Comg out is hard enough. But buckg stereotyp n be even harr. The photographer Alan Charlworth explor “bears,” or larger men, gay culture.
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.
WHAT EXACTLY IS THE GAY BEAR BROTHERHOOD PRI FLAG, AND WHAT DO IT MEAN?
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... * the gay bear culture *
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.
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 *
” 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.
4 - BEARS GAY CULTURE: HISTORI, DISURS AND ANTHROPOMORPHISM
* the gay bear culture *
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).
BEAR NECSI: AN SIR’S LOOK AT AN ATYPIL GAY CULTURE AND MUNY
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.
CELEBRATG THE DIVERSY OF BRISH GAY BEARS: EXPLORG THE COMMUNY, CULTURE, AND EVENTS
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.
CATEGORY:BEAR (GAY CULTURE)
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.
TURNS OUT, BARBIELAND ISN'T AS GAY AS S QUEER FANS HAD HOPED
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. 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. 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.