U is for Ursusagalmatophilia - a podcast by Dr. Lori Beth Bisbey - A to Z of Sex

I appologise for the late release, I am not sure what happened. We have another reboot for you to enjoy: U is for Ursusagalmatophilia.

Hi everyone! Welcome to the A to Z of Sex. I’m Dr Lori Beth and I am your host. We are working our way through the erotic alphabet one letter at a time. Just a reminder this podcast deals with adult content, so if you don’t have total privacy, you might want to put on your headphones. Today the letter is U and U is for Ursusgalmatophilia
Ursusgalmatophilia is primarily a fetish for teddy bears. It is also the formal name for a fetish for all plushies and a fetish for dressing up as animals. So it is the formal name for Furries.
I know many of you may be thinking that teddy bears and sex don’t belong in the same sentence. However, more people than you think have teddy bears as part of their sexual lives. For some, the connection is made when they are very young and cuddle a teddy bear while discovering masturbation. Remember that self-pleasure begins around the age of two and that one of the main functions of pleasure prior to puberty is to give comfort when upset or frightened. Who better than your best teddy to help with the job? Many young girls learn to masturbate by rubbing against their stuffies.
Most people don’t have a primary fetish for teddy bears so would not be properly classified as ursusgalmatophiles. The teddy bear may feature in their sexual life but isn’t essential to it.
However, there are some people for whom this is a central focus for their sexual activity. In 2010, Charles Marshall was arrested for having sex with a teddy bear in public for the fourth time. It was unclear if exhibitionism was part of his thrill as he did engage in these acts in public.
For some, the teddy bear or other stuffed animal is part of getting in touch with their inner child and becomes part of age play. Age play is often a controversial fetish as there are extremely strong taboos around childhood sexuality and any form of incest. In age play, a person enjoys roleplay in which they are a younger age. It usually divides into four categories: adult baby (which usually covers to toddler), little (up to 9 or so), middle (9 – 12) and teen. Many littles and middles (and some teens) enjoy stuffed animals and sometimes these become part of their sexual play. For more on littles, listen out for A is for Age play at the beginning of the next series of this podcast.
A more common form of this fetish is people who are sexually aroused by dressing up as animals or by fictional furry characters. These folks are more commonly known as furries. These people often dress up as fictional characters (like bugs bunny for example) and role play is an integral part of their interaction. Many have favourite animals (like bears, wolves, puppies) and dress in full costumes, roleplaying the animal. Lifestylers profess a deep emotional and spiritual connection with the animal they dress/roleplay as. Animals can be real, fictional or symbolic (dragons and unicorns are popular). Sexual activities that are part of the lifestyle often include erotica and furry themed cybersex.
Not all of the community has sexual interest in the furries that they role play. In 2011, a survey was done with 7000 participants. They categorised 4338 of the respondents as furries. There were 170 questions in this study. The average age of furries in the study was 23. 54% of the participants were between 18 and 21 years old. The survey had respondents from all over the world. The vast majority of the respondents were male (84%). A small percentage of the people in the study actually feel that they are not 100% human. 1/3 of the respondents said that sexual attraction is an essential part of their furry activities.
Furries are often anthropomorphised animals. This means that the animals act in ways that are human – like. For example, they walk on 2 feet. Inclusion and...

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