A Girls versus Guys werewolf question

[Berserker]

Do the gals have an easier time telling people about their wolf/werewolf interests? I bet they do! Guys have a much more difficult time in this area for some reason.

I've told guy buddies before and they don't quite understand what I'm talking about. They think I'm a furry, dammit! But the girls I know seem to totally get it, for some reason. Maybe because of the paranormal romance book thing, who knows.

[Gevaudan]

Guys just don't talk about their feelings and interests for some reason. It's weird, but I see it every day. Almost every guy I know talks about events, possessions, and happenings rather than anything personal. Girls are just more open about that I guess. I do get the occasional glimpse of what guys actually care about, but only in private settings, such as with close friends or in a deliberate discussion in class.

I'm surprised that your male friends are even aware of what furries are. I only know 2 guys that might even have a semblance of what they are, and this is just from eavesdropping.

[MattSullivan]

They think I'm a furry, dammit!

No one's yelling at him yet? LOL I mention the word "furry" and get raked across the coals but this goes un-bitched at?

Kidding ^_^ I'm just teasin you guys.

[outwarddoodles]

I always thought werewolves were more of a guys than a gals thing. Not that there aren't female werewolf fans out there, but the dark/beastly/gore-y ordeal never went when with some of the girls in my peer group. It's sad to admit, but I do sort of keep my werewolf obsession to myself. To my friends, it's fine, but to people I hardly know and older persons (IE. Parents) werewolves tend to be looked down upon as 'strange.'

My best friend knows I'm really into werewolves, and I'm slowly pushing her over to loving them, too. But then again, she's an excellent drawer and is really into fantasy, so there's not much in terms of fictional interests that would come off as strange to her. She thinks my werewolf drawings are kickass, and she even made a werewolf character of her own. My older brother knows too. But he's a furry, likes werewolves and is really into the concept of shapeshifting himself. In fact, he recently just got into Werewolf: The Apocalypse. He's probably the only guy who'll understand what werewolves represent to me.

I had a guy best friend a couple years back who knew about my love for werewolves. But whenever I presented him one of my drawings, he'd always ask me why I'm so obsessed with something 'so stupid'. (And he liked faeries....)

Funnily enough, when it comes to comments on my artwork during class, it's usually rhe guys walking up to me and going "DUUUDDEEE, that wolfman is soooo badass!" The girls typically give me odd looks and walk away, probably thinking I'll go all psychopathic on them.

Gevaudan: I've heard "furry" thrown around in my highschool before. For Halloween, someone apparently dressed up as a rabbit, and everyone called her a 'furry.' Also, my Dad's friend jokingly called me a furry before while commenting on my artwork.

[Moss27]

I guess it just depends on the personality. My guy friend wasn't afraid to admit that he was an Inuyasha fan, and he actually filed his nails down to match, but he's one in a million. Most of them are so hard-headed. I guess they release their "interests in the weird" by talking about video games. A lot.

I agree with outward that werewolves seem more like a guy thing. They may not say it, but it is a guy thing. Vampires are for girls. I'm the only werewolf girl amongst my girl friends.

If guys opened up a bit more, I admit that it would be kind of shocking, but they would be way easier to talk to.

[lycanthropeful]

I'd think it would be harder for us girls, based on what I did three nights ago.

Just this weekend, I told my parents about my various urges and things, and completely gave them a debriefing on why I'm obsessed with werewolves. Luckily my parents are really understanding, though I was afraid to tell them. I'm an only child, so they're like my "best friends" who I tell everything to (aside from my real best friends that I tell everything to, haha). That's why I felt compelled to explain to them some odd inklings I've had since I was about six (and not just lycanthropy). I've never had to be so courageous in my whole life!

My parents knew about my characters and such and what they represented to me, which they're totally okay with. In my parents' eyes, as well as mine, it's much better to draw/write about the things I'd do as a werewolf (if I'm on the evil level, like killing, massacring, etc.) than to do the actions themselves. I always thought it was just as bad to even have violent thoughts, so finally letting it out in a confession was such a nice form of catharsis for me.

