Your opinions on microlabels?

(2025-11-26 20:02)FernFox Wrote:  (Clarification: when I say microlabels, I'm thinking of those that divide therianthropy or try to encompass a specific, sometimes contradictory, experience: such as cambitherian, otherpaw, holothere, faunalune, etc)

I must say, I find that otherpaw isn't a microlabel. If anything, the term has cleared up and prevent a LOT of further miscommunication on social media about what therians are and aren't. I don't care much for otherpaws, but I am just really glad people finally felt the need to make a distinct definition for liking to dress up as an animal and doing quadrobics, without labeling it "therian". And to make it clear it is NOT an alterhuman experience. Before the otherpaw term, it was all therian, and this was just really harmful for the representation of the community.

And so with that it does exactly what a label should do: make someone's experience/hobby clear with one word. Instead of someone saying they're a therian and it still being vague because they could just refer to liking quads, it's instantly clear that they don't actually identify as an animalistic being. I generally also find it more respectful to the community and its history to have that difference recognized.

Surely, the term hasn't settled in/around all of the community, but I think it's worth endorsing it for that exact reason.

(2025-11-26 23:13)Thorn Wrote:  I must say, I find that otherpaw isn't a microlabel. If anything, the term has cleared up and prevent a LOT of further miscommunication on social media about what therians are and aren't. I don't care much for otherpaws, but I am just really glad people finally felt the need to make a distinct definition for liking to dress up as an animal and doing quadrobics, without labeling it "therian". Before the otherpaw term, it was all therian, and this was just really harmful for the representation of the community.

And so with that it does exactly what a label should do: make someone's experience/hobby clear with one word. Instead of someone saying they're a therian and it still being vague because they could just refer to liking quads, it's instantly clear that they don't actually identify as an animalistic being. I generally also find it more respectful to the community and its history to have that difference recognized.

Surely, the term hasn't settled in/around all of the community, but I think it's worth endorsing it for that exact reason.

(You're right in that it's probably not a microlabel, so it's slightly off-topic, but I do want to address that since I did bring it up...)

I've actually shared that same opinion (mostly through discussions in discord), but with a caveat:
I like that they have created a label that separates it from therianthropy, thus lessening therianthropy/otherkin from being misappropriated. But what I don't like about it is how the word is formulated with the intention of making it 'fit in' to the alterhuman community.

The way it's presented makes it sound like an offshoot of the otherkin community (prefix other-, likening it to otherkin, and suffix -paw, random and non-descriptive). It goes along with my chief complaint that these labels aren't intelligible, and without googling it, it's entirely unclear what it's meant to represent.

I guess we can't be choosers since we didn't make it, but if creating a label for animal cosplay was a necessity, I wish that a different term had caught on. Quadrobist was already right there.
Maybe I'm also just picky with linguistics.

- Fern

Lables have their uses and do help explain experances. Yet when someone names every tiny detail it does seem excessive.
What gets my ruff up is when people creat a lable out of thin air which they think only they can use. Its completely unnecessary and lacks the point of something being named.

(2025-11-26 20:02)FernFox Wrote:  I think microlabels just serve to divide the community and (ironically) set up barriers to understanding. More often, I see microlabels created because individuals want to 'coin' something to make them feel important, rather than because it's actually useful to the community.

Same. I feel like some people are just collecting those microlabels as some kind of collectible badges, the more you have the cooler you are.
In some communities I often see people asking for a label for their experience cause they couldn’t find one that describes it themselves. But like, if you couldn’t find the label yourself what is the point of using it after someone tells you it exists (and about 5 people know about it in total)?
I’ve also seen people for example asking for a label for identifying as I think two coat colors of the same species (domestic cat). But like that’s the same species, why would it have a separate label if that’s just how you view yourself and not like two separate theriotypes of yours? Idk I don’t get it.

