The Bear Book II: Further Readings in the History and Evolution of a Gay Male Subculture

by Wright; Les

• ISBN13: 9781560231653
• ISBN10: 1560231653
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 2001-01-25
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

Here is a serious discussion of an emerging gay subculture! Take another fascinating journey into the bear's den with the latest offering from Les Wright, author of The Bear Book. The Bear Book II will show you the contrast between the media image of the fun-loving, carefree bear man and the health, image, psychological, technological, and sexual concerns of bears living in the real world. A continuation of The Bear Book (1997), this study of typically big, hairy, and bearded gay men explores bears on a societal and personal level, giving a wide voice to bears of all ages, nationalities, and cultures. Among the topics The Bear Book II: Further Readings in the History and Evolution of a Gay Male Subculture discusses are: health concerns of bears bear body images self-esteem issues for bears physical and psychological bear attributes as portrayed in the media versus actual individual accounts social and sexual institutions in the bear community the role of the Internet in creating a global bear subculture The Bear Book II will help you to understand the life of a bear. This unique book, the only serious exploration of this topic, offers documentation of a subculture in the making, complete with subjective and analytical perspectives that support this example of postmodern cultural anthropology.

Table of Contents

About the Editor	xiii
Contributors	xv
Foreword	xxiii
Jack Fritscher
Acknowledgments	lxiii
Introduction	1	(14)
Les Wright
PART I: BEAR BODIES
Bears and Health	15	(24)
Lawrence D. Mass
Sleep Apnea	21	(1)
Arteriosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease (ASCVD)	22	(1)
Arteriosclerotic Peripheral Vascular Disease	23	(1)
Arthritis	23	(1)
Cancers	23	(1)
Cholecystitis and Cholelithiasis	24	(1)
Diabetes Mellitus	24	(1)
Duodenal Ulcer	25	(1)
Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease	26	(1)
Heart Attack	26	(1)
Hiatal Hernia	26	(1)
Hyperlipidemia	27	(1)
Hypertension	27	(1)
Pediculosis (Body Lice)	27	(1)
Pilonidal Sinus and Cyst	28	(1)
Sexually Transmitted Diseases	28	(4)
Two Postscripts	32	(7)
Fat Is a Bearish Issue	39	(16)
Laurence Brown
Journey into the Psyche of a Chubby-Chaser	40	(3)
Bearstory/Chubstory	43	(1)
Fat Theory	44	(2)
Icons and Images of Fat-Desire	46	(7)
Gripes About Beardom	53	(2)
Bear Youth: An Interview with Brian Kearns, Bear Youth Webmaster	55	(10)
By Any Otter Name: The Negative Space of the Bear	65	(30)
John Milton Hendricks
Bears in Space	67	(5)
Neighborhood Clans	72	(5)
The Otter Questionnaire	77	(2)
Responses	79	(11)
Inconclusions	90	(5)
The Beard of Joseph Palmer	95	(10)
Stewart Holbrook
PART II: BEAR TESTIMONIES
A Bear Admirer's (Subjective, Fluffy, and Totally Honest) Point of View	105	(4)
Ned Wilkinson
A Puerto Rican Bear in the USA	109	(16)
Ali Lopez
Family Background	111	(5)
Breaking Out of Captivity	116	(9)
One Black Bear Speaks	125	(4)
Jason R. Clark
An Asian Bear in Minnesota	129	(6)
Dave Gan
The Ephebe Is Dead---Long Live the Bear	135	(2)
David Greig
Paralaying Playmates into Lasting Friendships	137	(10)
John R. Yoakam
PART III: MORE BEAR SPACES
Theorizing Bearspace	147	(16)
Alex G. Papadopoulos
Bear Bodies in Space	147	(2)
