We speculate that Bears are viewed as less attractive than what is traditionally considered to be attractive. We concluded that Bears are intensely sexual. Bears had lower self-esteem but were no less (or more) hypermasculine than non-Bears. Bears were more likely than mainstream gay men to enact diverse sexual behaviors (e.g., fisting, voyeurism) and were comparatively more masculine. They were less likely to reject sexual partners and the partners they did reject were more likely to be young or weigh too little (i.e., were not bearish). They reported wanting partners who were hairier and heavier. Our studies indicated that Bears were more likely to be hairier, heavier, and shorter than mainstream gay men.
In response, we conducted two large-scale studies of gay men identifying as Bears ( n = 469) to survey their self-reported physical, behavioral, and psychological traits. While qualitative data document such self-identifiers as masculine-acting gay men who weigh more and have more body hair, there has to date been no quantitative analysis of this group’s characteristics. It rejects the normative idealized male beauty revered by mainstream gay men. The Bear community exists as a subculture in reaction to the larger gay community.
