Abear is a person who identifies with bear culture, anLGBTQ subculture. Bears are typicallygay orbisexual men with a large build andbody hair; some can beoverweight, but some are muscular.[2]
InLGBTQ slang, the termbear is also used as a neutral descriptor for a large and hairy gay man, which can be viewed as the antonym of the termtwink.[3][4]
Bear culture valorizes the larger, hirsute male body, and exhibits and values authentic, "down to earth"masculinity that emphasizes camaraderie over competition between gay men.[5] Bears are an organized and well-established subculture, with dedicatedsocial clubs, events, bars and media.[6]
The bear movement formed in the 1980s in reaction to exclusion from mainstream gay men's spaces and normative malebeauty standards,[2][7] and was often characterized by the rejection ofeffeminate and youth-focused gay culture.[6][8] Bear culture has diversified and evolved over time, with ongoing debate in bear communities about what constitutes a "bear". Some bears continue to place importance on traditional masculinity and may disdain or shun effeminacy,[9] while others consider acceptance and inclusion to be an important value of the community,[10] including wider acceptance of transgender men and non-binary people as bears.[7][11]
_-_491.jpg)
 | This sectionneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.(June 2025) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
The first written use of the termbear in relation to gay people occurred as early as 1966 in meeting minutes of aLos Angeles dance hall which described a "bear club".[7] Arguably, the first published use of the slang termbear to describe a gay man was by George Mazzei in his 1979 article forThe Advocate called "Who's Who in the Zoo?",[12] which characterized gay men as seven types of animals, includingbears:
Bears are usually hunky, chunky types reminiscent of railroad engineers and former football greats. They have larger chests and bellies than average, and notably muscular legs. Some Italian-American Bears are leaner and smaller; it's attitude that makes a Bear.[13]
In the mid-1980s,gay men in theSan Francisco Bay Area who called themselves "bears" met informally at Bear Hug (sex) parties and via the newly emerging Internet. The term "bear" was popularized by Richard Bulger, who, along with his then-partnerChris Nelson, foundedBear Magazine in 1987.
At the onset of the bear movement, some bears separated from thegay community at large,[6] forming "bear clubs" to create social and sexual opportunities of their own. Many clubs are loosely organized social groups; others are modeled onleather biker-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 events such as Béar Féile inDublin, Ireland;[14] BeefDip inPuerto Vallarta, Mexico; Southern HiBearNation inMelbourne; Bear Pride and Bear Essentials inSydney; Bearstock inAdelaide;Orlando Bear Bash;[15]Southern Decadence in New Orleans;[16] San Francisco Bear Weekend; CBL's Bear Hunt;[17] Bear Pride inChicago; Atlanta Bear Pride; Bear Week inProvincetown, Massachusetts (since 2001); and Texas Bear Round Up inDallas.
"Sociology of the Urban Gay Bear", written by Les K. Wright, was the first article to appear in print, inDrummer magazine, edited byJack Fritscher. Fritscher was the founding editor of San Francisco'sCalifornia Action Guide (1982). WithCalifornia Action Guide, Fritscher became the first editor to publish the word "bear" with the gay culture meaning on a magazine cover (November 1982).[18]
As well, with producer Mark Hemry in 1984, Fritscher co-founded the pioneeringPalm Drive Video featuring homomasculine entertainment. Palm Drive Video expanded in 1996 to Palm Drive Publishing, San Francisco. For Palm Drive, Fritscher wrote, cast, and directed more than 150 video features. His work includes documentary footage of the first bear contest (Pilsner Inn, February 1987). A bear contest is a feature at many bear events, a sort of masculine beauty pageant awarding titles and sashes (often made ofleather) to winners. This footage is no longer for sale as Fritscher declined to shift toDVD format and he closed the video company.
One example of a bear contest was International Mr. Bear, formerly held each February at the International Bear Rendezvous in San Francisco. It attracted contestants, often with local titles, from all over the world. The first International Mr. Bear was held in 1992, and the last was held in 2011. The contest included Bear,Daddy, Cub, and Grizzly titles with the contestant who received the highest score winning the bear title, regardless of what type he was. Example: "Mr. Washington, D.C. Bear, 2006". Gay "leather-bears" have competed inleather contests, and "muscle-bears" are another subculture noted by their muscular body mass.
The Bear History Project, founded by Les L. Wright in 1995, documented the emergence and early evolution of bear identity and bear community. It became the source material for much ofThe Bear Book (1999) andThe Bear Book II (2001). Publication ofThe Bear Book led to theLibrary of Congress adding "bear" as a category. The Bear History Project is archived in the Human Sexuality Collection at Cornell University. It continues to be added to.[19]
The bear community has spread all over the world, with bear clubs in many countries. Bear clubs often serve as social and sexual networks for their members, who can contribute to their local gay communities through fund-raising and other functions. Bear events have become very common, to include smaller-sized cities and many rural areas. Most gay-oriented campgrounds now include some type of bear-related event during their operating season.
