Bear community
 |
The International Bear Brotherhood Flag |
The
bear community is a masculinist subculture in the
gay community. Bears are
gay or
bisexual men with hairy bodies and
facial hair; some are
heavy-set, but that is not a requirement. Bears often exhibit an outwardly
masculine appearance. Some bears place great importance on presenting a hyper-masculine image and shun interaction with men who display
effeminate style and
mannerisms.
There is much debate as to the definition of a bear, with some saying that anyone who identifies themselves as a bear is a bear, and others arguing that bears must have certain physical characteristics such as chest and abdominal hair as well as facial hair.
The bear community originated in
San Francisco in the 1970s as an outgrowth of the
leather and "
girth and mirth" communities. It was created by men who felt that mainstream
gay culture was unwelcoming to men who did not fit a particular bodily norm (hairless, and young).
Photographer and researcher Chris Nelson and his partner Richard Bulger started "Bear Magazine" - originally a xerox-copied flyer - from their home in San Francisco's North Beach in the 1980s. Richard and Chris took the magazine to a high-gloss format which was distributed throughout the world by the mid-1990s. Together Richard and his friend Rick Redewill, who had founded San Francisco's "Lone Star Saloon" found themselves with a huge success - with the Lone Star becoming "ground zero" for the bear social scene.
At the onset of the bear movement, some bears chose to dissociate themselves from the gay community at large. Bears formed clubs primarily focused on creating social opportunities for their particular sub-community. Many clubs are loosely organized social groups, while other bear clubs organized in the model of leather back-patch clubs, with a strict set of by-laws, member requirements, and often with a charitable or service component. Bear clubs often sponsor large yearly events, known as "bear runs" or "bear gatherings", that draw regional and international visitors. A feature event at many bear runs is a "bear contest", a sort of hyper masculine beauty pageant where titles and sashes (often made of
leather) are given out to winners. Example: "Mr.
Washington, D.C. Bear, 2006.")
|
Mr. DC Bear Cub 2006 and Mr. DC Bear 2006. |
The bear subculture's evolution was around long before the
internet but can be closely tied to the growth of online social networking. Gay men who felt they were not welcome at their local gay meeting places (or who just wanted a quick hook-up) found easy access to and acceptance from similar people online. (For example, Bear411.com) [
1]].
The bear community has spread all over the world, with bear clubs in
North America,
Australia,
Europe,
Latin America,
Asia, and
Africa. Bear clubs often serve as social and sexual networks for older, hairier, sometimes heavier gay and bisexual men, and members contribute to their local gay communities through fundraising and other functions. Bear events are common in heavily-gay communities, and lots of flux and interaction occur between members of the different sub-communities. On the
IRC network
Efnet the
chat room #bearcave is an example of an internet based Bear club.
The bear community also constitutes a minor commercial market. It offers
T-shirts and other accessories as well as
calendars and
porn movies featuring the stars of this community, eg
Jack Radcliffe.
As more gay men have come to self-identify with bears, more
bars, especially leather bars, have become bear-friendly. Some bars have even chosen to focus exclusively on bear patrons. As bear images have been more accepted into the larger gay culture, and as more people identify themself as bears, the need for bear-specific social groups may have lessened and some people feel that they are just mainstreaming into their gay community's existing social structures.
Ironically, today even as some men have come to see themselves as bears, discrimination has increased within the bear community as some men who identify themselves as "Bears" or "muscle bears" and increasingly exclude larger-bodied bears (see
Chubby Community) from their events. For this reason, some people both in and out of the bear community criticize it as tending to exclude people who do not fit into their own standards of what a "real man" is.
Though not generally widely known outside of the
gay community, the "bear" concept has surfaced in pop culture.
Television
* On the American television show
Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, a stocky and hairy man receiving a makeover was informed by one of the hosts that, "In our community, you would be called a cub!"
