Labels
Experienced therians who have been around for many years already know the issues I'm pointing out, so I would simply like everybody else understand what I'm saying and think about.
What you must always remember about labels is that they are terms supposed to make things easier. They are words summing up a concept and they should be understood by everybody. A label that nobody knows, that everybody misunderstands, or that complicates things has no sense. Also, a label is only a label. It makes things simple, but it also is less accurate than reality. As an example the term "therianthropy" is about being animal inside, but no therian experiences therianthropy in the exact same way. You can't assume that every therian, contherian, hybrid, etc is the same as others therians, contherians, hybrids and so on. You have to remember that because of this, words don't exactly mean the same for everybody. To avoid misunderstanding, be very careful when using labels and make sure the person you're talking with means the same as you. A simple example is the fact that while animal people use "were" and "therianthrope" in the same way, many furs in the furry fandom use "were" to refer to mythological werewolves in art, movies and such as, or concerning feral fursonas. Sometimes people misunderstand words, but sometimes they simply take it and use it in their own way, creating a different meaning - and much confusion.
It may sound stupid to some of you, but... don't use poserish labels. At all. Don't use White Wolf terms because people will assume you are a roleplayer. Perhaps you think some of these words perfectly express what you are, but it's still not a good reason. A label has to be understood by everybody, and while you may think "this is what I am, I can't say it in another way", most of people will think "this guy is a poser", period. Don't or avoid using terms such as lord, master, alpha, mundane; the terrible combination of every poserish terms ("I'm the lordmaster darkmoonwoof and I'm the alpha of a real pack of garous") won't make people respect you, it will make them shake their heads, laugh or get angry. Avoid using the words "lycanthrope" and "lycan" about wolf therians, because lycanthropy is a clinical term (it may also be about mythological werewolves) and lycan sounds too much from Underworld. In certain contexts it might work but most of the time these terms will make you seem to use fictional terms to describe what you are, and others may consider your therianthropy is a fiction too... Therianthropy is reality, it's a concrete thing, not a fiction or roleplay. While some communities might use them, it doesn't mean it's a good thing and I know no serious therian who would call themselves alpha, lord, or garou. Also, please, don't capitalize therian-related words, that's bloody irritating and makes you sound stupid; it's not supposed to be holy or whatever.
Ultimately it's a good thing to avoid using labels when you can. What matter is to make sense, not to make short, you lazy. While m-shift or even p-shift may be known by most of the community, it's not always the case and it's not the case at all concerning various other types of shifts listed in certain websites. Frankly, you don't need one term per sub-category of shift. They actually all are somewhat mental as they happen "in your mind". You may want to make a distinction between mental, dream and phantom shift, at worst, but nearly all the other types (such as "perception") fall under the "mental" category and other labels are useless - and confusing. Using a lot of labels doesn't make you seem smart as if you know a lot, it makes you look like a moron for being obsessed with stupid words.
As a side note: not all therians are shifters. It doesn't simply mean that refering to shifts as something necessary to be a therian is wrong; it also means that refering to animal people as "shifters" can be rude at all the non-shifters therians. In the same vein: some people like the word "contherianthropy" as their inner-self is unchanging (thus they are totally shiftless). If you shift but feel like using the word because half of the definition fits... no. Please don't. You're going to make the word meaningless because you shouldn't use it unless the whole definition fits. See the Contherianthropy FAQ for more informations. Think about what implies a term before using it, ponder about the meaning of "shift", "contherian" and any word you use. Think about what you experience before using a label, and if you find no label that fits, it's not important. Don't use words when they don't fit, that's all.
There always is a logic behind a word, avoiding mistakes requires you use your brain before making opinions. As an example many people consider hybrid are polyweres, and that those therianthropies are about having several weresides. It's not really the case. A polywere do have multiple theriosides, take the example of a therian whose sides are wolf and leopard... He may shift into a wolf, or into a leopard, or perhaps both at once. However they are distinct from the other. The situation is totally different for a wolf/leopard hybrid, because an hybrid has only one side: the result of wolf and leopard mixed up together. It is one single creature which has the characteristics of both animals. One single side. Therefore an hybrid doesn't have multiple animal sides, although for the sake of simplicity you can say he has several sides to mean he has several components. But they aren't distinct theriotypes. An hybrid's inner self is composed of several creatures blended together, but you have to consider the wolf/leopard mix as one single creature.
