Bear (gay culture)

Bear (gay culture)

"Bear" is a LGBT slang term that refers to members of a subculture in the homosexual and bisexual male communities and to an emerging subset of LGBT communities with events, codes, and a culture-specific identity. It can also be used more generically to describe a physical body shape.

The term "bear" is credited to Richard Bulger, who, along with his then partner Chris Nelson (1960–2006) founded Bear Magazine in 1987.

Bears celebrating the 2007 International Bear Rendezvous, an annual gathering of bears and bear-lovers held in San Francisco

Bears are heavy-set men and are often characterized as having hairy bodies and facial hair; some are also muscular; some attempt to project an image of rugged masculinity in their grooming and appearance. Some bears place importance on presenting a hypermasculine image and may shun interaction with, and even disdain, men who exhibit effeminacy.[1] The bear concept can function as an identity, an affiliation, and there is ongoing debate in bear communities about what constitutes a bear, however a consensus exists that inclusion is an important part of the bear community.[2][3]

Bears are almost always gay or bisexual men. Increasingly, transgender or transsexual men (trans men) and those who shun labels for gender and sexuality are also included within bear communities.

Younger or smaller men who identify with bear culture may also be labelled as cubs.

Contents

Events and activities

Bears at the 2009 Marcha Gay in Mexico City

At the onset of the bear movement, some Bears separated from the gay community at large, forming "bear clubs" to create social and sexual opportunities for their own. Many clubs are loosely organized social groups; others are modeled on leather biker-patch clubs, with a strict set of bylaws, membership requirements, and charities. Bear clubs often sponsor large yearly events—"Bear runs" or "Bear gatherings" like the annual events such as HiBearNation in St. Louis, Missouri, International Bear Rendezvous, CBL's Bear Hunt,[4] Bear Pride, Texas Bear Round Up (TBRU) in Dallas, Orlando Bear Bash,[5] drawing regional, national and international visitors. Many LGBT events attract a significant bear following, such as Southern Decadence[6] in New Orleans. A feature at many bear events is a "bear contest," a sort of masculine beauty pageant awarding titles and sashes (often made of leather) to winners.

Mr. DC Bear Cub 2006 and Mr. DC Bear 2006

One example of a bear contest was International Mr. Bear, formerly held each February at the International Bear Rendezvous in San Francisco. It attracted contestants, often with local titles, from all over the world. The first International Mr. Bear was held in 1992 and the last in 2011. The contest included bear, daddy, cub and grizzly titles with the contestant who receives the highest score winning the bear title, regardless of what type he is. Example: "Mr. Washington, D.C. Bear, 2006."

Gay "leather-bears" have competed in leather contests, and "muscle-bears" are another subculture noted by their muscular body mass.

The bear community has spread all over the world, with bear clubs in many countries. Bear clubs often serve as social and sexual networks for their members, who can contribute to their local gay communities through fund-raising and other functions. Bear events are common in areas with large gay communities.

The gay bear community constitutes a specialty niche in the commercial market. It offers T-shirts and other accessories as well as calendars and porn movies and magazines featuring bear icons, e.g., Jack Radcliffe. Catalina Video has a bear-themed line, the "Furry Features Series." Other adult studios who feature bear-type men are Bear Magazine, 100% BEEF Magazine, BearFilms, Bear, Butch Bear, Raging Stallion, and Titan Media.

As more gay men have identified themselves as bears, more bars, especially leather or western bars, have become bear-friendly. Some bars cater specifically to bear patrons.

Characteristics

As the bear culture has matured, it has subdivided itself, and many claim that discrimination has increased within the bear community as some men who self-identify as "bears" or "musclebears" do not welcome higher-bodyfat men (see chub) at their events. A common criticism of the bear community is that some self-described bears tend to exclude men who do not fit their standards of what a "real bear" is. Fat (or lack of it) is a political issue among bears, some of whom see their overweight condition as a form of self-acceptance. Some also note a lack of racial diversity in the bear community, perceiving hirsuteness to be a standard of physical attractiveness that genetically favors white men aesthetically, socially, and sexually among bears.[1] However, what appears as racial discrimination to some may be a result of the fact that, in the bear context in which hairiness is prized, Native Americans, African peoples, East Asians, and Pacific Islanders, among others, tend to have less facial and body hair than men of Caucasian descent.[1]

The AIDS devastation in San Francisco accelerated the generation gap between older and younger bear-identified men, peaking in the early 1990s, with few connections that survived between the two. Some older survivors claim that the current bear culture has become "shallow and catty," which is also their common criticism of mainstream gay culture. The allegation is that the younger bear community no longer reflects the culture's original function as a social alternative for primarily rural and blue-collar, traditionally masculine gay men. Moreover, the proliferation of bear pageants and their title winners ("sash bears") runs contrary to the early bear community's identification with and admiration for unself-conscious masculinity.

References in popular culture

Though not generally widely known outside of the gay community, the awareness of the bear culture has grown after numerous references in mainstream pop culture. One of the first instances occurred on The Kids in the Hall season 5, episode 2 (1994), in which a skit called "Grizzly" showed Kevin McDonald being "attacked by a bear" in a gay bar and surviving by flashing back to his Boy Scout training, eventually "playing dead."[7]

In the December 2007 issue of Instinct magazine, film actor, writer and producer Kevin Smith wrote "The Last Word" page, the last page of the magazine each month that is written by a celebrity. Smith writes about his gay brother Don, him being on the cover of A Bear's Life magazine and the related cover story, and his feelings about being a "bear icon" in the gay community.[8]

In the 30 Rock episode "The Fabian Strategy", Jack pretends to be gay to get what he wants from the interior designer his wife hired. When Liz suggests that he is not at all a believable gay, Jack says that he would fit the stereotype of a "daddy bear," and these are "highly prized in the gay community." In the The Big C episode "Goldilocks and the Bears", main character Cathy and her husband Paul accompany her gay friend Lee to a bear bar after he reveals that he is into "big hairy men;" Paul revels in the attention he receives from the clientele.

