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Les K. Wright
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The Bear Book: Readings in the History and Evolution of a Gay Male Subculture (Haworth Gay & Lesbian Studies) 1st Edition

by Les Wright (Author)
4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 9 ratings
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The Bear Book brings together an impressive range of bear--usually big, hairy men who favor full-face beards and prefer to wear jeans and flannel shirts--viewpoints to explore this unique social and cultural phenomenon that stretches from America to western Europe to Australia! On the personal level, you learn what beardom means to different people in their daily lives, and on a broader level, its cultural implications for not only the gay community, but also society as a whole. As this book moves across the wide spectrum of bear identities, you learn about the defining forces of identity, the significance of differences among masculinities, and the shapings of the bear movement from different viewpoints.The Bear Book is the first compilation of sociological and cultural analytical investigations of the contemporary gay bear phenomenon. To this end, Editor Les Wright brings together both objective and subjective viewpoints to create a forum where bears can speak for themselves. Through their voices, you’ll learn about:

  • bears and sexual identity
  • gay male iconography
  • socializing on the Internet
  • sexual politics (gender, class, “looks-ism,” and body image)
  • gay mass media, the single most powerful force in the current construction of ”bears”
  • bears, power, and glamor
  • bear-as-image vs. bear-as-attitudeGays, lesbians, lesbigay scholars, bears, and social scientists are sure to find The Bear Book thought-provoking and insightful as it broaches questions such as: Are bears caught up in a utopian-romantic impulse to reinvent themselves? What was radical lesbianism’s impact on the bear movement? To what extent are bears only another group of exploited consumers in a fragmented market system? And, is it possible to establish social liberation through enslavement to your sexual passions? For both your pleasure and your education, The Bear Book examines nearly every corner of beardom, including bear history, identity, social spaces, iconography, and its constituency abroad.
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Previous page
  1. ISBN-10
    0789000911
  2. ISBN-13
    978-0789000910
  3. Edition
    1st
  4. Publisher
    Routledge
  5. Publication date
    June 24, 1997
  6. Part of series
    Haworth Gay & Lesbian Studies
  7. Language
    English
  8. Dimensions
    6.5 x 1 x 9 inches
  9. Print length
    308 pages
  10. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Les Wright

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Routledge; 1st edition (June 24, 1997)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 308 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0789000911
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0789000910
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.61 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.5 x 1 x 9 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 9 ratings

About the author

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Les K. Wright

Les K. Wright

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Les K Wright is an author, editor, gay historian, gay activist, long-term (pre-HAART) AIDS survivor, and retired professor of English and German. He is a founding member and founding board member of the LGBT Historical Society of San Francisco, and the founder and curator of the Bear History Project. He has appeared in several documentaries. His papersm including the BearHisgtoryProect, are archived in the Human Sexuality Collection at Cornell University (https://rmc.library.cornell.edu/EAD/xml/dlxs/RMM07656.xml).

He was educated at University at Albany (BA), Universität Würzburg, Universität Tübingen (MA), UC Berkeley (MA, PhD). He had a fellowship in Netherlandic Studies at Berkeley and a Fulbright/DAAD fellowship at Cornell. He was a tenured professor of English and Humanities at Mount Ida College (Boston) and has adjuncted at several universities and colleges in New York, Massachusetts, and the San Francisco Bay Area.

He is currently writing a memoir.

Check out the DVD "Bear Run" (Dan Hunt, director), which contains a full-length interview with Les K. Wright.

Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars
4.2 out of 5
9 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

too_old_to_be_so_indie
5.0 out of 5 stars A great overview of early bear culture in a variety of styles and tones
Reviewed in the United States on August 2, 2016
Verified Purchase
My first reaction to the book was that the tone and style of the chapters gave it a bit of a disconnected feel, but over time my opinion has changed... I now feel like that variety is actually one of the book's strengths, bringing us everything from deeply personal recollections to serious research-based analysis. One of my favorite chapters is the analysis of bear images in the media -- an example of the chapters with a more serious tone. At first it feels a bit academic and dry compared to the personal, anecdotal chapters, but once you get into it, it goes a long way to explaining the cultural forces which helped birth "beardom". In particular, its prediction that "superbear" stereotypes could lead to the bear community becoming exclusionary and elitist -- thus negating part of its original goal -- now seem very prescient, because I saw that exact thing happen to the community in the 90's and 00's. I think the 10's have seen a return to a more inclusive bear aesthetic, and it would be very interesting to see someone put together a new collection like this to look back at the changes and permutations the subculture has been through since the original's publication almost 20 years ago.
One person found this helpful
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Travis
5.0 out of 5 stars Dr. Bear..paging Dr. Bear...
Reviewed in the United States on April 18, 2005
While this book is heavy on history, it also reads like a college textbook into the history, culture, health and psychological aspect of the gay men who identify as "bears".

Some of the chapters dragged, especially the ones dealing with the early 90's and the chat rooms and drama...but the ones that touched me were the personal coming out stories, and the men coming to terms with their bodies and attitudes in conservative America. Definatly a book that will stay on my shelf for many years to come.
2 people found this helpful
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Harold
3.0 out of 5 stars not a great read
Reviewed in the United States on July 22, 2013
Verified Purchase
I found it to be rather scattered, there was not a good flow to this book. not a good read
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M. Fitzpatrick
4.0 out of 5 stars If you're curious, buy it.
Reviewed in the United States on January 5, 2007
Verified Purchase
Good book for those in cultural studies, or someone curious about this subculture.
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Tank Pischke
1.0 out of 5 stars Pretty awful stuff
Reviewed in the United States on April 14, 2004
While it's commendable that someone would try to write a book that attempts to examine the history of the bear "movement" and try to figure out what it's all about, this book is simply terrible. The "research" is not even of high school quality; for example, the article that attempts to show that bears sprung up in the United States first by tracking the dates that the Resources for Bears page was first accessed in each country -- totally laughable and unacceptable to any serious social scientist.
The portions on the history of bears are mostly San Francisco scene name-dropping, and there's no serious attempt to examine the origin of the bear "movement" by taking a look at its roots in the leather community or in Girth and Mirth. Instead, we're told that bears came about because HIV-positive San Francisco men looked at extra weight as a sign of health in the mid-to-late eighties. No proof, just assertions.
Do yourself a favour and skip this book. You can spend your money better elsewhere.
12 people found this helpful
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Shane Sampson
3.0 out of 5 stars What is all the fuss about?
Reviewed in the United States on December 14, 1999
Sure it gives you history and such, but it tends to be a dry read. If you need a "deeper understanding" of what you like and why, read it. If you are satisfied knowing what you like, then spend your money some place else.
3 people found this helpful
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