![hairy gay men feet held up hairy gay men feet held up](https://c0.wallpaperflare.com/preview/811/430/380/queer-feet-gay-legs.jpg)
Though many in Johnson's yoga class share bear identity, bears are no monolith. Just as bears are one subset of gay men - others include twinks and wolves - bear culture requires categories, as well. That's where Johnson's bear yoga class comes in. So can bears find solace and community in an activity that tends to privilege certain body types? Lean, ripped physiques remain the gold standard represented in gay media and it is the body type gay men prefer in their partners.Īccording to the 2015 study " Bearing Bodies" in the journal Sociology of Sport, this leads to a vicious cycle for many bears: feelings of shame and stigma, lowered self-esteem, eating disorders and further weight gain. The pressures bears face as a stigmatized minority within a sexual minority group means they often seek out ways to be in community with one another. This feeling of exclusion can mirror how some bears feel within the gay community. For bears, attending a yoga class might mean being the only man, the only gay man and perhaps the only big, hairy gay man in the middle of an exercise class. While yoga has no gender, only 17.8% of yoga attendees are men. This is Bear Yoga, the official name for the yoga class that caters to the gay community's bigger, hairier subset. Some wear pants that end at their ankles, while Johnson wears butt-hugging blue shorts and a pair of thick, black socks with the brand "Nasty Pig" stitched around the rim. The men in the room vary in size, level of hairiness and state of undress. A station includes a yoga mat, two blankets, two yoga blocks and a firm pillow called a bolster.
![hairy gay men feet held up hairy gay men feet held up](https://us.123rf.com/450wm/rdonar/rdonar1901/rdonar190100025/114555927-two-lovers-man-and-woman-barefoot-in-shower-feet-on-red-tilles-selective-focus-on-toes.jpg)
Once inside the studio, yogi Matt Johnson holds a tiny notepad and takes attendance while each bear sits at his station.
![hairy gay men feet held up hairy gay men feet held up](https://imgix.bustle.com/mic/z25n1eglne5hphoikypg7szgzkqjtysxhl1pg6a7ecbj9roveaoxdwp1qfqu5i7f.jpg)
They are large and male and some cannot touch their toes they trade Joan Crawford impressions while waiting for the yoga studio. The hallway crowd challenges stereotypical notions of the slender female yoga student. As about a dozen thin, young women with yoga mats under their arms and their hair pulled back in buns filter out of the Loom Yoga Studio in Bushwick, Brooklyn, a very different crowd waits outside the door.