The Bear Book

Readings in the History and Evolution of a Gay Male Subculture

Les Wright

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2013
• ISBN:
  9781317712398
• Edition: 1
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: World History
• Index: History

The Bear Book brings together an impressive range of bear--usually big, hairy men who favor full-face beards and prefer to wear jeans and flannel shirts--viewpoints to explore this unique social and cultural phenomenon that stretches from America to western Europe to Australia! On the personal level, you learn what beardom means to different people in their daily lives, and on a broader level, its cultural implications for not only the gay community, but also society as a whole. As this book moves across the wide spectrum of bear identities, you learn about the defining forces of identity, the significance of differences among masculinities, and the shapings of the bear movement from different viewpoints.The Bear Book is the first compilation of sociological and cultural analytical investigations of the contemporary gay bear phenomenon. To this end, Editor Les Wright brings together both objective and subjective viewpoints to create a forum where bears can speak for themselves. Through their voices, you'll learn about:

• bears and sexual identity
• gay male iconography
• socializing on the Internet
• sexual politics (gender, class, "looks-ism, " and body image)
• gay mass media, the single most powerful force in the current construction of "bears"
• bears, power, and glamor
• bear-as-image vs. bear-as-attitudeGays, lesbians, lesbigay scholars, bears, and social scientists are sure to find The Bear Book thought-provoking and insightful as it broaches questions such as: Are bears caught up in a utopian-romantic impulse to reinvent themselves? What was radical lesbianism's impact on the bear movement? To what extent are bears only another group of exploited consumers in a fragmented market system? And, is it possible to establish social liberation through enslavement to your sexual passions? For both your pleasure and your education, The Bear Book examines nearly every corner of beardom, including bear history, identity, social spaces, iconography, and its constituency abroad.

Index

Adams, Grizzly, 63

Adler, Alfred, 4

Adonis, 119

Advertising. See also Personal ads

bear images in, 166

effects of, 9-10, 103, 104, 117, 134

mass media content analysis of, 108, 109-110, 113

in bear media, 128, 131, 132

Advocate, 26, 35, 84, 211

bear portrayals in, 127

content analysis of, 109-113

Advocate Classifieds, 118

Advocate Men, 35, 109, 110, 114

African Americans, and media images, 123-124

Age

bears and, 14, 202, 256

mass media representation of, 111-113, 114, 118, 123, 128, 129-130, 131

AIDS

antidiscrimination laws, 241

bear emergence and, 14-16, 27-28, 29, 47, 48-49, 119, 192, 252

Bear Hug parties and, 201

bear media and, 35

gay community and, 14-16, 27-28

jack-off parties and, 30

model of gays emerging from impact of, 85

Ozbears’ demise and, 230-231

Ainu, 86

Alcoholics Anonymous, 14, 28

Alcoholism, 28, 66-67, 146

Ambush, 31-32, 221, 219

American Bear. See also Bear Media

class and representation in, 93, 94-97

content analysis of images, 127-132

intellectual content of, 35

launching of, 125

American black bears (Ursus americanus), 54

Amsterdam, bears of, 255

Androgyny, 3, 38, 84. See also Femininity; Masculinity

Angels in America (Ku...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Half Title page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• About the Editor
• Contributors
• Foreword
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction: Theoretical Bears
• Section I: History
• Section II: Bear Images
• Section III: Bear Spaces
• Section IV: Bear Spaces: San Francisco
• Section V: Bears Abroad
• Index