In the Canadian TV series Being Erica, recurring characters Dave (Bill Turnbull) and Ivan (Michael Northey) are a gay couple who own the coffee shop where the main characters hang out. Ivan is a larger and burlier bear, while Dave is a cub. In one episode, another character refers to the couple as "looking like Fraggle Rock but sounding like Queer as Folk".

The short-lived television sitcom Normal, Ohio starred John Goodman as a bear-type gay man.

The 2010 film BearCity is a romantic comedy in which a young gay man tries to adapt to bear culture after discovering his attraction to bearish men.

Reference can also be found in the polular American TV series Glee. In season three episode five, The First Time, main gay character Kurt Hummel reencounters former school bully and closet-gay Dave Karofsky in a gay bar. When asked whether he frequents the bar, he affirms and tells Hummel that he is considered a "bear cub." Despite neither of them really knowing what that means, it is clear that Dave views it as a term of endearment and acceptance.

References to bears have also appeared on American Dad, Family Guy, Saturday Night Live, The Simpsons, Conan, and numerous other programs.

Bear media

A variety of media has been established specifically to cater to bears. The Internet comic strip Bear with Me[9] centers around the life of the bear Andy McCubbin, a rich entrepreneur and heir to the Howell/McCubbin fortune, and his friends and family. A vast majority of the other characters are also bears. The comics are created by Tim Vanderburg under the pen name Bruin.[10] In Tim Barela's comic strip, Leonard & Larry, a majority of the male characters are bearded men, some self-identified as bears, most to not.[11] Another webcomic, Blur the Lines, frequently features bearish men and the two main characters, Rick and Drew, associate with the bear community (The former identifies as a chub, whereas the latter identifies as a chaser/cub. See below for term definitions). The events and characters depicted in the strip are inspired by the life of the author and artist, Bob Kusiak, who is also involved to some extent with the bear community.[12]

Terminology

Some slang terms relating to the bear community include the following:

  • Cub – a younger (or younger looking) version of a bear, typically but not always with a smaller frame. The term is sometimes used to imply the passive partner in a relationship.[13] Can be hairy or hairless.

See also


Notes

  1. ^ a b c Ron Jackson Suresha, (2002). Bears on Bears: Interviews and Discussions. "Bear Ages and Stages", pages 54–58, 149, 179, 236, 260–262, 294. Los Angeles: Alyson Publications. Retrieved on 2008-09-29 ISBN 1-55583-578-3.
  2. ^ "bubu - Belfast's Bear Club - Whats this 'Bear' thing all about?.". www.bububelfast.com. http://www.bububelfast.com/Whatisabear.html. Retrieved 2009-10-19. 
  3. ^ "thecompletebear.com - What is a Bear?.". www.thecompletebear.com. http://www.thecompletebear.com/life.php. Retrieved 2009-10-19. 
  4. ^ http://www.carolinabears.com/bearhunt
  5. ^ http://www.orlandobearbash.com
  6. ^ http://www.southerndecadence.net
  7. ^ "Transcript of the Kids in the Hall "Grizzly" skit". http://www.kithfan.org/work/transcripts/five/grizzly.html. 
  8. ^ "Instinct Magazine: Kevin Smith gets the last word. The film director and writer gives us his gay View Askew.". http://instinctmagazine.com/celebrity-interviews/kevin-smith.html. 
  9. ^ http://www.bearwithme.us/
  10. ^ Vandergurg, Tim (2002-2009). "Bear With me". http://www.bearwithme.us/. Retrieved 2009-06-15. 
  11. ^ Suresha, Ron (2002–2009). "Portrait of the Cartoonist as a Middle-Aged Bear: An Interview with Tim Barela". http://leonardandlarry.com/interview1.htm. Retrieved 2008-08-12. 
  12. ^ Kusiak, Bob (2009-2011). "Blur the Lines". http://www.blur-the-lines.com/. 
  13. ^ Kampf, Ray (2000). The Bear Handbook: A Comprehensive Guide for Those who are Husky, Hairy, and Homosexual, and Those who Love'em. Haworth Press. pp. "The Bear Cub: Ursus younges". ISBN 1560239964, 9781560239963. http://books.google.com/books?id=tsLsGRfoqoIC. Retrieved 2008-08-27. 

References

  • Les K. Wright, (1997). The Bear Book: Readings in the History and Evolution of a Gay Male Subculture (1997) from Haworth Press. ISBN 1-56023-890-9
  • Les K. Wright, (2001). The Bear Book 2 (2001) from Haworth Press. ISBN 1-56023-165-3
  • Ray Kampf, (2000). The Bear Handbook: A Comprehensive Guide for Those Who Are Husky, Hairy and Homosexual, and Those Who Love 'Em from Haworth Press. ISBN 1-56023-996-4
  • Ron Suresha, (2002). Bears on Bears: Interviews and Discussions from Alyson Publications. ISBN 1-55583-578-3

External links


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