being around “puppy girls” and “cat girls”. I felt strangely comfortable around them and it would make me happy seeing them be true to themselves even if I didn’t fully understand it.
It wasn’t until I started asking questions to one particular friend of mine about why she was a puppy girl and what it meant or what it was like. She started explaining to me therainthropy and what being a puppy girl was to her. She offered a safe space for me to experiment with being a puppy around her and a few other friends. As I started to experiment with being a puppy girl, I found that it felt right. I would whine, bark and the sound of clickers made my bring tingle. I also purchased a collar to wear which wound up bringing me a lot of comfort, safety and warmth even if I wasn’t “collared” or “owned”.
Over time, as I’ve become more comfortable expressing myself which meant when appropriate, being more comfortable expressing and talking about being a therian to those around me. This includes feeling comfortable enough to at least show pride for my identity in places like work. I know that I am very fortunate to have such an accepting workplace as well as others around me who love me and support me for me.
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How does all of this work in day-to-day life?
So there are many ways that therianthropy could be expressed. For me this includes being willing to bark around friends, wearing therian or animal relating items outside of the house and just being me.I make a point to surround myself with accepting friends who are either trans, allys, therian or some combination of the two which leads to a lot of safety in expression as well. Also being that I do tend to live online a lot, I can just be me.
Something I don’t do is force my identity on others. I also use discretion as to when I express myself just due to the stigma around the whole thing (kids shitting in litter boxes ring a bell 🙄).
Just because for me, I identify as therian, that does not mean that I am attracted to or fornicate with animals. Zoophiles are not, and will never be accepted or welcome in any community. Whether therian, furry or other. That behavior is disgusting and should never be tolerated.
I guess I should probably answer the question of what my theriotype is. For me, I am a mix between a fox and a huskey (I often call it a ‘fuskey’).
Other ways that being a therian plays in to my daily life is referring to my bedroom as my “den”, someone grabbing on to the back of my neck (where the scruff of a animal would normally be) shuts my brain off entirely. I tilt my head when someone says or asks something that puzzles me or confuses me. I wear a collar at home fairly often and also sometimes wear one in public. I have a dog tag on with my name on it as well as the name of my mate engraved on the back. My mate and I will howl together and nuzzle each other and also lick each other (this isn’t sexual in nature, but it is something that helps us feel close). I also don’t eat dog food. I also tend to prefer It/Its pronouns or Pup/Pups. I am ok with She/Her as well! I also have a trans pride flag with a paw print on it hanging up in my room :3c
At some point, I intend to purchase a dog crate and make it a safe space to lay down and rest. I also intend to purchase a Pluffl which is a human sized dog bed that looks so cozy and my gosh I cannot wait to get one. They just need to restock the color I want in the larger size.
But over all, day to day, while I do little things to express myself while living life, there is very little chance that anyone who passes me in the store or on the street would know I’m a therian. I also don’t generally go around flaunting it on my more personal social media because my “normie” friends and family would probably lose their minds. Though I do have some friends who are normies that support and love and even affirm me being a therian with some of them referring to me as pup, puppy or a dog. While some don’t fully understand it, I truly appreciate the love and understanding they give and the questions they ask about the therian identity.
If nothing more, I hope this opened your eyes to what being a therian can look like. I hope you enjoyed reading a bit about therianthropy and me and my therian identity. I’m a bit silly, strange and goofy, but I genuinely love being me and I love my identity that I have found and I’m proud to be a silly little trans puppy girl!
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My fursona/theriotype holding the non-human unity flag - Artist: fahstine