Tiktok is on everyone's phone, and all the young furries are seeing kids running around in animal masks and tails and they've probably never seen anything like it. These kids on tiktok are very 'aesthetic' and they treat quads and gear as their identity.. that's not what therianthropy is!!! So now you have a lot of misinformed "therian" showing other impressionable kids what therianthropy is (isn't) but there's little to no education about them, to the point where therianthropy becomes nothing more than an aesthetic.
It's really damaging to the community! I had my therian awakening about five years ago now, I didn't discover therianthropy through TikTok or YouTube. I heard someone talking about this new term they found used to describe furries (therian) and I did my own research into what therianthropy was. That was before the mess on tiktok started. If I had my awakening back then I would have been led astray and probably wouldn't have discovered the true meaning to the word 'Therian,' I would have fallen for the cat mask nature girl aesthetic and grew out of it.
I'm tired of all the cat masks, and I know if makes a lot of people happy. But to be the new face of therianthropy is
not good!! When someone who doesn't know what they are does their own research, I don't want them to see some girls wearing masks. It really doesn't help the 'Therians are furries who took it too far' idea.. Sorry if this offends anyone.
Do what you want, be who you are, dress how you like. But please remember to educate people properly! There's so much misinformation it's unreal. There's so many people who think therianthropy is a hobby
Sorry, vent over
~Fernweh