bonobo therian / kin !! ✩⠀⠀a label for when the user identifies as a bonobo on multiple or all levels !!

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Today, being me means a desire to climb somewhere and sit up very high, watching the world. 

Today, being me means my feet feel wrong and my teeth too short.

Today, being me means balancing on my knuckles.

Today, being me means sitting with my knees tucked up.

Today, being me means communicating to myself (and those who understand) in hoots, calls and grunts.

Today, being me means stripping the rinds of fruits free of every last bit, and the desire to tear open and chew on some sugarcane.

There's a worrying trend amongst those who are new to 'being' animals -- or beings other than human. (You'll find I use 'therian' and 'theriotype' in my blogging, this is because that's what I am and have the most experience with but it's pretty applicable to otherkin, too.) I'm seeing more and more often as I lurk around various therian blogs and forums the propensity for the young and the barely initiated, it seems, to feel as if they have to overcompensate for their feelings by prostrating themselves in public.

I suppose one might consider me something of an old fuddy-duddy when it comes to that. As much as I love costuming and 'alternative' hobbies and lifestyles (and I do) I'm not in favour of, essentially, rocking out with your cock out. There's a time and a place for very nearly everything, I firmly believe, and when it isn't that time or place, it needs to go away. I think perhaps it's that that some people have a problem with -- the idea that who they are isn't always acceptable to flaunt around. 'But I'm not hurting anyone!' They cry. 'I should be able to do this without being made fun of!' And, certainly, they're right about that. But, a big part of functioning is understanding the world in which we live, and letting go of some of our idealisms. Just as the child screams 'It's not fair!' It's the adult who responds, 'It never was, and it never was intended to be.'

I read tale after tale of very sad, lonely kids who wear ears or tails to school every day and get harrassed, and I feel conflicted. On the one hand, people shouldn't treat others that way for such harmless things. On the other, being a therian or otherkin isn't about wearing such things as an expression of who you are; It's simply about being who you are. Of course there are 'kinfeels' and all the rest of this, we all cope with being our theriotypes and what makes us comfortable in different ways. I'm not decrying the value of wearing a tail. If that's what floats your boat, do that, but be aware also of the statements it makes to those around you, and how apes react when they are made to feel uncomfortable by something. It's usually not a pretty (or quiet) picture.

I wouldn't want to be hanging out with someone wearing a wolf tail and ears out in public at a time when that's not part of what's going on socially. I'd be embarrassed. At a furry convention or something, that's a totally different case. Those who know me in real life know I show my therianthropy in various ways. Sometimes when I'm really feeling it, I move a little bit more like what I am inside. My expressions change a little bit. But, it's never enough to really 'tip off' the public at large. I wouldn't look particularly out of place in a mall full of everyday shoppers. I mean I guess I would in some ways, I have loads of metal in my face, some tattoos, and half my head shaved, but aside from that, you know.

There was probably a point to all this.

I suppose what I'm getting at here is that there's a lot of misguided people around who oughtta just calm down, and that's sad.

orangutanskin loporiconteh