Stuffed animals, precursors to fur fetishism?

[ReFur]

On Tryxie's thread, something occurred to me.

 

As a teenager, and really until I had my children, I collected stuffed animals. They gave me tremendous comfort and a sense of security. I grew up poor, so I was never around furs. This was just something that seemed instinctual.

 

Do you think this could be something very primal we are born with?

 

I also love animals; But, once I had my children I really did not extra responsibilities, so my affection for them lessened. Once my children left home, that connection came back.

 

I wonder if all of these things are connected?

 

Many of you guys have mentioned that your love of fur was very much connected to that wonderful womb-like nurturing. Isn't that a male version of the same thing? ...being connected to what is nurturing?

 

Linda

[FurLoverinFL]

Looking at some of my really old family photos, when I was very young, I always seemed to be playing with a stuffed dog or some other stuffed animal... would have to imagine that I slept with them... maybe there is something to this...

 

FLinFL

Edited January 27, 2007 by Guest

[lynxette]

Great point Linda. I still collect them too, except now my collection is based on ones made of real fur and various animal types. I make no admissions regarding fettishism however, or possible links thereto. They just make great additions to my fur decor, and comfort buddies at times.

[ReFur]

Lynxette,

 

I agree, I do not consider myself to be a fur fetishist. I LOVE fur and find it sensual and very erotic.

 

To me, trying to explain my reactions to fur, is like trying to explain why open water, mountains, forests, ..or a fireplace makes me feel the way they do.

 

To me fur is another of God's gifts!

 

Linda

Edited January 27, 2007 by Guest

[lynxette]

Said very well Linda. Same applies here.

[Guest]

I had soft toys from my earliest memories, I'm not sure it had much to do with my like of fur though. My first contact with fur would be the rabbit my dad brought home for tea. It was dead and in his attempt to show it to me emptied its paunch on the floor at my feet. I've never eaten rabbit at all because of that. So when I was shown a rabbit coat it was nice to see you could do something else useful with it other than eat it. But I think it was my aunts minks that maybe planted the seeds of interest.

 

As for bears, I don't collect, I rescue. Bernadette was my first for years. I was in a department store walking past a display of bears when I heard a plaintive "help me, help me" It took me half an hour to find Bernadette and I emptied the racks doing it, I could have sold tickets for the entertainment value I gave that afternoon.

[Worker 11811]

I had a Teddy Bear from my earliest memories. His name was "Corduroy." He was named after the famous Bear of the same name from the book by >> Don Freeman. <<.

 

I slept with him every night. As I grew up, I had several other plush animals but was never a big collector. Corduroy was always my favorite, though.

 

I don't remember when Corduroy went to live with the >> Velveteen Rabbit << but I have always missed him, ever since. That is probably why I collect so many Teddy Bears, later in life.

 

In Freudian terms, you could say that my mother took my Bear away before I was ready and created a subconscious need to compensate for the loss in adulthood.

 

When I met my wife, she was the one who collected Bears. I joined in. As we grew closer, so did our love for Bears. And, as the love for Bears grew, so did the collection. When we got married and bought a house together, we specifically taylored our real estate decision around the need to house or Bears.

 

If you don't already know this, we had Bears at our wedding. I brought the "Ring Bear-er". She brought her "Bear of Honor".

 

For real! No joke!

 

As for the Bear-Fur connection, I don't know, really.

My mother had a fur coat. I played with it a few times but I don't know if there is a connection because I never actually "played" with it, ifyouknowwhatimean.

 

As I grew up I always loved the thought of soft, furry things and always thought of them as I reached sexual maturity. I never made an explicit fur/sex connection until recently. It has only been a few years that fur has been in the forefront of my mind, in terms of a sexual connection.

 

It wasn't until I joined up with the Fur Den, eight months ago that I finally came out and admitted that I love fur in a way that other's don't.

 

So... Is there a connection? I don't know. But, to be honest, I don't really care.

[Guest]

Nothing about or personalities and psyches stands alone.

 

That is, unless we are psychotic or schizophrenic

 

I was "in touch" with fur at 12 to 18 months. Of course the desire to fondle fur [specifically] never left me.

 

 

OFF

[Guest]

Quote Linda:

I also love animals; But, once I had my children I really did not extra responsibilities, so my affection for them lessened. Once my children left home, that connection came back.

 

Yes you are correct Linda; children are indeed a PONY substitute.

 

More seriously; I certainly loved being able to study stuffed animals close up; and during my days as a teacher certainly it was standard practice to allow kids to draw from stuffed animals. Of course movement and musculature are not there; but indeed the beauty of the fur, and the animlas shape is: in fact I think taxisermy is a fine way to honour an animal.

Is it related to fetishism? Sexually NO. Spiritually as a connection with nature.....yes; most definitely.

[Guest]

There are real fur stuffed animals out there for the rug rats and you

 

ToS is correct in more ways than one.

 

All cultures have one form of Fetish or another relating to softness, sensuality, fertility and the like. Maybe 'Stuffed Animals" is our cultures response to that same basic instict?

[Guest]

I also think that there is the yearning to preserve beauty against decay. Nature recycles all; but that sometimes saddens man, eager to protect it. SO stufffed animals are also an extension of that. In Victorian times in partcular it was extremely popular.

