Bear community

The bear community is a subculture in the gay community. Bears are gay men with stocky or heavyset builds, and usually have hairy bodies and facial hair. Bears often exhibit an outwardly masculine appearance. Some bears place great importance on presenting a hyper-masculine image and shun interaction with men who display effeminate style and mannerisms. Bears are typically contrasted with twinks.

References in pop culture

Though not generally widely known outside of the gay community, the "bear" concept has surfaced in pop culture.

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Television

• On the American television show Queer Eye For the Straight Guy, a stocky and hairy man receiving a makeover was informed by one of the hosts that, "In our community, you would be called a cub!"
• In The Simpsons episode "Three Gays of the Condo", Homer runs into Waylon Smithers in the gay part of town; one of Smithers' friends asks, "Hey Waylon, who's the bear? Woof!"
• In American Wedding, a character (appropriately named Bear) at a gay bar flirts with Stifler, after Stifler growls at him. The 'woof' can be heard.
• In the British television show Absolutely Fabulous, during the episode entitled "Gay", the character of Bo (Mo Gaffney) attempts to put her husband Marshall's potential homosexual tendencies to the test by setting him up on a date with a "daddy bear".

Print

• In August 2003, weblogger Andrew Sullivan (himself a bear) wrote an article on the bear community for Salon.com.

Film

• Cachorro (Bear Cub), dir. Miguel Abaladejo, Spain, 2004 website (Spanish) website (English)
• A Dirty Shame, dir. John Waters, US, 2004 - film that features men from the bear scene, although there has been some debate whether this is a positive portrayal

There are also many short films about bears which can be seen in film festivals (gay/queer film festivals as well as local/international film festivals) including:

Related Topics:
Short film - Film festival

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• Men on Fur on Men, dirs. Martin Borden and Clark Niklolai, Canada, 2003, miniDV, 8 mins.
• A Bear?s Story, dir. Vincent Mtzlpick, US, 2003, video, 21 mins Website.
• Porn Proof, dir. Chris Street, Canada, 2003, miniDV, 3 mins.
• More Than Hair Care Products, dir. Pendra Wilson, Canada, 2003, miniDV, 5 mins.
• Hard Fat, dir. Frederic Moffet, Canada, 2001, video, 23 mins.
• Lazy Bear 2002, dir. Greg Garcia, US, 2002, DVD, 18 mins.
• Making of ?A Bear?s Story?, dir. Village TV, US, 2003, video, 7 mins.
• My Heart the Cook, dirs. Jerry McCadden and Clark Nikolai, Canada, 2001, miniDV, 2 mins.