* In
The Simpsons episode "
Three Gays of the Condo",
Homer runs into
Waylon Smithers in the gay part of town; one of Smithers' friends asks, "Hey Waylon, who's the bear? Woof!"
* In
The Simpsons episode "
Much Apu About Nothing",
Homer chants "We're here, we're queer, we don't want any more bears". When asked by
Lenny Leonard where he picked up the pretty catchy chant, he replies "Oh, I heard it at the mustache parade they have every year". A more obtuse reference to beardom is evinced here, but the bear savvy outlook of the Simpson's writers surely ranks among the highest.
* In
American Wedding, a character (appropriately named Bear) at a gay bar flirts with Stifler, after Stifler growls at him. The 'woof' can be heard.
* In the British television show
Absolutely Fabulous, during the episode entitled "Gay", the character of Bo (
Mo Gaffney) attempts to put her husband Marshall's potential homosexual tendencies to the test by setting him up on a date with a "daddy bear".
*
The Kids in the Hall Season 5 episode 2 1994, 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".
transcript* In
The L Word, season three's episode 2 (Lost Weekend), characters Jenny and Moira enter a club's "Bear Night" and dance among large, bearded men.
* On the reality show
Can't Get a Date, singer/actor
James Bradford identifies as a bear (but is shown actively trying to lose weight)
* On the June 19th, 2006 episode of
The Colbert Report,
Stephen Colbert listed bears as the top threat to his continued heterosexuality, a play on his previously stated fear of the animal of the same name.
Music
* Minnesota indie rock band
Lifter Puller, on their album
Half Dead and Dynamite, wrote a song called "The Bears". It features lyrics such as "your kisses taste just like Skoal Bandits".
* A full scale music festival of musicians identified as Bears, called
Bearapalooza". was started by musician
Freddy Freemanin New York City in 2002. It has since travelled to Seattle, Florida and Philadephia and it's current homebase of Nashville, TN.
Books
* Chris Nelson's original San Francisco
Bear Magazine photograph collection, which arguably could be considered the photos that started the modern Bear Community are collected in
The Bear Cult: Photographs by Chris Nelson (1992, ISBN 0854491619) from Gay Men's Press, London.
* Les K. Wright edited two nonfiction anthologies,
The Bear Book: Readings in the History and Evolution of a Gay Male Subculture (1997, ISBN 1560238909), and
The Bear Book 2 (2001, ISBN 1560231653), both from Haworth Press
* Ray Kampf authored
The Bear Handbook: A Comprehensive Guide for Those Who Are Husky, Hairy and Homosexual, and Those Who Love 'Em (2000, ISBN 1560239972).
The Bear Handbook website* Ron Jackson Suresha authored a 2002 nonfiction anthology,
Bears on Bears: Interviews & Discussions (ISBN 1555835783), 25 dialogues with 57 bear-identified men and bear-lovers from around the world, including interviews with comedian
Bruce Vilanch, porn model
Jack Radcliffe, and
Survivor star
Richard Hatch. Suresha edited two fiction anthologies,
Bearotica (2002, ISBN 1555835775), and
Bear Lust (2004, ISBN 1555838189), also published by Alyson Publications
* Jonathan Cohen authored a 2003 novel
Bear Like Me (ISBN 1560234180), Southern Tier Editions
* In the book
I'm A Believer by Jessica Adams (ISBN 0312321074), one of the central characters is a bear.
* PJ Gray authored a 2005 cookbook,
More Bear Cookin': Bigger and Better (ISBN 1560233265), illustrated by Terry J; a revision of the 2003 book,
Bear Cookin': The Original Guide to Bear Comfort Foods by PJ Gray and Stanley Hunter: both published by Harrington Park Press
* In Wayne Hoffman's 2006 novel,
Hard, the central character is a bear
Periodicals
* In her April 2002 Village Voice column, sexuality advocate and author
Tristan Taormino unpacked some aspects of the subculture.