It was for example popular to stuff rachehorses or conserves their hides, hoofs ect after they died as a way of remembering their great exploits. That isn't to do with softness as such. Alos there is butterfly collecting and egg collecting. Now while the latter two are not to be encouraged, collections from a time where we should not apply modern morality should also not be destroyed. THAT is even more criminal.

 

And now we shun many of these things. We are removed from the cycle of life and death and they make some of us uncomfortable.

 

AHAH I misunderstood...when American s say stuffed animals you mean teddy bears? Uh huh Okay. In the UK it means taxidermy.

 

Yes that is a different manifestation of the urge to care. Maybe kids are a TEDDY BEAR substitute lol!

But yes notions of softness...indeed all forms of tactility sense, are hugely important to all cultures, and from very early childhood. Softness and scecurity especially.

[Ravens8]

You got me thinking Linda.

 

Still cant work out where my love of fur came from, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't from my teddy bear.

 

As a kid he was just a companion who I talked to, shared things with and gave snuggle comfort at night. Not saying I was a lonely kid, I wasn't , i had lots of friends, and had great childhood. but Bear was personal friend who listened without judgement.

 

You dont dump your friends, hence he's still around today, cared for and protected, all these years later. Though now he dosen't seem to need that anymore as he's develped his own personal Bearish life, and I can go weeks , months even just being aware he's around but not actuall seeing him much.

 

It's only now that he's discovered Bernadette that I keep finding him in my study on my computer. Apart from that, I'm not sure what he gets up to with his life, he keeps to himself, except I dont understand why my wife keeps accusing ME of eating all the cookies in the house when she's at work!!

 

As I say, I'm not aware of any fur/tactile stimultion from him as a kid. His fur was definately not soft.

 

Pretty sure my love of fur has a lot to do with the pleasure I get from just enjoying the sheer sensuality of the world. Eyes and touch are pretty important. (hence the joy of seeing /stroking fur,) but also sights, sounds, touch, smell of the whole natural world. We have so many senses to use to appreciate all of this.

 

Having said that, there is no doubt an erotic aspect of fur that I certainly dont get from feeling the breeze, smelling damp earth, or seeing mountains etc. i've always put this down to the innate instinctive roll that touch plays in any human relationship.

 

On your first date which gave you the most thrill. The sound, sight, smell of your date, or the first time he/she actually touched you. With me it was definately that first touch, never to be forgotten. I think there is a an evolutionary eroticism to touch that makes us get together for forplay/mating etc.

 

But that's just me , not the same for everyone perhaps

[lynxette]

A great point has been brought up regarding the recycling of older fur coats into stuffed animals of all shapes and sizes. There are of course many sites and stores on the net that will do this for you, as well as a great majority of furriers either directly or indirectly. Of course, fur bears and such are also made new as well, using the left overs and scraps after the more expensive articles are made. This is one reason the prices for these animals can vary so much.

[Guest]

Yes there are many dimensions to fur teishism and the sexual one is just one aspect.

Tactile awareness is absolutely key to survival for all animals. Most use paws noses and especially mouths. Cats use a raspy tongue (used for washing, cleaning/breaking down meat etc) and horses sample everything with their mouths. Mutual grooming is important too. So foals and kittens experiment with touch this way.

Likewise humans use their fingers too sampole when young. So fur is an important stimulus likewise to our survival. You can't breed a milion years of evoultion out of us because PETA say so. Children are fascinated by fur...not sexually....but because their survival depended on it years ago.

 

Then yes as Ravens says all the earthy senses too are key to our survival in nature awarenss of smell and touch and animlas in general.

 

Then I see the sexual aspect as related too to survival : fur denotes status, good hunters, desirability of success demonstrated by display of them.

 

So when we see a beautiful woman in a power fox , as far as it may seem removed form the natural world, and our eatly experiences of it through teddy bears etc it isn't really. One is about security and comfort, the other about securing a succesful mate who displays essentially the ability to provide security and comfort as part of his/her sexual display. Its Tryxie's old up on their hocks in stilletoes thing but with fur. Come on. Think.

When we go prowling on ebay, spot te prey, spear iit with paypal, wait for it to come through(wait for the tanning process?) then that deferred gratification of it ariving and putting it on your wife, she responds accordingly feeling loved and cared for....or....if the woman buys it herself puts it on and feels ready to secure a mate etc. Its all natural.

 

And PETA are profoundly unnatural because they do not get it.

 

So from birth and the security of the fur papoose, the teddy bear or fur commforter, then the fascination with animlas, tactility experimaentation as pratcice for grooming/petting a fellow hunter as pet/learning to find what is beautiful and comforting, ect then becoming aware of status and desirability of succesful mate, ect. Its all a spiral curriculum.

[lynxette]

A loving caring man providing soft warm furs for his girl has always been one of my ultimate romantic fantasies, and I do mean back to the early teenage years. Whenever I saw a lady in a fur coat my first thought was always somebody loves and cares for her...sigh. Granted now that I am a bit older and perhaps wiser, I realise that of course this may not always be the case...but I believe the romantic afterglow will always remain.