The Disputes Regarding Meanings of the Homosexual Male Body Characterized as Bear: An Example of Dialogic Analysis

ABSTRACT This article analyzes the dispute around meanings involving the homosexual male body characterized as bear. Based on the theoretical-methodological framework of Dialogic Discourse Analysis, an analysis was carried out of a Facebook group post with three sequences of commentaries on the bear body type. The analysis revealed that the heart of the meaning making dispute in the utterances holds two distinct evaluations: (i) the bear identified as a fat and hairy body, and (ii) the bear identified as a standard body and with (some) body hair. Through the fat/not-fat and hairy/hairless oppositions, the standard gay body contests the bear body characteristics, notably the hair, for demonstrating more masculine traits. However, this position generates protests, almost always in an ironic and critical tone, from those who defend that bears represent the resistance of a category that fits, above all, the fat body.

摘要 本文围绕被定义为“熊族（bear）”的男同性恋身体所涉及的意义纷争展开分析。基于对话话语分析（Dialogic Discourse Analysis）的理论-方法论框架，本文对一则Facebook群组帖子进行了分析，该帖子包含三条针对熊族体型的评论序列。分析结果显示，话语中意义建构纷争的核心存在两种截然不同的评价取向：（i）将熊族界定为肥胖多毛的身体形象；（ii）将熊族界定为符合主流身材标准且带有（部分）体毛的身体形象。通过肥胖/非肥胖与多毛/无毛的二元对立，主流男同性恋身体话语对熊族的身体特征——尤其是体毛——提出质疑，认为其更具男性气质特质。然而，这一立场引发了抗议声浪：发声者大多以反讽与批判的口吻，主张熊族代表了某一群体的抗争，这类群体最契合的正是肥胖身体形象。