Physil, Behavral, and Psychologil Tras of Gay Men Intifyg as Bears - PMC

Contents:

• UNRSTANDG THE BEAR MOVEMENT GAY MALE CULTURE: REFG MASCULY
• WHY ARE HOMOSEXUAL ACTIVISTS SO AAID OF “EX-GAYS”?
• PHYSIL, BEHAVRAL, AND PSYCHOLOGIL TRAS OF GAY MEN INTIFYG AS BEARS
• UNRSTANDG THE BEAR MOVEMENT GAY MALE CULTUREUNRSTANDG THE BEAR MOVEMENT GAY MALE CULTUREUNRSTANDG THE BEAR MOVEMENT GAY MALE CULTUREUNRSTANDG THE BEAR MOVEMENT GAY MALE CULTUREUNRSTANDG THE BEAR MOVEMENT GAY MALE CULTURE
• A LERATURE REVIEW OF HEALTH RISKS THE BEAR COMMUNY, A GAY SUBCULTURE
• WHY DO PEOPLE PRETEND THAT THE GAY BEAR SCENE ISN’T AS ROOTED LOOKS AS ANY OTHER GAY SCENE?

UNRSTANDG THE BEAR MOVEMENT GAY MALE CULTURE: REFG MASCULY

The 19th century wrer Osr Wil is revered by many the gay and lbian muny but, believe me, if he were alive now, he’d be totally exasperated wh the whg, hysteril malntents who domate today’s gay lobby. If “ex-gays” exist, this means that people n change their sexual orientatn — and this means that the foundatn the homosexual rights movement, the ia that they are “born that way” and th nnot help themselv, go right out the wdow. Many ex-gays are aaid to e out of the closet bee of the harassment they will receive — their nam, phone numbers and personal rmatn posted on gay webs, attacked at ex-gay exhib booths, prs releas issued agast them, etc.

The tactics of gay activists are to go after anyone who out publicly as ex-gay, force them back to the closet, and then claim that ex-gays don’t exist bee there aren’t any out public.

”3 This is an odd assertn, sce a tailed review of homosexual obuari showed several exampl of men who were happily married, who had children, and who nsired themselv “straight” sudnly abandong their fai and embracg the homosexual “liftyle.

WHY ARE HOMOSEXUAL ACTIVISTS SO AAID OF “EX-GAYS”?

For example, Nicholas Cummgs, a former Print of the Amerin Psychologil Associatn, has stated that he knows of hundreds of homosexuals who have succsfully changed their orientatn. But the “scientific” methods ed this study would make any legimate rearcher crge; the “study” managers did not terview a large group of “ex-gays;” they simply sought out people who claimed that they had been harmed (an tensive procs that took a full five years) and then nmned such therapy. Robert Spzer of Columbia Universy surveyed a wi range of ex-gays and found that 1% of the men and 4% of the women had been clilly prsed durg the prev twelve months.

Regardls of the half-baked ratnalizatns and “studi” they may posss, homosexual activists are simply aaid of ex-gays, the same manner that ancient Greeks were aaid of the basilisk.

PHYSIL, BEHAVRAL, AND PSYCHOLOGIL TRAS OF GAY MEN INTIFYG AS BEARS

Now may be impractil to “nvert” totally om homosexualy to heterosexualy, but if unselg n allow a gay man to rpond sexually to women, should be enuraged and appld, not lambasted or lampooned. In natns where “nversn therapy” has been banned, homosexual activists have liberately approached Christian unselors pretendg to want to bee straight, and have lied to them orr to strip them of their licens. As one leadg English homosexual activist said, “We want to root out therapists and psychiatrists who are practicg the techniqu and ultimately brg an end to them through exposg them, as well as disptg their meetgs.

Psychologists and unselors the jurisdictns are forbidn to unsel homosexuals their attempts to bee straight — even if they want this unselg — but are perfectly ee to tell a straight person all about the many alleged benefs of homosexualy. It is morally repugnant and downright dangero the way the extremists monize young people and prey on the fears of parents through their so-lled ex-gay programs.

This report expos the extent to which the zealots will go, cludg reformulatg their ex-gay snake oil at the expense of vulnerable children and young adults. The leadg anizatn that advot for the nstutnal rights of the dividual to terme for themselv what help they need is Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays (PFOX).

