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Many LGBT events attract a significant bear following, such as Southern Decadence in New Orleans. Louis, Missouri, SF Bear Weekend, CBL's Bear Hunt, Bear Pride in Chicago, Atlanta Bear Pride, Texas Bear Round Up (TBRU) in Dallas, Orlando Bear Bash, and Bear Week in Provincetown (since 2001), drawing regional, national and international visitors. Bear clubs often sponsor large yearly events – "bear runs" or "bear gatherings" – like the annual events such as Southern HiBearNation in Melbourne, Bear Pride and Bear Essentials in Sydney, Bearstock in Adelaide, HiBearNation in St. Many clubs are loosely organized social groups others are modeled on leather biker-patch clubs, with a strict set of bylaws, membership requirements, and charities. Īt the onset of the bear movement, some bears separated from the gay community at large, forming "bear clubs" to create social and sexual opportunities of their own. George Mazzei wrote an article for The Advocate in 1979 called "Who's Who in the Zoo?", that characterized gay men as seven types of animals, including bears. The term "bear" was popularized by Richard Bulger, who, along with his then partner Chris Nelson (1960–2006), founded Bear Magazine in 1987.
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In the mid-1980s, gay men in the San Francisco Bay Area who called themselves "bears" met informally at Bear Hug (sex) parties and via the newly-emerging Internet. Which I find funny, because only one of the things pointed to was meant in any serious light, and the rest were like this, where I was mainly being an academic drama llama.Bears at the 2009 Marcha Gay in Mexico City Several people have come into my asks lately telling me my debate style was too vicious and that it’s bad how much vitriol I have. Nah, I did, it just seemed funnier to end with that, to make it seem lighter and less like I was attacking anyone. You forgot to turn on incognito mode again, didn’t you? Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m gonna go google sweet cute femme things to clear my search algorithms of all the gay porn that’s gonna come my way from this little dissertation. Two bears with dad bods, truly excellent examples of both. Pictured above, a bear who does not meet the dad bod criteria of softness and athleticism, as he clearly swings more towards the “weight room at the gym” side than the “chase the toddler around before bath time” side of the workout spectrum. Note the hair that distinguishes bears is not present.
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So while a bear might have a dad bod, and there’s nothing saying men with dad bods can’t be gay, not all bears are old enough or squishy enough to have a dad bod, and not all men with dad bods are the specific brand of gay hairy man we call a bear. Bears may be any age and any level of fitness, but must be gay, hairy, and masculine.
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The difference between an “average” man of any age and a bear is a combination of gayness, hairiness, and large structure to the body. Dad bods may have any amount of body hair, but tend fall in an age range of early 30′s to late 40′s, although some specific cases my happen early due to individual glandular processes.īears, as a culture, are dedicated to an ideal of masculinity that has it’s roots in a body that is hairy and physically dominant. The difference between an average man and a guy with a dad bod is the ability to use their bodies in the raising of children, from the aspects of cuddling the baby to the aspects of helping move the big-kid bed into the newly non-nursery. However, I posit that despite the shared emphasis on squish factor, the dad bod is more driven by functionality, whereas bear is more about identity and expression.ĭad bods specifically come from a mix of sedentary and active pursuits, as well as the natural settling of fat on the body as a man ages. Note the shared characteristic is large size than on non-bear or non-dad bod bodies. Jack Fritscher notes that bears celebrate “secondary sexual characteristics of the male: facial hair, body hair, proportional size, baldness”. “In male gay culture, a bear is often a larger or obese hairier man who projects an image of rugged masculinity.” Which is not to say a middle aged man who is both muscular and chubby can’t also be a bear, as Wikipedia provides this helpful definition: “ Dad bod is a slang term in popular culture referring to a body shape particular to middle-aged men.“ I disagree and would like to put forth a counter argument dad bod is different from although compatible with bear.