As more gay men have identified themselves as bears, more bars, especially leather or western bars, have become bear-friendly. Some bars cater specifically to bear patrons.[20]
Jack Fritscher notes that bears celebrate "secondary sexual characteristics of the male: facial hair, body hair, proportional size, baldness."[21]
While bears have typically beencisgender men, since the late 2000stransgender men, male-presenting non-binary people and cisgender women who identify as bears have been more widely recognized in the culture.[22][23] In 2025, the Mr Australasia Bear competition inMelbourne, Australia crowned its first transgender titleholder, Jeb Maihi Brown, who was one of two transgender competitors to also have won their respective local competitions for the first time.[24]
| This sectionneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.(June 2025) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
A variety of media has been established specifically to cater to bears. As the bear community has matured, so has its music and literature, as well as other (non-pornographic) arts, media, and culture. Examples include Bearapalooza, a traveling bear music festival; Bear Bones Books, an imprint ofLGBTQ publisherLethe Press, which markets fiction, nonfiction, and poetry titles written by and for bears; BearRadio.net, which streams bear and LGBT music and bear-themed podcast shows. "Bear Icons, the first bear-themed art exhibit (1999–2002), toured to Boston, Provincetown, New York City, and Washington, DC. The larger organized bear runs often host a "bear market" area where artisans, musicians, and others offer items for sale. There are also social media websites and smartphone apps that market to men of the bear community.
The Internet comic stripBear with Me centers around the life of the bear Andy McCubbin, a rich entrepreneur and heir to the Howell/McCubbin fortune, and his friends and family.[25] A vast majority of the other characters are also bears. The comics are created by Tim Vanderburg under the pen name Bruin.[26] In Tim Barela's comic stripLeonard & Larry, a majority of the male characters are bearded men, some self-identified as bears, most not.[27] The webcomicBlur the Lines frequently features bearish men and the two main characters, Rick and Drew, associate with the bear community; the former identifies as a chub, whereas the latter identifies as a chaser/cub. (See below for term definitions.) The events and characters depicted in the strip are inspired by the life of the author and artist Bob Kusiak, who is also involved to some extent with the bear community.[28]
Films depicting the bear community includeBearCity,BearCity 2: The Proposal andCachorro, and the comedy web seriesWhere the Bears Are,BULK: The Series, andSkeleton Crew.
In 2012,Bear World was first published online in monthly PDF format. The magazine was the first lifestyle magazine for the bear community, offering an alternative from the beefcake and pornographic magazines in print. Over the years,Bear World has grown into the world's leading bear lifestyle magazine, having transformed into a popular news and magazine website.[29]
The bear community constitutes a specialty niche in the commercial market. It offers T-shirts and other accessories as well as calendars andpornographic films and magazines featuring bear icons, e.g.,Jack Radcliffe. Catalina Video has a bear-themed line, the "Furry Features Series". Other adult studios which feature bear-type men areBear Magazine,100% BEEF Magazine, BearFilms, Bear, Butch Bear,Raging Stallion, andTitan Media.
The December 2007 issue ofInstinct featured an article by writer and directorKevin Smith on its "The Last Word" page. Smith wrote about his gay brother Don and about his (Kevin's) being on the cover ofA Bear's Life magazine and the related cover story, and his feelings about being a "bear icon" in the gay community.[30] Smith later made a cameo appearance in the 2012 filmBearCity 2: The Proposal, playing himself in a brief conversation with a main character who works in the film industry.
In 2013, gay singer-songwriterTom Goss released his song "Bears", singing about the bear community's open-mindedness and size-inclusivity.[31]
TheSan Francisco South of Market Leather History Alley consists of four works of art along Ringold Alley honoringleather culture; it opened in 2017.[32] One of the works of art is metal bootprints along the curb which honor 28 people (including T. Michael "Lurch" Sutton, biker and co-founder of the Bears of San Francisco) who were an important part of the leather communities of San Francisco.[33]
.JPG)
TheInternational Bear Brotherhood Flag is the pride flag of the bear community. Craig Byrnes created this flag in 1995.[1]
An International Bear Pridetartan was registered with theScottish Register of Tartans in 2015. It is based on the colors of theInternational Bear Brotherhood Flag.[34]
A 2015 study found bears were more likely than other gay men to engage in condomless anal sex with casual partners, which is concerning due to anal sex being the act with the highest rate ofsexually transmitted infections, especiallyHIV. The study also found that bears were more likely than other gay men to have low self-esteem, which is a catalyst for their high rates of risky sexual behavior.[35]
Many claim discrimination has increased within the bear community, as some men who self-identify as "bears" or "muscle bears" do not welcome higher-body fat men (seechub) at their events.[citation needed] A common criticism of the bear community is that some self-described bears tend to exclude men who do not fit their standards of a "real bear". Fat (or lack of it) is seen by some as a political issue, some of whom see their overweight condition as a form ofself-acceptance.[citation needed]
Some also note a lack of racial diversity in the bear community, generally perceivinghirsuteness to be a standard of physical attractiveness that genetically favors white men aesthetically, socially and sexually among bears.[36] Some bears of color have been vocal about the greater bear community's lack of racial diversity, with subgroups formed so they feel more comfortable and seen.[37][38][39]
Slang terms relating to the bear community include:
Media related toBear (gay culture) at Wikimedia Commons
Quotations related toBear (subculture) at Wikiquote
