Eurofurence Community > General Discussion
Official Statement Regarding the Policy Debate on Twitter
Ralphie Raccoon:
--- Quote from: Cairyn on 10.06.2015, 15:05:42 ---A little bit of common sense goes a long way, I think. The hotel lobby is a public area. Would you go to a restaurant wearing pajamas? Would you suck on a pacifier while riding the subway?
I like to believe that the overwhelming majority of attendees is happy to apply that measure of common sense. Those who are not, are most likely intentionally looking to make trouble, and no amount of specification in the rules is going to deter them.
--- End quote ---
Would you do either of those things wearing an animal costume? Common sense is subjective. What is considered OK by some people is considered offensive or inappropriate by others. Some furries, I dare say, would consider, or have already done the above activities.
Personally I'd just save the drama and make it crystal clear. I know it hasn't been a problem up until now, but it clearly is a problem for some furries now due to this incident. If EF doesn't want babyfurs wearing anything cub related other than a cub badge outside their hotel rooms, then fine. I'm sure if they are unhappy about it they can ask for a refund and not attend.
Cairyn:
--- Quote from: Ralphie Raccoon on 10.06.2015, 16:30:06 ---
--- Quote from: Cairyn on 10.06.2015, 15:05:42 ---A little bit of common sense goes a long way, I think. The hotel lobby is a public area. Would you go to a restaurant wearing pajamas? Would you suck on a pacifier while riding the subway?
--- End quote ---
Would you do either of those things wearing an animal costume?
--- End quote ---
While I won't claim a fursuit is "normal" attire to be worn at every occasion*, people are regularly fursuiting even outside of a convention parade. They partake in LARPs and go to non-furry sci-fi cons. You will be looked at, but your fursuit will be seen as costume variation or mascot, and that's okay**. Try the same in pajamas in the same situations. I have yet to see a "pajama walk".
--- Quote from: Ralphie Raccoon on 10.06.2015, 16:30:06 ---Common sense is subjective. What is considered OK by some people is considered offensive or inappropriate by others.
--- End quote ---
This is true, also the standards change over time, so maybe one day people will be accustomed to pajamas on the street. At the moment, I think this is not the case.
----------
* Your job interview may be a bad time and place to wear a fursuit, e.g.
** In fursuit, a restaurant makes little sense anyway because of the problem of eating with a mask.
Ralphie Raccoon:
--- Quote from: Cairyn on 10.06.2015, 17:20:16 ---
I have yet to see a "pajama walk".
--- End quote ---
I'm from the UK, you can find people in pajamas doing their shopping during the daytime. Some consider it trashy, and some stores have specifically banned it, but some people consider it acceptable.
Cheetah:
Drawing a line is hard, and no matter where you draw the line of what is acceptable and what is not, it is almost always possible find something that is so close to the line that you could argue "why is this even excluded" or "oh come on, you allowed X, now you can even allow Y" or "I saw someone last week on the subway who totally did not get beaten up for it". But there is so much more to it than one criteria. As I mentioned in the original posting, it's a balance between personal freedom of expression and what we can get away with in public. But even that is not a black and white situation. We do not explicitly state so in our rules, but of course we are aiming at a certain atmosphere, and within a crowd, there are cool ways of sticking out, and then you can stick out like a sore thumb. Or, as you put it, trashy. Who wants to be around people who dress trashy? A basic dress code keeps people on common ground. It strengthens the sense of community. That is also what it's for.
(Edit: Anthrocon explicitly puts this in their RoC, by the way: "Attendees, when in public areas, may not wear clothing which is overly revealing or inappropriate to the atmosphere of the convention". We could adopt a similar wording in the future, if that helps understanding the intention.)
Ralphie Raccoon:
--- Quote from: Cheetah on 10.06.2015, 17:56:31 ---(Edit: Anthrocon explicitly puts this in their RoC, by the way: "Attendees, when in public areas, may not wear clothing which is overly revealing or inappropriate to the atmosphere of the convention". We could adopt a similar wording in the future, if that helps understanding the intention.)
--- End quote ---
To be honest, that's sounds even more vague and nebulous, perfect american legalese, the sort of thing that in other cases makes lawyers lots of money ;)
I still think in this case, it would be worth being more specific. I've listed 3 yes/no questions below. I don't ask for myself of course, but I know quite a few babyfurs who would perhaps appreciate some clarification.
* Are you allowed to wear a sleeper (sometimes called a onesie) in the public area of the convention (including ones with "babyish" designs)?
* Are you allowed to suck on a pacifier in a public area of the convention?
* Are you allowed to display a clip-on pacifier on apparel in a public area of the convention?
If you can answer these with a simple yes/no answer, I think it would go a way to clearing up some confusion. I haven't included the one on badges, since you already answered that.
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page
Go to full version