At Them.us, QUISPE LÓPEZ covered some of the history of bear culture. For those who are unfamiliar with the bears of our diverse community, Lopez’ insights will be interesting and informative. All that we share from this point on comes from Lopez’s article.
In queer spaces, the term bear has historically been used to refer to gay and bisexual men who are hairy, chubby or husky, sometimes muscular, and sometimes muscular with a belly. Offering an alternative to the thin beauty standard often set for queer men, “bear” is a term of endearment used to celebrate body hair, body diversity, and the irreverent typification of gay male dating categories. Like many LGBTQ+ terms, as our conceptions of gender, sexuality, and identity broadly have expanded, so has the bear.
In the present day, nonbinary bears, trans bears, and lesbian bears are all wrapped in the tight bear hug (as it were) that makes up the umbrella term. The term has expanded to refer to a variety of people who find kinship within the subculture in relation to their physical appearance. Within the bear umbrella, there are an array of subcategories people use to describe themselves, from cubs (younger or shorter bears) to otters (hairy guys with less body fat) to muscle bears (bears with a muscular frame).
These days, transmasc bears, transfemme bears, nonbinary bears, and lesbian bears all fall under the bear subculture if they feel it fits them. The first written mentions of gay bears occurred as early as 1966 in the meeting minutes of a Los Angeles dance club called the Satyrs, which described the existence of a bear club within its walls.
The LGBTQ+ publication The Advocate claims that writer George Mazzei coined the term in a 1979 article for the publication titled, Who’s Who at the Zoo, which described different gay archetypes in detail, including bears. In that piece bears were described as, “usually hunky, chunky types reminiscent of railroad engineers and former football greats.”
Some attribute the popularity of the word bear to Bear Magazine, a print publication founded in 1987 by Chris Nelson and Richard Bulger that celebrates bears to this day. The periodical featured images of hot bears and lifestyle articles on bear organizations, parties, and gatherings.
But while this magazine literally has the word bear in its title, that still doesn’t answer the question of how the term was popularized in queer spaces and beyond. Historian, researcher, and professor Les K. Wright points to the mid-1980s and the HIV/AIDS epidemic as the birth of the gay bear community we know today. “The AIDS epidemic was raging – heavier bodies became eroticized, replacing the slender clone ideal,” Wright said.
Bearish men had typically been shunned, but at a time when sick bodies were so often frail, thicker, sturdier bodies gained a new appeal. Because bears had generally been alienated from mainstream gay spaces and beauty standards, bears needed to form their own spaces, founded on the basis of acceptance.
This need for accepting community exploded into gatherings where fellow bearish men could meet each other, such as Bear Hug play parties, bear biker clubs, and leather spaces. Nowadays, bears have a robust party circuit and strong lineup of community events around the world.