UNRSTANDG THE BEAR MOVEMENT GAY MALE CULTUREUNRSTANDG THE BEAR MOVEMENT GAY MALE CULTUREUNRSTANDG THE BEAR MOVEMENT GAY MALE CULTUREUNRSTANDG THE BEAR MOVEMENT GAY MALE CULTUREUNRSTANDG THE BEAR MOVEMENT GAY MALE CULTURE

Spzer, who had been vicly attacked by homosexuals for years, and who was sufferg om Parkson’s disease, fally gave to the prsure and announced that he was repudiatg the rults of his studi this field. The latter seems pecially ftg, bee Cohen has bee the particular lt object for the bear crowd—those burly, hairy, ungroomed gay men who disda the plucked, gym-built Chelsea boy.

The men—like their gay unterparts—are the anthis of the metrosexual stag hags, those heavily primped, buff straight guys who unt gays among their most tsted wgmen. “If you went to a bear blast the afternoon, you might not even realize ’s a gay bar, ” says Joe Fre, promoter of Furball, Drenched, and other body-hair-tensive New York parti. As the natn grows ever larger, this may be the moment which the bear movement paws s way out of the gay ve, while ’s the metrosexuals who go to hibernatn.

While qualative data document such self-intifiers as mascule-actg gay men who weigh more and have more body hair, there has to date been no quantative analysis of this group’s characteristics. In rponse, we nducted two large-sle studi of gay men intifyg as Bears (n = 469) to survey their self-reported physil, behavral, and psychologil tras. Keywords: Bears, Gay Culture, Gay and Bisexual Men, Self-teem, Masculy, ObyINTRODUCTIONThe gay muny is ultimately a heterogeneo one wh many subgroups and subcultur—one of the monali among them beg the sire to have same-sex enunters.

A LERATURE REVIEW OF HEALTH RISKS THE BEAR COMMUNY, A GAY SUBCULTURE

Bee there is a arth of general rearch regardg this muny, and no studi to date that e quantative methods, we cid to explore this muny quantatively—g an Inter-nvenience sample, followed by a purposive suggted, the Bear culture exhibs and valu a greater sense of domant (but not necsarily domeerg) “thentic masculy” parison to other subcultur wh the gay muny (e.

In rponse and ntrast wh Leathermen, Bears mata their mascule inty whout adoptg negative hypermascule tennci to acmodate all partners, spe their size or body is some theoretil support for why the Bear inty spltered om the gay male mastream culture.

WHY DO PEOPLE PRETEND THAT THE GAY BEAR SCENE ISN’T AS ROOTED LOOKS AS ANY OTHER GAY SCENE?

G., twks, partyboys, A-listers) that are anthetil to, and even antagonistic towards Bears, men who are hairier and heavier exist and adopt an inty to afont the stereotypil “alpha” gay male. Popular culture, the media, and Wtern hetero- and homosexual expectatns have normalized the ial male body as one that is lean, mcular, and v-shaped (wh broad shoulrs, a narrow waist, and a flat but well-fed stomach) (Olivardia, Pope, Borowiecki, & Cohane, 2000).

G., poor self-image/self-teem) velop both heterosexual and homosexual men exhibg ls sirable physil tras (Beren, Hayn, Wilfley, & Grilo, 1996; Morrison, Morrison, & Sager, 2004; Pepl et al., 2009; Weer, 2009; Yelland & Tiggemann, 2003). However, where mastream gay men report wantg partners wh those prevly stated, admired or revered characteristics (Moskowz, Rieger, & Seal, 2009), Bears may not (Manley et al., 2007). Whereas mastream gay men often do not engage sired or preferred sexual behavrs bee of fears of rejectn or judgment (Kamski, Chapman, Hayn, & Own, 2004), those the more acceptg Bear muny reject the fears due to their beg ultimately “feme” nature (Hennen, 2005).

G., uratn, fistg, voyrism, exhibnism) (Grov, Parsons, & Bimbi, 2010) to the active existence of the Bear muny and regnn of this subculture by the larger gay/bisexual male culture, more rearch is need to explore the gree to which the prevly mentned physil, behavral, and psychologil differenc actually exist. In explorg the smaller subcultur of the larger gay/bisexual male culture, soclogy, psychology, and even public health n better expla and addrs the needs of men wh same-sex attractns. Specifilly, our first study was more exploratory and foced on the physil tras, partner selectn, and rejectn creria of gay men (wh which we llected enough Bears for analys).