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[[File:Trans bear.png|thumb|The transgender bear flag]]
[[File:Non-binary bear.png|thumb|The non-binary bear flag]]
'''Bear '''is a subcultural term used primarily by [[Vincian|gay men]], referring to a subset of [[Male|men]] who embrace and subvert traditional [[Masculine|masculinity]] and defy the stereotypes typically applied to gay men, who are usually seen as [[feminine]] due to their attraction to men. Bears may be defined by physical appearance, tastes, expression of traditionally gendered traits, or personal affiliation.
The generic image of a bear is a larger man with a hairy body, usually having facial hair and dressing in a typically masculine way. Bears tend to project the aesthetics of working-class manhood in their choices of self-expression, particularly through their personal grooming and appearance.<ref>[https://books.google.com.au/books?id=VH9EAgAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_atb&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false "Chapter 6. Academics as Bears: Thoughts on Middle-Class Eroticization of Workingmen’s Bodies" by Eric Rofes, ''The Bear Book: Readings in the History and Evolution of a Gay Male Subculture'', edited by Les. K. Wright, Routledge.]</ref> Often, bear culture is associated with the rural [[gay]] community, in which the idea of rugged traditional masculinity is considered both an ideal and a defiance of gay stereotyping that tends to portray gay men as overwhelmingly thin, white, exceptionally well-groomed, lacking in facial and body hair, and averse to physical exertion.
The bear subculture celebrates such masculine traits while [[Queer|queering]] masculinity through the reputation of bears being affectionate, similar to how [[femme]] [[Lesbian|lesbians]] defy the heterocentric stereotype of lesbians being masculine by necessity and instead queer femininity.
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*[[Otter|'''Otters''']], leaner bears.
* '''Leather bears''', bears who may be more involved in leather and BDSM cultures than the average bear.
* '''[[Ursula|Ursulas]]''', historically '''lesbears''',<ref>[https://www.google.com/books/edition/Bears_on_Bears/oWQ1Qe3g5hkC?hl=en&gbpv=1 "Lesbears and Transbears: Dykes and FTMs as Bears" in ''Bears on Bears: Interviews & Discussions (Revised Edition)'', Ron Jackson Suresha, Lethe Press.]</ref> who are [[sapphic]] [[Female|women]] or [[Fiaspec|women-aligned]] people who are generally hairier and heavy-set.<ref>[https://xtramagazine.com/love-sex/beary-feminine-45486 Article “Beary feminine: Lesbians are claiming an identity gay men monopolize” on ursulas by Tanya Gulliver for ''Xtra''.]</ref>
* '''[[Femme Bear|Femme bears]]''', queer femme people with the typical characteristics of a bear.<ref>[https://archermagazine.com.au/2018/06/woman-bear-community/ Article “A woman in the bear community” on being a queer femme and a bear by Iz Connell for ''Archer''.]</ref>
*'''Trans bears''', [[achillean]] [[transmasculine]] people who are hairier and heavy.<ref>"Lesbears and Transbears," ''Bears on Bears'', Suresha.</ref>
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