I didn't know where to put this so I put it under spirituality. I am well aware not all therians or Otherkin believe it is spiritual in nature.Before you answer the poll, please read this post because it will help describe things better.Some of you may have encountered the term "therianthropy" before and some may have not. This also goes for the terms "Otherkin" and "therian". So I am going to give you the standard definitions soon along with an explanation as to why I am creating this poll.
I am also aware that many people do not believe that therianthropy is possible. I would ask you to be kind in your words because therianthropy is very real to many people, including (possibly) some people on this site.
Okay, so on to the definitions:
Therian: A person who identifies intrinsically in some way as a non-human animal.
Otherkin: A person who identifies intrinsically in some way as a non-human entity.
Therianthropy: The state of being a person who is, feels, or believes he/she in in part or whole (non-physically) one or more non-human animals on an integral, personal level. [From the page linked below.]
(For more elaborate definitions please see the
Terms & Definitions page by
Project Shift.)
Now that the definitions are out of the way, here is why I am posting this poll:
Some therians and Otherkin have a hard time expressing how they feel in regards to therianthropy so they will say it is like being transgendered
except that instead of it being their gender that doesn't match their body, it's the species that doesn't match the body. They often do this because it has to deal with personal identity, except therianthropy is dealing with species identity while transgender is dealing with gender identity.
Many therians also report experiencing some form of dysphoria in regards to their internal identity not matching their physical body. This dysphoria is often described in the same exact way that the dysphoria many transgender people describe. The dysphoria that therians have, just like the dysphoria that many trans people report, can cause severe depression even to the point of suicide or contemplating suicide.
None will say it is the exact same as being transgender because it isn't the exact same, but the basics are the same: having an internal identity that doesn't fit their physical body. As a result, some therians will say that being a therian is a bit like being transgender in that the internal identity does not match the outer body and that they experience some side effects such as dysphoria over their body.
So, my question to you is:
How do you feel when someone compares therianthropy to being transgender for illustrative purposes?
(I would also like to add that a few people on Werelist would like to know the results of this poll. Your names will not be given out and neither will anything personal be given out. Just how many people checked the little box next an answer.)