Bear is a subcultural term ed primarily by gay men, referrg to a subset of men who embrace and subvert tradnal masculy and fy the stereotyp typilly...
Contents:
- PHYSIL, BEHAVRAL, AND PSYCHOLOGIL TRAS OF GAY MEN INTIFYG AS BEARS
- WHAT EXACTLY IS THE GAY BEAR BROTHERHOOD PRI FLAG, AND WHAT DO IT MEAN?
- THE HISTORY OF THE GAY BEAR COMMUNY AND THEIR FASHN CHOIC
- 4 - BEARS GAY CULTURE: HISTORI, DISURS AND ANTHROPOMORPHISM
- BEAR NECSI: AN SIR’S LOOK AT AN ATYPIL GAY CULTURE AND MUNY
- CELEBRATG THE DIVERSY OF BRISH GAY BEARS: EXPLORG THE COMMUNY, CULTURE, AND EVENTS
- CATEGORY:BEAR (GAY CULTURE)
- TURNS OUT, BARBIELAND ISN'T AS GAY AS S QUEER FANS HAD HOPED
PHYSIL, BEHAVRAL, AND PSYCHOLOGIL TRAS OF GAY MEN INTIFYG AS BEARS
One of the many long-standg gay subcultur, a bear an LGBTQIA+ ntext is a large, hairy queer man who self-intifi wh the 'bear' label. Beg a bear b genr exprsn, genr inty, and sexualy; a large, hairy straight man would not be a bear. They are generally... * the gay bear culture *
One of the many long-standg gay subcultur, a bear an LGBTQIA+ ntext is a large, hairy queer man who self-intifi wh the 'bear' label. Published fal eded form as:PMCID: PMC5442596NIHMSID: NIHMS860386AbstractThe Bear muny exists as a subculture reactn to the larger gay muny. 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.
They nsir “real” masculy to clu havg fort wh other men’s bodi and chew the more normative gay male body-mol (i. 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.
WHAT EXACTLY IS THE GAY BEAR BROTHERHOOD PRI FLAG, AND WHAT DO IT MEAN?
* the gay bear culture *
” Bears may do somethg siar by alterg the meang of their heavier, shorter, and hairier physiqu, relative to mastream gays. 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.
THE HISTORY OF THE GAY BEAR COMMUNY AND THEIR FASHN CHOIC
Wonrg about the Gay Bear Brotherhood Pri Flag, ’s origs, and meangs? We have you vered wh this gui! * the gay bear culture *
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). Therefore, the most nservative timate of the Bear prevalence among gay and bisexual men would be the 14% llected at PriFt. A total of 531 men answered the 2: IML/PriFt Study Procr For the send study, data were llected g an anonymo survey admistered at two pennt gay events May and June 2008: the Internatnal Mr.
Our rults scribe a subculture of men who were different than mastream gay men their personal looks, partner preferenc, behavrs, and psychologi. Consirg the likely prevalence of a Bear inty may be held (wh varyg tenaci) by about 14–22% of gay men, the rults provi addnal evince for the manift and latent heterogeney of gay and bisexual rults regardg body tras and partner selectn nfirm, for the first time a systematic manner, fdgs documented prev terview and ethnographic studi.
To be able to take a fist or urate on another man may be how the men exemplify their form of masculy—particularly a sexual climate where most gay men do not want to, nnot, or will not enact the behavrs. Regardls of the potential explanatn, Bears appear to be more sexually diverse and explorative than mastream gay and bisexual rults documented lower self-teem, which ntradicted both our hypothis and others’ terview rearch (e. Simply, to the Bear culture and reactn to mastream gay men, Bears may self-prent as feelg good; however, ternally, they may wish that they had those normative ialized bety tras.
4 - BEARS GAY CULTURE: HISTORI, DISURS AND ANTHROPOMORPHISM
Comg out is hard enough. But buckg stereotyp n be even harr. The photographer Alan Charlworth explor “bears,” or larger men, gay culture. * the gay bear culture *
In this rpect, Bears may overtimate and overstate re towards partners to self-prent as beg distct om men adherg to the mastream gay culture (which are often stereotyped as treatg partners as disposable) (Isay, 2009). A portra emerg om the Bear rults that supports a theory for why the gay muny ultimately is so heterogeneo (and th produc the high gree of spoff subcultur): Cultur facilate succsful same-sex enunters. Yet, om a body tras perspective, they may be below average on what is tradnally attractive to other gay and bisexual men.
BEAR NECSI: AN SIR’S LOOK AT AN ATYPIL GAY CULTURE AND MUNY
As Bears are not vastly different towards their sexual partners than mastream gay men, the culture veloped to ensure that even the heavit, hairit, and/or shortt dividual uld partner. Intert the Bear culture by non-Bear intifyg gay men might have shown the gree of crossover and tegratn of muni. Whether the ems are applible to gay men, bisexuals, or men qutng their sexualy remas rpect to methods, the parabily of sampl may be somewhat uncerta, as one was llected through ter surveyg and the other, through paper survey.
CELEBRATG THE DIVERSY OF BRISH GAY BEARS: EXPLORG THE COMMUNY, CULTURE, AND EVENTS
Do this particular muny have a disproportnately higher HIV prevalence than the mastream gay muny (or other subcultur wh the muny)?
A study that answers the rearch qutns would provi further evince to support the heterogeney hypothis: Not only is the mastream gay muny culturally heterogeneo, but so are the sexual health behavrs and problems wh last suggtn for future rearch would be to tt some of the theori generated by the current data. Do Bears e their inty to pe wh the larger gay culture; do they nstct as a form of rebelln; or is their inty merely a tool ed to acce sex partners? Future studi are need to ntribute more ncrete nclu, rearch such as ours nsistently fds creased evince that the gay muny should not be treated as one divisible block.
Bears may very well prove to be reactnary figur to the normative ialized male bety that is pervasive both the straight and gay mastream cultur. Future rearchers should wonr what other ways nformg or not nformg to gay norms, stereotyp, and the larger heterosexual culture impacts dividuals and their self-inti.
CATEGORY:BEAR (GAY CULTURE)
Suffice to say, “bear” is often fed as more of an attu than anythg else – a sense of fort wh our natural masculy and bodi that is not slavish to the vogu of male attractivens that is so mon gay circl and the culture at large.
TURNS OUT, BARBIELAND ISN'T AS GAY AS S QUEER FANS HAD HOPED
One such flag is the Gay Bear Brotherhood Pri Flag – a flag you might already have seen flown at any number of pri ftivals around the world, om Bangkok to Reykjavik…and everywhere between! Sendary sex attribut such as the growth of body hair and facial hair (which are typilly nsired “bear” characteristics) are celebrated gay bear culture. The term "bear" is ed to scribe a gay or bisexual man wh a larger body type, facial and body hair, and a gged, mascule appearance.