Do not use "therianism", "therianthropism" and any other kind of "isms" instead of "therianthropy". Contrary to what a few therians would like, therianthropy is not a cult, religion, doctrine or set of tenets. Not only "therianthropism" and "therianism" are incorrect, but it gets on many therians' nerves to see it because it is misleading about what therianthropy is: "isms" are used to convey an idea of ideology or belief, while therianthropy is not a religion or doctrine you can adopt and practice; it's less a belief than a state of being, so it isn't etymologically right to give it "ism" endings. Don't misuse words, the term "therianthrope" describes what you are, not what you believe in.
A recent issue brought on forums concerns the words "wereside" and "phenotype". Indeed, a few newbies pointed out the fact that the "were" root means "human", which would make "wereside" has no sense, while "phenotype" has a very different meaning from its original one (in scientific fields). They decided to create a better word concerning one's animal side and then "theriotype" came out. All I have to say is: while some new labels may be useful, sometimes they can bring much more problems than before, so do think seriously about what you are suggesting and its consequences before spreading it. For exemple someday people got tired of all the debates over the "contherianthrope" label, so they created a word for all the therianthropes who always feel animal inside while fluctuating from more animalish to less animalish (those aren't contherians) and "syntherianthropy" came out (it has been misspelled as "suntherianthropy", whereas the greek "u" turns into a "y" in our languages, as in "synthesis"). In fact what they did was creating a label for... most of therianthropes, since the specific experience they describe is that of most of animal people. The reason behind the creation of the word was less to help communication than satisfying their need of having their own pretty term, which is regretable. Much confusion came from this.
This leads to an important point: creating more labels requires that the "good sides" really justify the "bad side effects". Ultimately we don't need more labels: we don't need more confusion. What we need for the moment is to clear up things concerning the existing labels. The "let's create labels!!" trend is a dangerous one, and while newcomers may have the feeling that some new words are necessary, as everybody they should pay attention to all the consequences, and should be aware of all the issues raised before taking any decision. Anyway people are free to use the terms they want, and if the suggestions they make really are good, they would be spread in the community naturally (that doesn't mean there would be no confusion though). In case it isn't clear enough, what I explain in this essay comes from my experience and various discussions I have had with therian friends, I am not forcing people to agree. What I want is that they think about it, especially if they haven't spent yet more than a few years in the community (and the "werecommunity" does not consist in a single forum or two).
The "pick'n'choose" attitude is a common trap for many newcomers when they arrive in the community and learn about its terminology. It's hard to put words on what we experience and feel, and therianthropes (more especially newbies) may feel the need to find and use every word they can apply to their therianthropy in order to make people understand what they are - and possibly to "fit in". Many will apply to them terms that doesn't really fit because they find nothing else and they are convinced they need labels (to be understood, accepted, and more "were"). They may rush, they don't think about words' meaning, they read a definition about a word and think it is the Truth - which have bad consequences especially when the only definitions they read are wrong or inaccurate. And definitions about therian terminology often are inaccurate. Perhaps it's because of the fact I have a "literary" scholar background, that I had "too much" philosophy, French and languages courses, but I'm finicky when it comes to words and its uses. I don't want people to be the same as me, but if everybody could make the effort to use terms correctly, it would fix a lot of misunderstandings happening in the werecommunity. Don't pick and choose words randomly; don't overuse labels. Explore what you are, soulsearch, think about it, and think about what words mean, so you can then use some of them to sum up what you are if there is no other way for people to understand it. It doesn't matter if you have no labels to refer to what you are at first, and it actually doesn't matter at all.
Remember that we don't really need labels. Labels don't define ourselves. Trying to fit into the mold of a word won't make you go far. You must remember that therianthropes aren't therianthropes from the moment they have found this label. They have always been animal people, and finding a word to describe it changed nothing. You are an animal person because you are animal inside, not because you found a community made of people similar to you who use pretty words. Going deeper in your personal therianthropy (and self-discovery process in general) isn't about finding labels that suits you, but about learning more about who and what you are, and understanding it.
~Akhila
December 2004