Bearspace and Theory	149	(6)
Bearspace Exposed	155	(1)
Skepsis/Bears and Globalization	155	(4)
Bearspaces of Subjectivity and Fantasy	159	(4)
Paws Between Two Worlds: Bears and the Leather Community	163	(6)
Robert B. Marks Ridinger
Gen-X Bears International	169	(6)
John-Paul Patrick Kucera
The Bear-A-Tones: An Interview with David Salinas	175	(10)
East Coast Bear Hugz	185	(6)
Tim Goecke
The Bears Mailing List, Part 2: Interview with Henry Mensch	191	(14)
Dale Wehrle
PART IV: BEAR CLUB SCENE
A Bear's Autobiography	205	(6)
Jim Parton
Bear Contests	211	(4)
Les Wright
A Short History of Bear Clubs in Iowa: The Bear Iaws of Iowa and The Ursine Group	215	(18)
Larry Toothman
First Meeting	216	(5)
Issues and Feedback Raised in Articles in The Bear Facts	221	(6)
The Creation of The Ursine Group	227	(6)
Houston Area Bears	233	(10)
Mitch Froehlich
The Bears Come to Rochester	243	(6)
John O. Noble
A Short History of the Brisbears	249	(4)
Peter Sharman
PART V: MORE BEARS ABROAD
A Bear Voice from Turkey	253	(10)
Mehmet Ali Sahin
Falstaff's Legacy: The Bears of Albion	263	(6)
Howard Watson
The Rise of the Australian Bear Community Since 1995	269	(18)
Seumas Hyslop
June 1995: The Death of Ozbears	269	(1)
August 1995: The Birth of Harbour City Bears	270	(2)
April 1996: The Birth of VicBears (Originally Melbourne Ozbears)	272	(1)
February 1997: Bear Essentials '97 and the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras	272	(2)
May 1997: The Melbourne Bear and Cub Competition	274	(1)
Mid-1997: Brisbears Voted Best Male Club in Brisbane	275	(1)
Late 1997: New Bear Club in Canberra	276	(1)
January 1998: The Second Bear Club in Sydney	277	(1)
February, 1998: Bear Essentials '98 and Sydne Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Become the Biggest Bear Festival in Australia at the Time	277	(2)
June 1998: Southern Hibearnation '98 and the Mr. Australian Bear and Cub Competition Become the Second Flagship Event for the Australian Bear Community	279	(1)
Late 1998: Cougar Leather Club Caters to Bears in Southern Australia	280	(1)
BearsPerth (Formerly WOMBATS) and Ozbears South Australia	281	(1)
1999: Further Developments	281	(1)
The Future of Bears in Australis	282	(1)
Acknowledgments	283	(4)
PART VI: BEARS IN MEDIA
You Can Lead a Bear to Culture, but... or Bears in Literature and Culture: A Discussion with David Bergman and Michael Bronski	287	(18)
Ron Suresha
Laid Bear: Masculinity with All the Trappings	305	(22)
Thomas McCann
Methodology	306	(1)
Bear Erotica	307	(8)
Mainstream Gay Erotica	315	(2)
Leather/SM Erotica	317	(2)
Discussion	319	(8)
In Goldilocks's Footsteps: Exploring the Discursive Construction of Gay Masculinity in Bear Magazines	327	(24)
Elizabeth A. Kelly
Kate Kane
We Come Upon This Project	327	(9)
Configuring Gay Masculinity/Desire: The Bare/Bear Body	336	(15)
Appendix: Early Published Writings on Bears by Les Wright	351	(16)
Exploring the ``Bear'' Phenomena (Seattle Gay News, August 3, 1990, pp. 20-21)	351	(6)
In the Company of Bears: Finding My Way to the Bear Hugs/Leather Bears (Bear Fax 6, 1990, pp. 10-11)	357	(2)
Sex and the Immutable Laws of Reciprocity (Having Fun at Bear Parties, and More) (Bear Fax 7, 1991, p. 10)	359	(2)
Bear Sex and Hero Worship (Bear Fax 8, 1991, p. 10)	361	(1)
Bears Go for Each Other (Bear Fax 9, 1991, p. 10)	362	(2)
What Is a Bear? Further Reflections (Bear Fax 13, 1992, p. 13)	364	(3)
Index	367