Post Interpetation and Theme Analysis
In this screenshot the Poster (pictured otter) is claiming in-group status by bemoaning the lack of bears at a hypothetical, likely not real “bear 🐻 night” gay nightlife event.
The Commenter then tries to revoke the Poster’s in-group status by flagging his “flat tummy” (we cannot verify this to be true without further insight, however, it can be asserted that “flat tummy” is a subjective descriptor). This is a direct attack to the Poster’s legitimacy and authenticity in being allowed to complain about gay bear in-group politics.
The allegory in the caption written by tumblr user gaypornvideoswebsite describes when infamous rapper and singer Azealia Banks began vocalizing her support for Israel shortly after October 7th, 2023. This included tirades against queer people who were advocating for Palestine, standard zionist pinkwashing, and regurgitating state propaganda against Palestinian liberation. This support culminated in Banks eventually taking a trip to Israel, presumably to solidify her support of the ethnostate, but shortly after commented on the harsh reality of being an outsider to an ethnostate, retracting some of her previous statements. Notably, Banks is neither white nor Jewish.
In a somewhat tongue-in-cheek manner, the gay community is well known for its perpetuation of body fascism. Gay men in particular are encouraged to identify with a subgroup, typically defined by body shape, size, and gender presentation. Occasionally, groups with more lenient body standards (for example, the somewhat nebulous but interest-oriented “gaymer” category) persist, however they are often appended by another group category (ie gaymer bears). Bears, in this instance, describe large, masculine, and typically hairy* men. Otters, twinks, and jocks describe other varieties of body shape and hairiness in some combination. Notably, there also exists the subgroup of Chubs who are distinguished in a metric somewhat beyond the comprehension of this analysis.
These categories exist for common ground and kinship, but also exist to reinforce sexual borders within the gay community, often bringing with them increased racism, sexism, misogyny, and transphobia. Deviations from the norm are noted as being alternative or requiring some form of nominal modifier in order to appease the order. Gay men, not unique to bears, are often culturally criticized for associating with people who bear striking resemblances to themselves, often present in group photos in gay destinations such as Fire Island and the Atlantis Cruises. Sociosexuality is a vital part of gay men’s socialization, and often results in feelings of exclusivity and identity loss.
The Bears are directly compared to Israel in this post due in part to their tendency to perpetuate allegorical ethnostates (visual homogeny, but also racial homogeny in many situations). The Commenter represents the social urge to exclude at the expense of feeling excluded by the larger society (ie fatphobia). This defense was historically used in the perverse and violent creation of Israel as a “state” by the perpetrators of Jewish prosecution in the early 20th century. Azealia Banks is directly compared to the Poster due to her immensely gray moral character with difficult to defend assertions as a public figure.
Lastly, the post does not stand to defend the bear community, which the tumblr user would hope would be crystal clear given the assigned allegorical roles. The post zooms out at the larger sociopolitical interplay between groups. The tumblr user does encourage gay men to think far less about their bodily aesthetics as an integral aspect of their queer socialization.
*Vitally, there is great discrepansy on the requirement for hairiness to be considered a bear, which drives home further the allegory.
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