B4 c+ d+ e+ f+ g++ k- – m q r s++ t+ w.
Huh! What’s going on here? It’s “bear code,” a highly developed lexicon of the personal and physical characteristics of a gay man who identifies as a “bear.” The “bear movement” began in the mid-1980s as a rebellion against the dominant gay culture, which overwhelmingly idolized chiseled gym bodies as the standard of gay male beauty. Trim, neat, and well-styled haircuts characterized the most visible gay men then—and now—while the predominant gay body, as featured in gay magazines and in porn videos, displayed full heads of hair, a neat little bush of pubic hair above the cock (with balls shaved), but no hair at all on the chest, back, or legs. An unshaven chest or back, an evident tan line, or love handles were viewed by many gay men as signs that one simply didn’t care about one’s appearance.
