Les Wright

The Bear Book : Readings in the History and Evolution of a Gay Male Subculture by Les K. Wright (Editor)

From Michelangelo's David to Calvin Klein's hunks in briefs, the cult of the beautiful male body has been at the heart of much of gay culture. But there is more to gay life than buffed pecs and rippled abs. Les Wright's The Bear Book is a surprising collection of sociological and literary essays about gay bears: hefty, bearded men who look for the same attributes in their partners. The gay bear phenomenon started more than a decade ago--in response to AIDS, some commentators note here--and has become a defining identity for many gay men. The Bear Book examines the range of bear culture--bear magazines, bear clubs, bear Web sites--and in doing so explores how gay male culture evolves in response to the needs of its members and to the broader culture.

The Bear Book II : Further Readings in the History and Evolution of a Gay Male Subculture by Les K. Wright (Editor)

Here is a serious discussion of an emerging gay subculture! Take another fascinating journey into the bear’s den with the latest offering from Les Wright, author of The Bear Book. The Bear Book II will show you the contrast between the media image of the fun-loving, carefree bear man and the health, image, psychological, technological, and sexual concerns of bears living in the real world. A continuation of The Bear Book (1997), this study of typically big, hairy, and bearded gay men explores bears on a societal and personal level, giving a wide voice to bears of all ages, nationalities, and cultures. Among the topics The Bear Book II: Further Readings in the History and Evolution of a Gay Male Subculture discusses are: health concerns of bears bear body images self-esteem issues for bears physical and psychological bear attributes as portrayed in the media versus actual individual accounts social and sexual institutions in the bear community the role of the Internet in creating a global bear subculture The Bear Book II will help you to understand the life of a bear. This unique book, the only serious exploration of this topic, offers documentation of a subculture in the making, complete with subjective and analytical perspectives that support this example of postmodern cultural anthropology.

Biography

Born 1953 in Syracuse, NY, BA (SUNY Albany), MA & Ph D (UC Berkeley); six years study in Germany, including 1 year U Wuerzburg and 4 years U Tuebingen; 15 year resident in The Castro (San Francisco); moved to Boston in 1993 to teach Humanities full-time; adjunct Human Sexuality instructor at Worcester State; pivotal year was 1981: I got clean & sober, was infected with HIV, and returned to graduate school; have lived with HIV for 20 years.

Organizations & Institutions

Nashoba Institute; Mount Ida College; Worcester State College

Fields of Study

Published Works

Les K. Wright (Editor).  The Bear Book : Readings in the History and Evolution of a Gay Male Subculture (Haworth, 1997)

Les K. Wright (Editor). The Bear Book II : Further Readings in the History and Evolution of a Gay Male Subculture  (Haworth, 2001)

Les K. Wright.  Bear Icons Art Exhibitions (New York, 1999; Boston, 2000; Provincetown, 2001; Chicago, 2001)

Current Projects

Bear Icons, Provincetown and Chicago; Surviving Soul Murder: How Gay Men Have Survived Homophobia, Collective Trauma, and Social Death; Community Health, rural and MSM health issues in New England.

The Bear History Project -- Les Wright, Curator

The Bear History Project is organized exclusively as an independent, nonpartisan not-for-profit educational, artistic, and charitable endeavor to collect, preserve, document, support, and promote all aspects of bear culture, bear community, and bear identity, on the local, national, and international levels.

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