Note that 'bear club' did not, originally, refer to nightclubs for bears in the same way gay clubs are popular nowadays. Such rules were often considered necessary to protect members' privacy, which bears place importance on, and safety. These groups often had a strict - though unwritten - set of rules, requirements, and expectations for and from its members.
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Examples of such bear clubs in San Francisco included leather biker-patch clubs or hobby clubs. Popular ways for bears to meet each other - besides these Bear Hug Parties - were through loosely organised social clubs, called bear clubs. So, while the bear community was not yet a part of mainstream gay culture, the subculture started gaining visibility and recognition. Events in the San Francisco Bay Area at which bears met were called Bear Hug Parties, named after a euphemism for sex between bears. These bear events gained very quickly in popularity due to the rapid emergence of the Internet, which allowed small communities to form in relative privacy and enabled bears to find each other. In the 1970s 1980s, bear communities would arrange events for bears to meet. This went hand in hand with the romanticisation of life in rural areas, including the sexualisation of traditionally masculine, rural professions, such as cowboys and lumberjacks. In contrast to the thoroughly groomed and trimmed body and facial hair of many urban gay men, bears portrayed a more raw and rugged version of homosexuality and gay masculinity. In these urban settings, predominately effeminate, often called "camp," gay men set the tone for how people - both within and outside the gay community - came to see the stereotypical gay man. Later, terms would be coined for hairless gay men of a large build as well, and many other categories followed.īear culture began as a form of protest against urban gay culture as it developed in major hotspots such as New York City. Originally, all hairy gay men, regardless of shape, were considered a bear, until the term was appropriated by larger gay men, with different terms being coined for hairy men with a smaller frame. The term bear in (mainstream) gay culture became popular in the 1970s and 1980s and originated in and around San Francisco, California, USA.
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As such, the bear subculture has made an important contribution to changing the public perception of the larger gay community, by showing that not all gay men have the same physical appearance - in particular regarding facial and body hair - and that there is no one way of being "mainstream gay." In doing so, the bear movement has also not only contributed to bear identity and gay male culture but to the masculine gender role in general. There is also a strong connotation between bears and the rural LGBT community.īear culture is often associated with discovering forms of masculinity, as gay men queer what it means to be masculine through the reputation of being kind, sensitive, and affectionate. Generically speaking, the term bear is used to describe men who portray the aesthetics of working-class manhood.
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Rugged gay definition full#
In gay culture, in particular in the gay male subculture, gay bears, more commonly referred to as just a bear, is a larger - and often hairy - bisexual or gay man who is seen to portray or display a form of untamed, rugged, wild masculinity, often with a full beard, chest hair, and a lot of other body hair.