Development of the Bear Sub-Culture and Bear Groups in New York

The stereotype of the ideal gay man has always been a slightly feminine, in shape, hairless, beardless man. While this is the predominant image of the gay community, others seek to distance themselves from this stereotype and embrace other features. The gay bear sub-culture is a community of men who are or prefer big, bearded, hairy men as opposed to the popular image. While not everyone agrees on what makes a bear a bear, a National Post article does a good job of giving an idea of what their culture is all about. It states that,

   Bears have constructed a masculinist subculture within gay society, disdaining feminized     stereotypes. Bears display facial hair, sometimes a lot of it. They wear checked shirts and     big boots. Many are fat. Some prefer to be called "large framed," but there's a defiant     element willing to wear T-shirts proclaiming, "I'm fat," sold by A Bear's Life” (Robert     Fulford) 

Thus, the bear community as whole seems to revolve around a love for what is traditionally seen by the gay community as an undesirable image. Gay bears tend to hold tight to the traditional versions of masculinity and embrace a blue-collar working-class look that is distinctly separate from and almost defiant of, the overall gay culture. With that said, the question remains as to the origins of this community of gay men or brotherhood as it is sometimes called. Moreover, I seek to analyze the emergence of bear groups in the New York area over the past twenty years, and the effect that they have had on the bear community and the gay community as a whole.

   For the most part, the bear community is thought to have been conceived in the 1980’s in San Francisco.  The community was essentially a conglomeration of the more masculine gay groups such as leather men, gay bikers and the like.  While this is part of the origins of the bear community, another movement is seen as truly spurring them on.  In his work, The Bear Book, Les K. Wright argues that it was actually the Radical Faerie community that gave rise to the conception of bears.  While the faerie community did not shy away from feminism, as evidenced by their use of drag and jewelry and showmanship, they had some aspects to their movement that was particularly “bearish” in nature.  For one, despite wearing dresses, many of the men were large men with big bushy beards and hairy bodies.  The Faerie movement in this case, was the first to portray this naturalist aesthetic in mainstream gay culture.  While the these faeries were certainly the forerunners of the bear sub-culture, they differ in ideology to the actual bear movement that sprung up in San Francisco.  Wright notes, that the bear community,
   based itself primarily in city settings.   Conversely the faerie movement sprang from and     still largely confines itself by its affinity to country life and spirit.  In general, bears     imbibe the values of urban gay life which emphasizes looks, money, and status.  Faeries     tend to eschew materialism and classism.  Also bears tend to be more involved in the     leather scene, which bases itself primarily in cities, than their faerie counterparts who are     usually content with soft fiber clothing and nudism. (Wright 44) 

Therefore, while the faerie community helped by popularizing the visual image of the masculine bear, they did not create the urban culture that is infused within the community itself. Instead it was the connected nature of urban life that allowed the bear culture to flourish so readily. Wright continues, “Bear culture took the idea of the ‘natural man’ from the Faeries, applied an urban spin to it, and produced a cult that espouses the so-called natural man ideal when it clearly embodies the opposite.” (44) Thus, in the urban world, bear life seems to be a kind of contradiction. While the popular aesthetics are related to the natural man, the culture itself seems to be more aligned with traditional classism and capitalistic ideals. Thus while the men try to portray a working class aesthetic, many of them are actually upper-middle class white-collar men.

   As the bear culture continued to develop over the next ten years, and increasing emphasis was put on body weight.  While the original bear could be simply a hairy rugged man, people began to find bellies and beardom as synonymous.  As the “Girth and Mirth“ communities sprung up, they started to invade the bear world changing the image of the bear.  Wright argues that when these groups came to the bear scene,
   there was a noticeable shift in the way the local community defined bears, and in the way     bears     defined themselves.  It was only later that the basic defining characteristics of a     bear as having abundant facial or body hair changed to an equal if not greater emphasis     on body weight.  (48) 

Thus, as the sub-culture of bears evolved, the ideal bear moved from a hairy fit man or stocky type to a heavy-set man. Today, this image still is the ideal for many bears and bear lovers within the sub-culture. With that said, the bear community, and the definition of what makes a bear is so much broader today than it has ever been before. Today, A bear can be anyone with body hair, or a beard, be they muscled, fat, or even skinny. While some may disagree with these labels, the bear community is in general pretty flexible in deciding what makes a bear a bear. In fact, in recent years, a certain classification system has evolved in the bear community. In order to include all types and sizes, bears have developed a specific vocabulary for classifying members. While certainly not encompassing all varieties of bears, An LA-times article from 2007 reports that, “Thin bears are called "otters." Younger guys are "cubs," East Asian guys are "panda bears," and gray-haired gents are "polar bears." For aficionados of the bear physique, the ideal male body is that of Tony Soprano (especially in the show's recent seasons, when the mob boss puts on weight).” (Richard Kaye) Thus, even though some people didn’t fit the original definition of a bear, the community did its best to create classifications that can encompass virtually everyone. Today, it is very difficult to define what a bear is. Instead, it has become more of a mindset and a lifestyle than a term that defines a certain type of person.

