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Undercover Exbeariment Looks At Bear Culture

Written by NetBear on February 16, 2010 – 10:49 am

People love to categorize everything in their lives. And gay men, if anything, like to do it even more than straight folks. So when it comes to who’s who in the bear community, it’s no surprise to discover that we’ve got quite a list of categories for everyone. Who hasn’t been asked what kind of bear they are.

Writer Josh Rotter decided to do a little “exbeariment” and go undercover as a Grizzly Man to hunt for bears in San Francisco. He would discover for himself what the bear culture is all about.

I quickly discovered that a Bear was more of a look than a personality; the appeal was a masculinity thing – stomachs could be soft, but chests had to be hard – and it was nice to have hair to rub up against.

We’re not sure just how deep Rotter went with his research, but the article is well-written and wasn’t just a casual glance. A look from an outsider helps us to look at ourselves as a community. You have to at least check out the Field Guide reference chart that attempts to illustrate how we like to categorize.