ABSTRACT

This chapter examines masculinity in gay male subcultures in order to outline an approach to masculinity based in semiotics and sociocultural linguistics. Within this approach, individuals construct specific social personae by combining signs that point to distinct meanings associated with gender (as well as race, ethnicity, age, etc.). The semiotic approach is demonstrated through discussion of three distinct gay male subcultures: bears, circuit boys, and leathermen. These subcultures display very distinct ideologies of masculinity both in their origins and in the ways in which they have spread to become global movements.