(2025-11-26 20:02)FernFox Wrote:  (Clarification: when I say microlabels, I'm thinking of those that divide therianthropy or try to encompass a specific, sometimes contradictory, experience: such as cambitherian, otherpaw, holothere, faunalune, etc)

I actually used to be a physical therian/holothere defender when I used to be on theriantok. Someone explained the definition to me as ,,since I’m nonhuman and this body belongs to me, the body is also nonhuman” and it made sense to me. Though now when I think about it I could say the same about myself since it’s not another type of identity, it’s just a philosophical idea tied to therianthropy so the separate label is basically pointless. The term holothere creates an even greater division in the therian community than ,,physical therian” did and tbh I kinda feel like it was created just for the sake of being unique and ,,more animal” than the regular therians. I might be overthinking this though.
Also I recently saw a video on TikTok where someone said they are a physical therian and explained the term as ,,feeling their therianthropy in their body by getting phantom feelings and experiencing animalistic behaviors” and idek what they mean atp since that’s not even a philosophical idea anymore, it’s just 100% regular therianthropy

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(2025-11-26 23:13)Thorn Wrote:  

(2025-11-26 20:02)FernFox Wrote:  (Clarification: when I say microlabels, I'm thinking of those that divide therianthropy or try to encompass a specific, sometimes contradictory, experience: such as cambitherian, otherpaw, holothere, faunalune, etc)

I don't care much for otherpaws, but I am just really glad people finally felt the need to make a distinct definition for liking to dress up as an animal and doing quadrobics, without labeling it "therian". And to make it clear it is NOT an alterhuman experience. Before the otherpaw term, it was all therian, and this was just really harmful for the representation of the community.

I feel the same. Otherpaws are specifically animal cosplayers and if I were one I’d also like a term that separates me from cosplayers that dress up as characters from games or movies instead.
I agree with Fern that the term sounds too similar to otherkin though and it still might create confusion.

I think micro-labels are okay with the caveat that they are something that is actively used and built upon, and something that doesn't have its linguistic niche already filled (as in isn't a term with a definition that is functionally identical to a pre-existing and more widely used term). If someone develops a niche term to describe an identity or experience where none currently exist and then they or others go on to write essays and explain the term in-depth and actually regularly use it, I think that's great and extremely useful for spurring on new discussions, frameworks, and vocabulary.

My problem with micro-labels is when they're coined as purely hypothetical words, never actually seeing any use or further discussion. Those make communication much more confusing.

I'm not a fan of microlabels (which, in and of itself, is also a microlabel!).

It's like the English rule when using acronyms: you have to spell it out first and then you can use it as a sort of short-hand. But unless you define it first, or unless everyone you're talking to already understands the definition, it's useless and only adds to confusion when trying to communicate an already often-times confusing concept!

Can't be doing with them. Just explain in real words what you mean damnit, microlabels don't communicate anything that can be understood by the uninitiated.

(2025-12-03 22:53)Lopori Wrote:  Can't be doing with them. Just explain in real words what you mean damnit, microlabels don't communicate anything that can be understood by the uninitiated.

This.

People often defend microlabels by saying that it's like a shortcut when talking about these things, not just in the context of therianthropy but also a lot in the LGBTQ context. These "shortcuts" don't mean anything and don't help because not only can people misunderstand the meaning or apply it to themselves differently than how it was "originally intended", but also because of the expectation that people will just magically know what they're talking about just because it's a single word now. I personally have no clue what any of these microlabels mean, especially in the LGBTQ community. In the therian community there's at least just a handful...

What's the need for shortcuts anyway? Why won't people just have real discussions anymore?

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(2025-11-26 23:33)FernFox Wrote:  The way it's presented makes it sound like an offshoot of the otherkin community (prefix other-, likening it to otherkin, and suffix -paw, random and non-descriptive). It goes along with my chief complaint that these labels aren't intelligible, and without googling it, it's entirely unclear what it's meant to represent.

I guess we can't be choosers since we didn't make it, but if creating a label for animal cosplay was a necessity, I wish that a different term had caught on. Quadrobist was already right there.
Maybe I'm also just picky with linguistics.

I forgot I wanted to reply to you as well so apologies for the double post!

I agree and share the frustration. Aren't animal cosplayers just called... furries? I mean they literally are just a subgroup of the furry fandom and have nothing to do with therianthropy. Why not make the label "quadrofur" or something? The -fur suffix is already common for subgroups of the fandom and that name would make way more sense and be more easily understood by the general population.

I used to put more stock in microlabels, but as time has gone on, I've become more and more annoyed by them. At this point, with seemingly everyone wanting to bandwagon onto creating yet more niche terms that no one else will innately understand, the microlabeling craze in therian communities has bloated to the point of hindering discussion rather than helping it.