Fat. Hairy. Sexy. Contesting standards of beauty and sexuality in the gay community

Even within marginalized communities and social movements, there are institutionalized power relations.  In the gay male community, men who are considered beautiful (young, skinny, hairless) have an easier time navigating their social world (Levine 1998; Pyle and Loewy 2009).  Men whose bodies do not conform to this narrow beauty ideal and/or whose sexual attractions are to men whose bodies do not conform to this ideal often feel ostracized in conventional gay spaces such as bars, nightclubs, and community organizations (Hennen 2008; Pyle and Loewy 2009).  As a result they have created alternative spaces in which they feel comfortable and, through gathering together, have begun to form identities as big men, bears, and their admirers (also known as chasers).  Big men, or chubs, are large-bodied or fat gay men and bears are masculine, hirsute, and often large-bodied gay men. As spaces for big men, bears, and chasers grow and more men congregate, these individuals and groups begin to take on a more public presence at pride events and other queer community functions (Hennen 2008).  Their public presence is an embodied contestation of queer power relations, legitimizing a broad range of body types that include fat and hairy male bodies and a multiplicity of sexual identities that include attraction to these bodies.  In this project ethnographic and interview data are used to illustrate how big men, bears, and chasers use their bodies to challenge the institutionalized power relations that define sexiness within the gay male community.