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My daughter is 13 years old almost 14 and is obsessed to the point she is addicted to becoming a furry. At first I thought it was harmless when she was younger and thought it was just a little phase. After getting contradictory information via internet and actually seeing videos being sexually suggestive - made me start to shut this idea down. She would stay in her room hours on end and just pretend and dress up as an animal while recording herself. My daughter has a very low self esteem and not sure why, she’s a beautiful girl. She doesn’t have many friends and struggles to make bonds. I have seen attempts at friendships but hasnt made a real connection with anyone from school. She doesn’t have much self confidence but feels like she does hiding behind a mask and pretending to be a dinosaur. Everyday I’m still making her brush her hair brush her teeth shower. She is not concerned with good hygiene. I’ve told her if she just put half the effort she did in being a furry into herself in real life her self confidence would flourish. She just recently received her phone back after months of not having it (during which I never heard anything about furries anymore) and just recently made a friend who she seems to connect with. Today the furry conversation came about along with an hour long discussion about why I don’t agree with it and her begging and throwing a tantrum. These are my concerns

1) She already doesn’t have self confidence. Being young I think she may regret when she’s older, looking back and still being bullied for choices she made while she is younger. 2) She carries the behavior on in high school and is bullied - and goes deeper into feeling awful about herself resulting into something that would devastate our family 3) Her obsession and willingness to trade everything else such as her gaming console and her cell phone. I feel that if the obsession is that great it is an addiction and seems unhealthy. 4) I want her to build self confidence in her REAL life not hide behind a animal mask for acceptance of strangers on the internet. 5) Exposure to the side of it that’s not appropriate

I’m at a lose as to how to handle this anymore.

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    I think the low self esteem is probably the bigger problem: the furry bit sounds like she is looking for a place to escape into from a world that doesn't seem to offer much. Get the school to tackle the bullying, and see if you can get her counselling about the self esteem. – Paul Johnson Jun 15 '20 at 9:02
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    I see the similarity with the linked question, but the low self-esteem looks like the real problem here. Accordingly I vote to reopen. – Paul Johnson Jun 15 '20 at 9:02
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    What's a furry? – David Jun 17 '20 at 14:16
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    I feel like this question should not have been tagged as redundant. While the title of the two questions are the same the actual content of the linked question sounds more like a child into cosplay where the father leaps to the term furry, while this question is about someone who is actually interested in being a furry. If you modified your question with an edit explaining the distinction, and why the linked question does not have relevant answers, I would be willing to vote for a reopen personally. – dsollen Jun 30 '20 at 21:38
  • @david Furry fandom is interested in anthropomorphic animals. A furry is someone interested in that fandom, which may mean interest in dressing up as an animal, interest in stories or pictures depicting them, or on the extreme side actually identifying partially or fully as another animal (their so call fursona, a furry persona). Part of the furry community is very...NSFW, with a sexual focus, so they have gotten a pretty bad name on the internet, though as I understand it many (most?) furries aren't interested in the sexual stuff despite that being what their most known for. – dsollen Jun 30 '20 at 21:47

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