I would assume that guys care less about those sorts of things... both guys and girls are sort of stereotyped into roles of masculinity and femininity. It's hard to say what is "worse": girls liking manly things or men liking girly things. To me, it really depends on who you feel comfortable with, and how well they know you.

Gevaudan: I've heard "furry" thrown around in my highschool before. For Halloween, someone apparently dressed up as a rabbit, and everyone called her a 'furry.' Also, my Dad's friend jokingly called me a furry before while commenting on my artwork.

God, one of my friends used to (and still does, from time to time) throw that term around all the time to piss me off. We finally decided it would be best to try to understand our own unique interests. All I can say is that I didn't find her vore interest nearly as "vile" as she seemed to find my anthro/werewolf obsession, so I got used to being called a "furry." It gets so old after a while...

[Kaebora]

Guys: "Did you see that movie where the werewolf ripped a guy's head off and the spine came out with it! DUDE it was awesome!"

Gals: "Werewolves are so cute, and wouldn't it be cool to be one?"

This is just saying what is acceptable among each gender without getting strange looks. Heh. I'd be prone to say either of these phrases, but the gal's comment might give me some strage stares.

[Noir-Okami]

What I think is that it seems more accepted when a guy likes werewolves than a girl. It may have something to do with the idea that the predominant werewolf portrail is a monster that goes around killing everyone. Not that my relatives (except my brother) or friends know that I'm a fan of werewolves or anything...

Due to Twilight, it appears that vampires are associated with girls, because of Edward Cullen. I do not like him, just to clear that up. But there's Team Jacob ( ), so it could be up in the air now...

[MoonKit]

Do the gals have an easier time telling people about their wolf/werewolf interests? I bet they do! Guys have a much more difficult time in this area for some reason.

I've told guy buddies before and they don't quite understand what I'm talking about. They think I'm a furry, dammit! But the girls I know seem to totally get it, for some reason. Maybe because of the paranormal romance book thing, who knows.

I think the girls just accept it easier because you're a boy and your supposed to like bloody, violent, hairy things. They dont question it. They assume its a guy thing.

[RedEye]

It's a guy thing until the girls take over. Actually, I suspect that there are as many or more girls who are Werewolf-types than there are Guys who are Werewolf-types. The girls just mostly don't talk about it. I do notice that more girls buy Werewolf novels for their own use than guys do; if that's any indicator of things. Like horses, Werewolves are empowering.
Then there's Vrikatsama, who has her cake and eats it, too...

As for me; I'm writing Novels about Werewolves. 'nuff said.

[Vagrant]

This question is really a difficult one to find any answer to for me, because it falls into a grey area, and most of the time I'd swear I'm gender-queer anyway.

It's true that Werewolves might be a guy thing, but my Werewolves are all about the positive aspects of Wolves; the pack/family, trust, loyalty, sticking together, looking out for the young, tackling everything together, and so on. And Wolves, in general, are both creatures of great profundity and beauty to me.

I've learned not to relate these feelings to most of the blokes I've talked to in my lifetime. The response is usually "Gaaaaay..." (well, yes, obv), followed by them feeling really alienated.

I've not had the greatest of successes with the women either, because as outward points out--I'm a man and Werewolves are usually monsters, assumptions are made and they generally don't care to listen.

The successes I've had are few and far between, one other gay chap, a couple of eccentric women, my rather open-minded Grandmother, and so on. It's just hard to get past all the assumptions to actually get to my view, to see if they'd be at all interested in that.

After I dumped my whole list of interests at one family meeting anyway (that was so much fun!), I stopped being afraid of sharing things, and I've been trying since. My successes have been few and far between.

I think the only people these things can really be related to well are those who are quite eccentric. And I'm sure everyone here is wonderfully eccentric (that is a compliment), so that's why this place works so well.

Edited to add...

Perhaps as long as the person is eccentric and open-minded, gender doesn't matter so much?

[Figarou]

Guys: "Did you see that movie where the werewolf ripped a guy's head off and the spine came out with it! DUDE it was awesome!"

Gals: "Werewolves are so cute, and wouldn't it be cool to be one?"

This is just saying what is acceptable among each gender without getting strange looks. Heh. I'd be prone to say either of these phrases, but the gal's comment might give me some strage stares.

