[Last updated on: Mon Jan 9 21:33:02 1995] Welcome to the Bears Mailing List. The Bears' Mailing List (aka BML) is an Internet mailing list in digest format for gay and bisexual men who are bears themselves and for those who enjoy the company of bears. It is hosted by Roger Klorese and Henry Mensch. The BML is designed to be a forum to bring together folks with similar interests for conversation, friendship and sharing of experiences. Steve Dyer and Brian Gollum started the mailing list in August 1988, and since then it has grown to a community of more than 1400 men (and a few women) world-wide. On average, a new digest 20-30K bytes long arrives via email every other day or so. There is some controversy over what makes a man a "bear," and there are no fixed criteria. First and foremost is a cuddly demeanor, followed by a cuddly bod. Body or facial fur can be important, since they are some of a bear's identifying characteristics in the wild. Bears have been found with heavy to stocky to medium builds; very slender individuals are generally thought to be some other, closely related species ("otters"). For the purposes of this list, we encourage the participants in this forum to use their own definition, using this paragraph as a guide. The ground rules for the BML are loosely based on those used by other sexually-explicit lists: 0. This is a list devoted to the care, feeding and appreciation of ursine[1] men; please post with that in mind. It is directed to all gay and bisexual men who are bears, arctophiles[2], or both. Others, including womyn, who have an interest in this topic are also welcome, although the list is decidedly oriented towards gay male topics. 1. Contributors to the list are expected to be responsible in their contributions. Messages consisting primarily of personal attacks, or which have little or no relevance to the group or ongoing discussion(s) are not appropriate. There is no charge for BML, but communications are not free, as it costs most universities and companies real money to stay on the net. Please be concise and to the point in your postings, showing respect for other members of the list. We strive to keep the BML pleasant and enjoyable to read. 2. We will not edit the text of submitted articles without the author's approval. Articles may be reformatted as necessary to fit into the digest format. 3. There are no subjects relating to bears or bear-dom taboo on this list. The tone of the BML will be determined by its members, but people uncomfortable with discussing sexually explicit topics via electronic mail should not subscribe. 4. Subscribers may post anonymously if they wish. When posting anonymously, you MUST use the special posting address bears-anonymous@queernet.org. You should also use a unique pseudonym in either the text or the subject of the message; this helps make discussions clearer. We will remove headers and obvious identifying information and post your anonymous message with your pseudonym. The moderators are glad to forward reasonable amounts of mailed responses (no more than a few messages) to authors of anonymous postings. 5. Please don't post the BML to any USENET news group or BBS echo; also, please don't forward it on a regular basis to others not on the list. (Sharing it occasionally with folks with similar interests is fine, but we prefer regular readers to subscribe directly.) This is a private e-mail digest, not a USENET news group. 6. New subscribers should post an introductory bio (which may be anonymous if you wish) within one month of subscribing. It may be as discreet or as descriptive as you like. 7. The moderators will work to keep the complete list of members confidential. Since electronic mail is not itself secure, members should not assume their identities are completely secure from discovery. Members may choose to be included in a list of members circulated in the digest from time to time. [We haven't done this for many years now; people join and leave the mailing list too often to keep track.] 8. Back issues of the BML and GIF/JPEG digital images of BML subscribers are available via FTP over the Internet. Write to bears-ftp-help@queernet.org for details. 9. Subscription/unsubscription requests are managed by an automated server called Majordomo. It is VERY IMPORTANT that you follow the directions below for sending postings and administration requests. Sending the wrong requests to the wrong places delays processing and annoys everyone. Welcome to the BML! Your hosts, - Henry Mensch - Roger Klorese Footnotes: [1] ur.sine \'*r-.si-n\ aj [L ursinus, fr. ursus bear - more at ARCTIC] : of, relating to, or resembling a bear or the bear family (Ursidae) [2] Arc.to.phile \'a:rk-to*-.fi-l\ aj : markedly friendly to bears or arctic culture - Arctophile n ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS The Bears Mailing List is not actively moderated; it is our intent to provide a place to discuss various issues 'bear,' and we expect folks to behave (as discussed above). This does not mean the BML runs entirely on autopilot; we do read the stuff, and will provide assistance when necessary. This list is currently only available in digest format. Subscription/unsubscription requests are managed by an automated server called Majordomo. TO SUBSCRIBE: Send a mail message to majordomo@queernet.org The first (not subject) line of the message should be subscribe bears-digest (If you are subscribing a different address from the one you are using to send the request, you should use a line of the form subscribe bears-digest otheraddress@my.other.system instead. For example, if your other address is "jqpublic@any.where.net" send subscribe bears-digest jqpublic@any.where.net TO UNSUBSCRIBE: Send a mail message to majordomo@queernet.org The first (not subject) line of the message should be unsubscribe bears-digest (If you are subscribing a different address from the one you are using to send the request, you should use a line of the form unsubscribe bears-digest otheraddress@my.other.system instead. Note that, for best results, you should save the address in your acknowledgement message and specify it if you need to unsubscribe.) ADMINISTRIVIA: Other administrative questions and requests should be sent to the e-mail address "bears-digest-approval@queernet.org". Items sent to bears-digest-approval are read and processed by people, so it may take a while to respond.