I mean, yeah. Furries are cringe.
The ultimate point in furry self-awareness is the acceptance that many, many furries are, indeed, cringe, but that many out there are wholesome, too. In order for there to be such an inviting and accepting community, there must also be those who use it as a haven to be, well, a little strange. But this whole community is in and of itself a little strange, if we're honest with ourselves. And, so what? Nobody's inherently hurting anyone, and that's what's important. But yes, furries are both wholesome and cringe. Are furries *the* most wholesome community? No. Not by a longshot. But they're generally up there. Are they the cringiest community? No. But they're certainly past the 50th percentile of that list.
TL;DR: They're both cringe and wholesome, and that's not a surprise.