Skeptics might argue that identifying as Therian occurred after finding the online community, but Therianthropy is not a group identity. It is a personal identity with the majority of Therians feeling non-human and/or exhibited species-specific behavior before finding and participating with the online community. Therians often share memories from childhood of having felt a kinship with animals or related more to animals than people, or of having always experienced a vague feeling of being other than human.
Most individuals who come to identify as Therian were also skeptical of their own feelings and experiences in the beginning. This leads to a search for alternative explanations, which often leads to a further search for and analysis of evidence of being Therian.
The following is also from "Life Stories of Therianthropes: An Analysis of Nonhuman Identity in a Narrative Identity Model" by Natalie Bricker.
"The therians who participated in the current study reported a nonhuman identity that predated the discovery of the therian community. Feelings of being nonhuman and certain therianthropic experiences existed even in childhood for most participants. It therefore appears inaccurate to say that the identity was created by the community. It is true, however, that participants expressed relief and belonging upon discovering the term "therianthropy" to describe their experiences and the online therian community. In turn, these discoveries may have served to further reinforce participants' nonhuman identities. Additional research is needed in order to verify this possibility."
KAMU SEDANG MEMBACA
Intro to Modern Therianthropy as a Personal Identity
NonfiksiThis book begins to examine the identity phenomenon and ontological phenomeon known as Modern Therianthropy and dispels a few common misconceptions about the people known as Therianthropes.
