"Bear" preferance in gay culture

[East]

I have never really been sure what "bear" means..but..I thought it meant a beefy guy who was hairy once upon a time....

...and apparently...I am wrong....

I am not really sure but from what I gather...it now means if you are fat...you are a bear. I have no idea if there was a transition or if this was always the case......

I am not really sure what a twink is either...it used to be a bad thing if someone called you a twink....

..apparently now a twink is desirable...

[Pyromancer]

[MENTION=18508]East[/MENTION] ...bears, cubs, wolves, otters...twinks,...Good Grief!! I very often hear gay men bitching about labels...yet we seem to have an elaborate system for labeling ourselves.

I know one self-proclaimed bear who's big, muscular, hairy and has cute love handles, but certainly not fat. And twinkks? Small, slender, hairless body, preferably blond and utterly self absorbed...

I asked Kev which animal category I fall into, and he said ...I was hoping for wolf...so much for my delusions of grandeur lol...

[ShiftyNJ]

I like strong, lean mostly smooth (but not necessarily shaved) dudes. Wrestler/gymnast build. IDK what kind of animal they would be, the personality is generally yellow lab: a little goofy, up for an adventure, and always happy to see you.

[Anocxu]

after reading the posts above...
I have concluded I am .....A Heifer.
Any other heifers out there?

[TwisttheLeaf]

Although I personally am not into hairy men... whether they be fit or heavy set doesn't matter... I know there is a HUGE section of the gay community that definitely is. I don't think you have anything to worry about.

By the same turn, I need someone who can keep up with me, yeah? That necessity pretty much requires that my partner be somewhat fit. Fortunately, I've found just what I need in [MENTION=20938]Gideon[/MENTION].

[East]

[MENTION=18508]East[/MENTION] ...bears, cubs, wolves, otters...twinks,...Good Grief!! I very often hear gay men bitching about labels...yet we seem to have an elaborate system for labeling ourselves.
..

LOL...I missed all of this though now that you mention it I have seen some of those terms and just skipped right on by because I thought it was a sense of humor or something...didn't even realize that they were actually terms people use (except for the bear one...and the cub one....I don't even want to say what I thought "cub" meant)

[ShiftyNJ]

after reading the posts above...
I have concluded I am .....A Heifer.
Any other heifers out there?

What makes one a heifer in your view?

[himself]

If I were to label myself as another organism, I think it'd be the flu virus.

[matty7]

swear to god I do not know what an Otter is lol , im not googling either as its more fun leaving it to my imagination ,
I do like chunky guys though as well as other types too , not so much with the huge belly's though,
the guy in Pyromancers link http://www.ptownbears.org/ on the far left with glasses and red beard is very hot though - but I do like red heads anyway

[Lexington]

I once called a guy an "ocelot". I think he still calls himself that. Neither of us have any idea what it means, but it sounds fun.

Lex