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The Bear Book: Readings in the History and Evolution of a Gay Male Subculture, edited by Les Wright, Ph.D.
Reviewed by TammyJo Eckhart
Don’t know what a bear is? A “bear” is a particular body type, attitude, and lifestyle of a gay man. For many many years, mainstream culture has shown us an icon of the gay man that many gay men either can’t fit into or don’t find attractive. The Bear Book: Readings in the History and Evolution of a Gay Male Subculture, edited by Les Wright, is a collection of essays and studies that examine this phenomenon.
The book is split into five sections and an introduction and includes 20 different articles by bears about bears. The introduction by Les Wright attempts to give us a brief overview of what bears are and when they became a subculture in their own right. Right away it is clear that there will be no easy definitions or answers in this book. Since many of the essays are rather academic in nature, I don’t want to spend a lot of time discussing the pros and cons of each. Instead I’ll list the major divisions of the book and offer brief descriptions of what is included.
Section One has six articles that look into the history of the subculture and explanations for its rise. Les Wright is the first up with his study of bear organizations, identity, and publications. Ron Shuresha’s “Bear Roots” makes the claim that bear subculture grew out of a need for greater intimacy at a time when AIDS was causing terror. This same claim is repeated throughout this collection. A poorly cited and researched attempt at finding mythical and social reasons for bear culture is the third chapter, by Michael S. Ramsey. Scott Hill’s very personal account of coming to claim his bearness is the most moving piece in the entire collection. “Bearaphernalia” by Robert B. Marks Ridinger really just seems to repeat earlier information. Finally in Section One there is a promising study of the eroticism of the bear by Eric Rofes, who suggests that it is related to class and concepts of masculinity.
Section Two, “Bear Images,” examines in four chapters how the bear is depicted in popular gay culture. There is a very detailed study of magazines by Philip Locke that provides us with much food for thought and sadly shows how stereotyped gay beauty can be. Rychard G. Powers gives us his philosophical ramblings about what bear culture is in “Beardom,” while Donahue & Stoner share their silly classification system of bears that is much like Ray Kampf’s The Bear Handbook. Throughout the book there are interviews with men who identify as bears or who interact with them. The first of these is chapter 10, where editor Les Wright interviews photographer John Rand; four black and white photos are included in the interview – these are the only pictures in the book.
Section Three looks at the culture and attempts of bears to form their own communities where they did not have to struggle with stereotypes. First there is an interview with Steve Dyer, who started the first online emailing list for bears. Emailing lists, for those of you not familiar with them, are a way for people who share a particular interest to talk to each other with little worry of negative mainstream response. A very brief history is told by Van Lynn Floyd of a group called “Front Range Bears” in Colorado, which began as a sci fi hangout and ended up as a full-fledged club. Finally, Lars Rains shares how he found bears in country music, meaning not only the music but in country music clubs.
Section Four looks at “Bear Spaces: San Francisco.” This includes organizations, bars, and magazines that either have an exclusive bear clientele or a high bear customer base. The first is an interview with Sam Ganczaruk about the “Bear Hug Group” in the city – a group founded to provide a safe space for bears to interact. Luke Mauerman, one of its publishers, discusses the evolution of “BEAR Magazine.” Ron Suresha returns to talk about “The Lone Star Saloon,” which was a major hangout for bears even if that was not the original intent of its creator.
Section Five takes us out of the United States and into some other parts of the world. Bob Hay discusses the difficulties of being a bear and maintaining bear clubs in Australia in Chapter 17. Apparently it is also difficult in New Zealand, as John Webster lays out how “Kiwi Bears” are a thriving subculture in Auckland. The last two chapters examine bear culture in Europe. Tommy McCann’s attempt to compare Europe with America is really more of a comparison between German culture and American cultures, perhaps reflecting a higher identity as bears in Germany. The entire idea of gay being part of the bear definition is challenged by Pierre De May as he looks at French society in Chapter 20.
The target audience of this book is obviously gay men who identify as bears or who find bears attractive. I’m neither, but I found several of the 20 articles very interesting and all of them educational. Now when I interact with my friends who are bears, maybe I’ll have better empathy for them and be able to become better friends.
Any collection of essays, studies, or stories is bound to have great, not so great, and downright poor pieces. Out of 20 selections in The Bear Book, the vast majority are well written if dry pieces. Regardless of your own orientation, you’ll be sure to learn something about gay men and about yourself in relation to the cultures and subcultures we all live and work in.
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