Information AboutBear Code |
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The bear community is a subculture in the Gay Community . Bears are Gay and 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, Chest hair and abdominal hair as well as facial hair, being overwieght is not a requirement. ORIGINS AND BEHAVIOR Pride 2004.]]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). At the onset of the bear movement, some bears chose to dissociate themselves from the gay community at large. Bears formed clubs primarily focused at 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 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). 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. As more gay men have come to self-identify with bears, more bars, especially leather bars, have become bear-friendly. Some bars have even choosen 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, body fascism has erupted within the bear community, as some men who who identify themselves as "Bears" or "muscle bears" and increasingly exclude larger-bodied bears (See Chubby Community in Wikipedia) 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. REFERENCES IN POP CULTURE Though not generally widely known outside of the Gay Community , the "bear" concept has surfaced in pop culture. Television
Books
Periodicals
Film
website (IMDb main details page)
There are also many Short Film s about bears which can be seen in Film Festival s (gay/queer film festivals as well as local/international film festivals) including:
TERMINOLOGY Some terminology relating to the bear community includes:
BEAR CODES "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 . 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. SEE ALSO
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