Bear Codes, Hanky Codes, Etc.

[B_Danceswithlamps]

i didn't know it had anything to do with being gay ... oops ... guess like i'm gay now.

No, it doesn't make you gay. It is used by gay men, but it isn't limited to gay men.

 

[GoneA]

No, it doesn't make you gay. It is used by gay men, but it isn't limited to gay men.

yea, i know, i's jus havin' me's some funs.

 

[mindseye]

Bear codes are supposed to make communication easier? Wow.

Believe it: They served that purpose for a number of years. The Bear Codes originated in 1991, which predates the World Wide Web. At that time, folks had to connect using 1200 baud modems, and even small images took several minutes to download. Even if you were willing to invest the time in downloading pictures -- few were available. Digital cameras did not exist as a consumer product yet (the technology was too expensive for amateur use), and few homes had image scanners.

The Bear Code allowed people to tersely convey visual information -- height, weight, facial hair, furriness, endowment -- in a single line of text. (Mannerisms -- k, s, g, r, etc. -- were added to the Bear Code later. 'c' and 'd' may have been in the original code.) This was amazingly efficient for the time. Today, it seems kind of antiquated -- Lex's avatar tells me so much more about him than his bear code does.

 

[B_Danceswithlamps]

I know. I was just having fun with *you*...

 

[Lex]

... Today, it seems kind of antiquated -- Lex's avatar tells me so much more about him than his bear code does.

Is that so Mindseye? What does it tell you? You might be surprised...

 

[Altairion]

I'll admit it now...I'm a geek and this is fun to me. And just for random amusement:

b0, f, t+, w--, dc, g-, k, s-, m, e+, r-

I never knew that all of these signals existed....learn somethin new everyday

 

[KinkGuy]

You never heard Ghandi or Martin Luther King, Jr. ever start off a conversation with "excuse me all to hell!" That immediately makes me tune out and not care about anything you have to say.

WOW! I don't measure up when compared to Ghandi or MLK,Jr. I'll take that, proudly.

 

[oldredneck]

A few posts back, I believe someone said that it is okay for straight guys to try the code. I'm straight and here is mine:

B6f+w+dk-s--m++e+r+

 

[B_Danceswithlamps]

I don't get the whole thing with the hankys...

 

[KinkGuy]

It is all spelled out in great detail in the secret handbook. Which we keep next to our agenda.

 

[KinkGuy]

Some trace the hankie code back to Gold Rush days, when dancers in all-male mining town saloons would divvy up into "fellers" and "gals," the pretend-women wearing identifying kerchiefs wrapped around their arms. Whatever the relevance of this bit of history, Castro clones, a century later, found that a well-placed handkerchief looked fetching in the back pocket of their Levi's 501s, and a whole language of hankies arouse. Some mad queen somewhere assigned hankie colors to dozens of sexual predilections, and "official" hankie code lists started making the rounds.

 

[KinkGuy]

[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular]THE PINK TRIANGLE[/FONT] [FONT=Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular]The pink triangle, or Rosawinkel in German, was sewn onto the clothes of homosexuals sent to concentration camps by the Nazis before and during World War II (1939-45). It was first used as a symbol of resistance and solidarity in the early 1970's. In 1975 it became the emblem of the Coalition of Conscience study group of the New York Civil Liberties Union, Starting in 1986, HIV-AIDS activists captioned the triangle with the words "Silence = Death."[/FONT]

 

[D_Cliebert_Chodechoker]

What The F**k Is This Thread About?

 

[B_DoubleMeatWhopper]

I am not what anyone would dream of terming a "bear", but just for the hell of it, this is me:

b2, f--, t--, dc, g, k-, s, m+, e++, r, q-

 

[KinkGuy]

helio, you missed the whole point.

 

[Lex]

That is called "recaliming the stereotype" in other arenas (i.e., women using the word BITCH as an empowering term).

Here is an internet resource for Hanky Codes.

 

[KinkGuy]

Here is an internet resource for Hanky Codes.

Class, do your homework. There will be a test on the material.

And "straight" folks think they are confused by all this symbolism. Just try to spot all these subtle differences in a dark bar.

 

[B_caneadea]

I wasn't offended by Lex's answer because it was in depth and well, a little too complicated for my mind, but it gave me a little understanding into this whole subculture. I am offended by Kink's answer because it's not given with any type of education in mind, as Lex's was, but just given with anger. I know that people are mad about being repressed and hated, but don't go about trying to shove stuff down my throat by screaming about it, do it by trying to explain yourself in a way that tries to explain a little gentler. You never heard Ghandi or Martin Luther King, Jr. ever start off a conversation with "excuse me all to hell!" That immediately makes me tune out and not care about anything you have to say.

_____________________________________________________-
Civil rights, womens rights, gay rights; sometimes, instead of knocking on the door and asking to be allowed in, the only way to get through to most people is to kick the fucker in.......

 

[Matthew]

Civil rights, womens rights, gay rights; sometimes, instead of knocking on the door and asking to be allowed in, the only way to get through to most people is to kick the fucker in.......

Teach, brother.

 

[steve319]

Oh, what the hell...

B3 F+ T++ W+ CD G K- S-- M E+ R P Q-