   Due to this generally accepting and welcoming nature, diverse bear communities and bars have sprung up in urban areas everywhere.  From San Francisco to New York and everywhere in between, bear culture has become more widely recognized by the overall gay community.  In an effort to bring like minded people together for fun, parties, and sex many people in cities around the world have created bear groups.  These groups sometimes require membership and often plan party nights, bar runs and charity events in the urban areas.  Some, in the more rural areas even plan nudist camping trips and other Faerie-esque outings.  In New York, two groups exist with very different members and ideologies;  they are the MetroBears and the Bear Albany group.
   While New York city has never had a shortage of bear bars such as The Dugout, the Eagle and Ty’s, the first cohesive bear group was formed in 1995 and called itself the MetroBears.  The club, which calls itself the oldest in the tri-state area, requires membership and has board members and held elections.  The club focuses mainly on bar nights and parties although bowling nights and restaurant outings are not uncommon.  One large part of its activities is its annual beauty pageant which awards a new Mr. MetroBear and Mr. Cub every year.  Pageants like these, and the bar runs that they organize, are distinctly urban in nature and are seemingly aligned with mainstream gay culture.  Due to their urban environment, the MetroBears retain little of the Radical Faerie ideology, instead supporting a more cosmopolitan version of values.
   As with many other bear groups, charitable donations are a big part of its existence.  In fact, the MetroBears have,
  
  
   each year, through their Community Chest Program, MBNY raises thousands of dollars     for charity. Beneficiaries of their program include: Sylvia's Place-Queer Youth Homeless     Shelter, The LGBT Community Center, Teens Prepared for Life, PFLAG and Aid for     AIDS. (MetroBears.org) 

In addition to providing these charitable donations based of membership fees and fundraisers, the MetroBears also produce newsletters on the state of the bear community. The Metropolitan Bear, available only to “memBEARS,” is a quarterly newsletter that contains articles based on the issues facing the bear community. In addition, the MetroBears support the gay community as a whole by attending events put on by other groups. Santa Saturday, NYC Pride, the GLBT expo and Bear Trek are just a few of the events that the MetroBears attend and support regularly. Its clear that based on these charitable events, their newsletters and their support of other groups, the MetroBears do a great service to the bear community as well as the gay community as a whole. Lastly, like many other bear groups, the MetroBears accept a wide variety of people into their group. Due to the fact that bears have become such a broad concept in recent years, the MetroBears do not discriminate based on looks, race, body-type or even where you live, in an effort to create strength and unity amongst the bear community as a whole.

   While decidedly smaller and less urban than the MetroBears club, the Bear Albany group has grown tremendously in the past five years since its conception in 2005.  While similar in nature to the MetroBears, the four men who created bear Albany had a slightly different view of bear life.  Jim Larson, one of the founding bears states that the organization was made because,  “Albany needed a bear community; but we didn't want to be in a dues paying club and we didn't subscribe to the sash/beauty pageant thing.” (Larson)  It is for that reason that Bear Albany is an open group that does not require a membership, or membership fees still today.  Moreover, this community does not follow the general gay culture that idealizes looks above all else.  Instead, Bear Albany welcomes people from all walks of life and does not seek to prove some members as better than others.  Larson continues,  “Bear Albany was successful from the start, working by bringing fun to Albany, bringing bears from all over the country to a little upstate city and by being a model for other groups of bears that don't want to be tied into a club or having contests”  Therefore, Bear Albany offers an alternative to mainstream urban bear groups.  In addition, rather than doing weekly bar runs, the Bear Albany group organizes weekend outings 6 or 7 times a year.  While the main event usually takes place at a bar on a Saturday night, many little outings like barbeques and pool parties are planned throughout the weekend. 
   Also, while not as large in scope as the MetroBears, the charitable works of the Bear Albany group are significant.  While they do not support as wide a charity base, they stick with one organization and raise as much money as they can on their weekend events that often feature raffles and other fundraisers.  Jim Larson comments, “we support C4 it is the AIDS/HIV ward at the Albany Medical Center -- we provide about $2000 worth of clothes, food, and personal care products a year to the in patient and the out patient clients.”  These donations are evidence of the support that this group brings to the gay community as a whole.  While not as pronounced as the MetroBears, the charity provided by Bear Albany is no less appreciated.  Like the MetroBears, Bear Albany co-sponsors other events such as the Santa Speedo sprint.  This event, held yearly in December, features dozens of big bears in nothing but shoes and red Speedos running down Lark street in Albany.  The 800m race raises money for the Albany Damien Center which is a charity aiming to help those with AIDS/HIV and their families. 
   Lastly, while Bear Albany does not specifically plan camping outings, members of the group attend bear weekends at the Hillside Campgrounds in Pennsylvania once a year.  These camping trips are organized and attended by many of the members, many of whom shed there clothing for the majority of the weekend.  It is in this way, that the Bear Albany group and its founders are more connected to the naturalist ideals of the Radical Faerie movement than cosmopolitan bear groups.  Although their events often occur at bars, the Bear Albany group is distinctly less focused on bar and club life in general.  While not completely aligned with the Faerie lifestyle of old, this group certainly seems more aligned with the “original” ideas of beardom. 
   Taken together, the two groups MetroBears and Bear Albany, represent the vastly different attitudes of bears in the New York region.  Regardless of their separate ideologies however, the two groups are bound by their love for bears, their philosophies of inclusion, and the work they do for the bear community and the gay community as a whole.  These two groups while different, give a sense of the inclusive and friendly nature of the bear community.  They represent bears of all different walks of life, with all different likes and dislikes, that are all bound by one thing; the love of being called a bear.  That comradery, above all else, is what makes the bear community such a unique sub culture of gay life in general.