The Forbidding Unlawful Representation of Roleplaying in Education, or FURRIES, Act, filed by Austin-area Republican State Rep. Stan Gerdes, would “prohibit any non-human behavior by a student, including presenting himself or herself, on days other than exempt days, as anything other than a human being.”
The law would allow for exempt days, such as Halloween and other school dress-up days.
The law defines “non-human” behavior as “any type of behavior or accessory displayed by a student in a school district other than behaviors or accessories typically displayed by a member of the homo sapiens species,” with provided examples being:
Using a litter box for the passing of stool, urine or other human byproducts
A personal or outward display, except during a school play or by a school mascot, through surgical or superficial means of features that are non-human such as using tails, leashes, collars or other accessories designed for pets
Using fur, other than naturally occurring human hair or a wig made to look like human hair
Artificial, animal-like ears
Other physiological features that have not historically been assigned to the human race through a means of natural biological development
Students who bark, meow, hiss or make other animal noises that are not human speech
Licking oneself or others for the purpose of grooming or maintenance.
You raise an excellent point, and it honestly makes me think of Tyson Yunkaporta’s perspective on the actual historical purpose of free public elementary education: to retrain the human mind toward total obedience to the state. In order to mold a person into obedience, you have to take away their sense of agency, their ability to think for themselves, and their creativity. Children increase their understanding of the world and express their creativity through play, which includes pretending to be elements of the world such as animals. In removing the natural ability to be creative through play, you wrangle tighter control over how they think.
So I’m not saying the creators of this bill are actively intending to further force ingrained obedience in American
servantscitizens, but I’m also not saying that they’re totally unaware of the possibilities.