There are gals that's into dark horror. So...don't be surprised if you hear a gal talking about a werewolf ripping someone to shreds.

[lycanthropeful]

There are gals that's into dark horror. So...don't be surprised if you hear a gal talking about a werewolf ripping someone to shreds.

*raises a paw* Yup, that's me. This whole thread actually inspired that little work-in-progress. We have some really interesting viewpoints going on here!

[Draca]

I've never had a problem with people "accepting" me. My family, friends, and associates know, and have always known, that I'm into animals and monsters and stuff. Maybe it's different for guys, or maybe other people had strict childhoods. or un-open-minded friends. Thankfully I never encountered any of that, and can't really relate.

[Leonca~]

I have no idea if gender has played any sort of role in it for me. I’ve often shared my werewolf interest with friends and family, and even occasionally joked with them that I want to be a werewolf, but I’ve always just assumed that they would think I was weird no mater if I was a guy or a girl. Same goes for reading horror novels, though I guess that might surprise people a bit more since they might expect that to appeal more to boys. I’ll always remember the time I was reading a book in class, a collection of real life news stories and book excerpts called The Mammoth Book of Maneaters. Another girl asked to see what I was reading, and when I showed her she responded with “Ewww!!!”

[Moonwatcher]

Not alot of guys talk about werewolves or fantasy becuse they usually think it's not something your suppose to talk about.

[Vagrant]

Not alot of guys talk about werewolves or fantasy becuse they usually think it's not something your suppose to talk about.

I realise the rather frustrating reality of this truth.

If one were to look at the open-minded males on this board (and there are many), one would think it isn't true, but all a person would really have to do is visit me, and talk to just about any male they'd encounter.

Football is okay, Cars are okay, sometimes video-games are okay, sexist comments are okay, one-word reviews of films and/or TV are okay, beyond that? Don't bother. It's impossible to get them to express themselves, and it usually results in alienating them to the point where it's probably a good idea to just walk away.

I find myself alienated by my masculinity because of the ubiquity of men like that.

But maybe it's just Britain that's lagging behind the rest of the World when it comes to open-mindedness, I honestly have no idea.

[Silverclaw]

Girls are supposed to be into faeries, unicorns, elves and at the scariest, sexy gothic vampires.

Boys are supposed to be into dragons, evil monsters, and werewolves.

They are the unspoken rules of what your supposed to be into. Gotta love society
Glad we all aren't like that

[Terastas]

I think guys have a hard time expressing any personal feelings or interests because we are conditioned not to. When guys are depressed or insecure about anything at all, the usual response is to either assume that everyone has the exact same problems or does not give a crap at all. We tend to rationalize at least subconsciously that our dilemmas are not unique unto ourselves, or at the very least that we are not the only ones that have problems in general.

That and we know what a pain in the arse it is when someone else gets all bubbly and demands that we validate their feelings, so we try not to put others in the same situations we ourselves would rather not be in.

It goes double for our interests. We talk about stuff we like to other people that like them, but if we know someone doesn't give a damn, we tend not to waste our breath on them. I can't speak for everyone, but I personally do not for the same reasons: because I hate it when people drone on at length about subjects that I could care less about and get upset and/or offended by my indifference. My father is one of the few men I know that can't understand everyone does not share his interests and gets all sensitive when they are questioned (and his object of obsession is model trains no less), so having endured all of his antics, I make it a point to be less like him whenever possible (to this day nobody in my RL even knows about my love of Pokemon, never mind my furry / werewolf interests).

Women, on the other hand, are not nearly as often given the "STFU" conditioning I grew up with. I don't know if the fact that it's still at least partially a male-dominant society has anything to do with it, but the pattern I've noticed is that women are less likely to rationalize their problems as normal, less likely to assume anyone besides themselves has problems (or at least problems that measure up to their own), and therefore more likely to confide in someone about something a guy would otherwise just keep to himself.

[Berserker]

You like Pokemon?

[outwarddoodles]

I love Pokemon.

I even made a few of my own.

[MoonKit]

You like Pokemon?

Who isnt?