* In August 2003,
weblogger Andrew Sullivan acknowledged himself a bear in an article on the bear community for
Salon.com.
*
A Bear's Life 2005, magazine, Bear Brother's Enterprises Ltd. [
2]
Films
*
Cachorro (Bear Cub), dir. Miguel Albaladejo,
Spain,
2004 -
Official Spanish Website,
Official English Website,
IMDb page*
A Dirty Shame, dir.
John Waters,
U.S., 2004 - a satirical film that includes three men from the bear scene. There are also many
short films about bears which can be seen in
film festivals (gay/queer film festivals as well as local/international film festivals) including:
*
Men on Fur on Men, dirs. Martin Borden and Clark Niklolai, Canada, 2003, miniDV, 8 mins.
*
A Bear's Story, dir. Vincent Mtzlpick, US, 2003, video, 21 mins
Website.
*
Porn Proof, dir. Chris Street, Canada, 2003, miniDV, 3 mins.
*
More Than Hair Care Products, dir. Pendra Wilson, Canada, 2003, miniDV, 5 mins.
*
Hard Fat, dir. Frederic Moffet, Canada, 2001, video, 23 mins.
*
Lazy Bear 2002, dir. Greg Garcia, US, 2002, DVD, 18 mins.
*
Making of "A Bear's Story", dir. Village TV, US, 2003, video, 7 mins.
*
My Heart the Cook, dirs. Jerry McCadden and Clark Nikolai, Canada, 2001, miniDV, 2 mins.Bear adult movie actors of note include Hank Hightower, Buster, Mickey Squires, Jack Radcliffe, Dean Peters and Steve Hurley.
Some terminology relating to the bear community includes:
admirer - a term that refers to someone who is not a bear, cub, or otter, but is sexually or romantically attracted to them (this term is often used in various communities to describe an outsider who has sexual attraction to people within that community) Also often referred to as a
chaser.
bear - a man with a beard or
goatee, typically with a hairy chest and body and a stocky or heavyset build; often older (or older looking) and displaying a masculine appearance and mannerisms.
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.
daddybear - is an older more husky guy sometimes looking for a daddy/son relationship or a Bearcub.
grizzly bear - an older bear, often with a large, wilder beard - think Grizzly Adams.
otter - a man who is hairy, but is not large or stocky - typically thinner, or with lean muscle. Also typically identified by an energetically playful and flirtatious manner.
polar bear - is an older bear with white or grey body hair and beard.
pocket bear - shorter bear.
sugar bear - a "sugar daddy" bear; a bear who wants the company of a younger or more traditionally attractive male or "chaser" in exchange for favors/gifts
wolf - similar to an otter, but with a more aggressive attitude.
woof! - A greeting sometimes used when a bear spots another bear in public and wants to express physical attraction. He will make a growling noise ("Grrrr!") or say "Woof!"
"Bear codes" are sometimes used in e-mail (often as part of a
signature block), web postings, and online profiles to identify various bear-related attributes of the author or poster. See, e.g.,
"The Bear Codes" on the Resources for Bears Web site. A sample bear code is::B4 s- m g++ w d+c t+ f+ k+ r e+(+?)
Bear Code may be the earliest example (1989) of
Internet self-classification codes. Familiarity with this classification system is concentrated in the subcommunity of bears who were early adopters of Internet communications, and is not widespread within the general community.
*
Homosexuality*
Masculinity*
Homomasculinity*
Leather subculture*
Chubby culture*
Sexual orientationNormal, Ohio*
Facial hair *
Chest hair*
Resources for Bears*
Camille Paglia's commentary on bears for Salon*
"And bears, oh my!" Tristan Taormino's article for the Village Voice*
"I am bear, hear me roar," Andrew Sullivan's article for Salon*
Ron Jackson Suresha, author, Bears on Bears; and editor, Bearotica & Bear Lust*
Jonathan Cohen's book, "Bear Like Me" - the first bear novel*
INSIDE Bear Magazine
