Portfolio: Tommy Bruce

Sports, entertainment, gaming, and hunting are industries. That is, they are “adult” because they participate in the economy. They generate capital and reinforce heteropatriarchal values through scripted forms of performance and participation. If you go to an Isotopes game, you sing “bah-bah-bah” to “Sweet Caroline.” If you go to Disney World, you take a photo with a joyful Mickey. If you hunt, you display your kill on the wall. Furries, on the other hand, make their own narratives. They have sex. They miss their cues. Between the longing to be recognized and threat they pose to social, political, and economic norms, they fail. They sit literally and figuratively outside the castle, like Atmus.

Published in the magazine by Southwest Contemporary.