[Silverclaw]

Still got all my Pokemon cards
Trying to beat the Elite Four now on my Pokemon Pearl DS.

[Vuldari]

You like Pokemon?

Who isnt?

I think you mean, "Who doesn't?"

Anyway, I will admit to being quite fond of Pokemon ... or the first Generation of them at least. Everything after the original Red and Blue games have been increasingly hit-and-miss with me, and though the gameplay had gradually improved, the scenario is tiring, and 100 new characters every round is just a bad idea, IMHO.

I love the franchise concept though. The characters are charming. I'd love to see a new Pokemon game with NO new Pokemon whatsoever, but new ways to make individual Pokemon unique, like color variations and distinguishing marks, as well as random occasional special abilities (like a Grass Type that Suddenly learns a Fire Type Move instead of what it normally would, or a Flying Blastoise, like that "Surfing Pikachu" from one of the games). Mixing things up would be good too ... like combining the gameplay of every pokemon themed game into one, allowing one to play it more like a REAL RPG and choose their own path ... be a trainer ... be a ranger ... be a Pokemon Photographer ... be a Breeder ... or all of the Above. Maybe even allow a player to become a Pokemon Rights warrior, and fight their own battles while freeing pokemon from evil traders, rather than making their pokemon fight for them (actual attacks from the Player/Trainer themself). Being able to interact with the pokemon one has collected in more ways than just fighting would be nice too ... like training them to do tricks (like "Hey You Pikachu"), or entering them in races, or strength competitions or even just playing with them ... tag, fetch, hide-and-seek ... make the Pokemons happiness part of the game. That way ... if you do take a team to a final championship of some kind, the unique personality of each of your pokemon would be more significant, and they would all feel more like actual CHARACTERS and not just pawns, or a "Type" of pokemon with a certain combination of attacks.

I think the best POKEMON game would be one where one is not challenged to "Catch them ALL" (though allow the possibility), but rather fall in love with 5 or 10 individual pokemon, whom you name and raise yourself, each with unique personalities, abilities, colors and markings. With several hundred different pokemon out there already, everyone who plays the game would likely have a different combination of unique pokemon, all of which would feel more like their "Friends" than their "Team" by the end of the game.

There is just so much Potential behind the Pokemon franchise, which I love ... it's just the games themselves that are wearing thin. (Much like the "Raving Rabbids" franchise).

[Terastas]

Didn't mean to derail the thread like that, but I will just say a couple more things Pokemon-related: It boggles my mind that Pokemon has been going strong for ten years. . . And there are still people out there calling it a "fad."

And I understand the issue with the continued adding of species, but some of the coolest and best looking pokemon, in my opinion, are from the most recent generation (Pokemon without Lucario? Oh God, please no). I just hope that if they do continue to add more and more, they don't feel at all pressured to create a set of legendaries that surpass the D/P generations -- that, in my mind, would be overkill.

But anyway, my point in bringing it up was to illustrate that, even though I've been a fan ever since I saw my first episode ten years ago, nobody in my RL life knows about it. . . Because I know they don't want to hear about it. I hate it when people take time out of their lives (and mine) to proclaim the wonders of hockey, NASCAR or "professional" wrestling, so I'm not about to go and throw my interests out there to the public. And the ridicule I might get is the least of my worries; I just assume they care as much about my interests as I do about theirs.

Unless, of course, I know I'm already surrounded by people with the exact same interests. That's typically how a guy will handle any quirks or interests they consider out of the ordinary: keep it to themselves while looking for a group of like-mindeds. I won't talk about Pokemon to a co-worker or a guy at the bar, but I will go to a convention or a premier event and absolutely run my mouth off. I think (and hope) that's how it is with most guys.

The only exception to the rule is with "man's topics" that they assume all guys know and love. Which is why I specifically singled out hockey, NASCAR and wrestling two paragraphs ago; because those are some of things (at least around here) that people who want everyone to know what a manly man they are will talk about. Anything else a normal man will only talk about if asked about.

It might also seem like there's a majority of female werewolf fans because of the current Twilight madness. A lot of those girls aren't actual werewolf fans -- they're just dumb tweens obsessing over Jacob.
Just a thought.