Personally, I see it similar to wearing BSDM gear or those cropped hentai shirts in public. Are you free to do it? Yes, but I’m also going to judge you for it

from what i’ve heard talking to other furries, “embracing the cringe” is a somewhat common part of the fandom for a lot of us. “furry hate” is just an evolved form of school kids making fun of eachother for liking different things.

there’s just something so freeing about saying “yeah i pretend to be a dog on the internet for fun”, especially when you just know it’s gonna make someone somewhere SO MAD for literally no worthwhile reason.

Yeah, for me it’s like people who go ALL in on collecting kitsch. Is it a bit cringe? Sure. Is it hurting anyone? No, there’s nothing inherently wrong with it. And if you have the guts to stand up and show it proudly, man, more power to you.