Tarotbear 2
Maybe a little definition is in order...?
I love input!
Truthfully, I said this all to my collaborator as a joke, but there are definate possibilites (other than selling it at IHOP) that some of you are missing...and it's called 'validation'. This is a big issue in gay communities.
By now most of your realize ( or are about to learn) that the 'bear' in tarotbear is a definition of my sexuality. Most any gay guy out there picks up on it immediately. 'Bears' are a sub-group (HATE that term!) of gay male sexuality. It was a term created about 15 years ago in retaliation for many things that are still being explored in gay life, and has spawned books such as "The Bear Book, One & Two". Bears , some feel, are a post-AIDS creation - a backlash as it were to the stereotype that all gay men are buff,suntanned, gymbunnies on acid with proxide-blonde out-of-the-bottle-hair dico queens. We are large, hairy, usually bearded gay men. We do not fit the stereotype. There are not (not until recently) images that support us. When you look at gay movies and picture books, all you see are sculpted, beautiful men that we cannot be- nor should we. The outpouring of 'Bearaphenalia' ( I can send links to 'Bear' stores) is a result of men wanting to see themselves in a positive way, working against stereotype.
so...why do we 'need' at gay tarot book?...see part 2 so I don't write too large a post.
I love input!
Truthfully, I said this all to my collaborator as a joke, but there are definate possibilites (other than selling it at IHOP) that some of you are missing...and it's called 'validation'. This is a big issue in gay communities.
By now most of your realize ( or are about to learn) that the 'bear' in tarotbear is a definition of my sexuality. Most any gay guy out there picks up on it immediately. 'Bears' are a sub-group (HATE that term!) of gay male sexuality. It was a term created about 15 years ago in retaliation for many things that are still being explored in gay life, and has spawned books such as "The Bear Book, One & Two". Bears , some feel, are a post-AIDS creation - a backlash as it were to the stereotype that all gay men are buff,suntanned, gymbunnies on acid with proxide-blonde out-of-the-bottle-hair dico queens. We are large, hairy, usually bearded gay men. We do not fit the stereotype. There are not (not until recently) images that support us. When you look at gay movies and picture books, all you see are sculpted, beautiful men that we cannot be- nor should we. The outpouring of 'Bearaphenalia' ( I can send links to 'Bear' stores) is a result of men wanting to see themselves in a positive way, working against stereotype.
so...why do we 'need' at gay tarot book?...see part 2 so I don't write too large a post.