Bear

From Homolexis Glossary

The bear subculture is a community of gay men who are husky and/or hairy and who appreciate such qualities. The bear community originated in San Francisco in the 1980s as an outgrowth of the gay biker and then later the leather and “girth and mirth” communities. Those who felt that the gay mainstream was unwelcoming to men who did not fit a particular bodily norm (smooth-bodied and young) created it. Sadly, body wasting among men living with AIDS may have been another reason for the popularity of the robust bear look. While there is no direct connection, their acceptance of chubbiness recalls some aspects of East Asian societies, with their enthusiasm for “fat Buddhas” and other well-padded types.

At the onset of the bear movement, some bears separated from the gay community at large, forming clubs to create social and sexual opportunities for their own. Many clubs are loosely organized social groups; others are modeled on leather back-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 Lazybear event--drawing regional, national, and international visitors.

Unlike the earlier clone phenomenon, the bear identity has proved to be robust. In fact the bear community has spread all over the world, with bear clubs in North America, Europe, Australia, Latin America, Asia, and Africa.

Scholars have noted some interesting historical precedents. In his 1994 book Gay New York: Gender, Urban Culture and the Making of the Gay Male World, 1890-1940, the University of Chicago historian George Chauncey surveyed turn-of-the-century working-class men who adopted a highly masculine personal style. These New York men rejected what they regarded as effete middle-class gay-male behavior. In those days the proto-bears sometimes called themselves "wolves.” Walt Whitman is the best-known example of this type.

In his 1992 book, The Bear Cult, the British art historian Edward Lucie-Smith traced the big-muscled imagery of today's bears to 1950s gladiator movies. The minutes of a now-defunct Los Angeles gay organization, the Satyrs, include a 1966 reference to a Bear Club, perhaps the first known instance of the term being used in the sense it is employed today.

A common criticism of the bear community is that some bear-identified men tend to exclude individuals who do not meet their expectation of what a "real bear" is. Going against the grain, some bears see obesity as a political issue, as some regard their overweight condition as a form of self-acceptance. Some also flag a lack of racial diversity in the bear community, believing this to reflect adherence to a Caucasian standard of beauty.

In fact the bear subculture has a number of appealing features. Generally devoid of queenly bitchiness, its members show genuine concern for each other. They are little troubled by ageism or looksism, so rife elsewhere in the gay-male community. To be sure, not all bears are exempt from these predilections.