Furry acts as non/human drag: A case study exploring queer of colour liveability through the fursona

Abstract

This article seeks to explore how non/human drag has been utilized to perform queer of colour feelings, which result in a mess-making of identity-based relationalities. Rooted in a phenomenological exploration of the fursona, this queer narrative case study focuses on furry acts, or the act of creating and embodying a personalized fursona, as non/human drag that becomes a site for self-exploration and queer of colour becoming. In exploring furry acts, this study centres its focus on the material impacts of non/human drag performances and suggests that furry acts are improvised responses to queer of colour domestication. The non/human drag performances, as explored through furry Poppy’s narratives, are also considered feral practices that intentionally bewilder and disorder subject identification. With a focus on furry acts as messy, this study proposes that non/human drag performances are essential for Poppy in accessing queer of colour joy, pleasure and liveability.