Where did the term "bear" originate from?

[Marc]

Did it come from the states? Did it start from bear magazine out of san francisco, or did it come from another country?

Just curious, from surfing around they got bear events going on all over the world, so I wondered where the term originated from

[Happysucks]

I've always known it as "Russian Bear" but that may not be the origination.

[Dzinerbear]

From what I understand, the whole bear movement had it's roots in the height of the AIDS crisis, when guys were dying at alarming rates and those who weren't dying were seemingly being eaten alive by a virus that left them emaciated, skinny, and unhealthy looking. Men started to look at the more robust of us as signs that we were healthy, or more to the point uninfected.

I remember using phone sex line back in those days and I always referred to myself as stocky, husky, or chubby. It never occured to me to use, nor did I ever hear the term, bear. (We're talking about 1990/91 here.)

American Bear magazine has back issues all the way back to 1994 (those are sold out) but presumably the word has it's roots somewhere between 1990 and 1994, perhaps earlier, just because I didn't hear about it doesn't mean it didn't exist, but I was pretty active in the gay community back then.

The first chapter of Girth and Mirth appeared in 1976, according to this article http://www.glbtq.com/social-sciences/bear_movement.html but they do go on to say that Bear Magazine was the first entity to use the word "bear."

Cheers
Dzinerbear
Bear Universe

[Xstr8guy]

Great link Michael! I'm very surprised to see that the term "bear" is a rather recent phenomenon.

[Marc]

thanks. So it started in san francisco?

[LavenderLounge]

As the article is pretty accurate. I think the term just kind of evolved, just as the sexualized reference to "pigs" or "dogs" just creeped in the venacular.

In late 80's a guy named Richard Bolger started Bear Magazine in SF in a little office off of 16th Street and Guerrero. The company name was Brush Creek Media. Around 90 or 91 they moved to 9th and Harrison.

Bear Expo and Mr. Bear contest started around the same time in SF and there was some confusion about who owned the name "bear". Bear Expo, which started by a single entrepeneur, became Bear Rendevous which is now run by non-profit Bears of San Francisco.

Around 93 or 94 Brush Creek Media got bought by Beardog Hoffman (his real name!) and opened the Bear Store, 8 spinoff magazines and three video lines. In 1995 Brush Creek bought Le Salon, the vintage gay porn video studio and a chain of 3 video stores.

Bear Magazine and Brush Creek fizzled in 2000 or 2001, with the rights to the videos somewhat in limbo today.

[Lee]

Well damn, i guess the saying is true..

You really DO learn something new everyday

Thanks for the great info in this thread gang

Regards,

Lee

[basschick]

Dzinerbear - interesting stuff, and it's startling how recent the term bears is! but an interest in bears isn't that recent - back in 1972 there were plenty of guys who liked big hairy men. a friend of mine was a big hairy man, and he was quite popular when we went to clubs and in how many people he brought home from those clubs.

[Dzinerbear]

Yeah, basschick, I'm sure. But I think what happened was in 1972 we didn't have a need to label anyone. We were all just barely gay and didn't really stand on the right side of the law.

Throught the 80s we went through the whole New Age and self-help movements, and everyone was trying to figure out where they fit in and where they belonged. It was no longer good enough to be gay, but you were a lesbian feminist, or a lesbian feminist of colour, or a leather top, or a rice queen, or a chicken hawk, or a gay father, or a gay recovering alcoholic. Everyone needed a label and designation.

And our communities diversified, we started rejecting the old ideas, for instance, that porn stars had to be young and smooth.

Yes, good thread.

Cheers
Dzinerbear

[Jasun]

Wow.

Had no idea.

But it's funny that the term was so fitting that we all just assumed it had been in use for years.

I had assumed it originated from that "Grizzly Adams" show. He most certainly was a Daddy Bear.

I remember being a little kid, wishing I could cuddle with him. In that way that it's ok for a little kid to cuddle with a grown man.