The Bear Code | Queer History

So I have gotten asked quite a few times what the string of characters labeled "bear code" is up on my mastodon profile. This was an old, old bit of gay internet arcarna from before sending a photo through the internet was terribly time consuming and costly thing. Painstakingly waiting for a single jpg to download line-by-line over copper telephone lines. The code was a shorthand way for people to describe themselves without images in small internet servers and chatrooms. The code's creation is attributed to Bob Donahue (Bear code: B5 c+ f s-: w t- r k?) and Jeff Stoner (Bear code: B6 f+ w sv w r+ k(+?) ) When they first published "the natural bear verification code", it came with this explanation: Because "Bears" mean so many things to different people,because bears come in all shapes and sizes and have different sexualproclivities, because classified ad prices are SOOOOOO expensive,we (while eating lunch at a Boulder, Colorado, Wendy's on Thanksgivingweekend, 1989) came up with this incredibly-scientific system to describebears and bear-like men. Since we both have interests in astronomy, we are well-versed instar and galaxy classification systems, which use prototypes to set thestandards for describing things. Rather than just saying something is of"Type I" or "Type II" (etc.), it is better to use natural features to describean object, in particular as a continuum of a range of features. Such isthe case with bears. I Find the fact its inspired by the language we use in astronomy to describe stars a lovely idea. The Bear Code was fast falling out of use even when I was a young Cub first exploring the Bear websites of the mid 2000's as digital handheld cameras and slowly improving infrastructure made sharing pictures, as pixelated as they was, Now it must be said, any time you try and boil humans down to small discreet categories you will always fail somewhat, we are analogue beings not made for simple categorization. It should also be noted that some terms used in the barcode have changed somewhat in modern contexts. for example "queer" is used interchangeably with "Queeny" and describes how fem a person is. I will however applaud how flexible they tried to make it, and it exemplifies the proactively embracing of body and presentation types the bear community in a time when gay male culture was far, far more monolithic than it is now. If you want to Create your bear code, the original usenet post is now archived here: link to archived alt.sex.motss usenet post and a link to the web archive copy of the resourcesforbears.com article: Link to the web archive page I'm not sure if it will ever see a revival of the bear code the way we are seeing a resurgence of the flagging systems we are seeing today with hankies and keys, but its a bit of history I hope more people learn about. -Buck Moon (B4 f- t- w cd g k++ s++)