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Lothar Filip Rudorfer, Charles University, Czech RepublicAbstract
Plus-size gay men and Bear/GMPD communities remain marginal in educational research, despite growing scholarship on fat stigma and queer experiences in higher education. This pilot study explores how Bear-identified and plus-size gay men working in academia understand their visibility, wellbeing and sense of belonging within university environments. Five cisgender gay men aged 26–40 completed an anonymous online questionnaire distributed via academic and Bear/GMPD networks. All had at least a master’s degree and 1–15 years of academic or research experience in Europe, with one participant originating from South America and now working in Czechia. The questionnaire combined demographic items, open-ended questions about identity, representation and wellbeing, and the Satisfaction with Life Scale. Data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. Three overarching themes were identified: (1) “Visible bodies, invisible identities” – participants sometimes experienced their size as neutral or even protective, yet saw almost no explicit representation of Bears or plus-size gay men in curricula, policy or senior academic roles; (2) “Belonging at the margins of multiple communities” – participants negotiated partial belonging in both academia and Bear scenes, describing exclusion based on body, sexuality, nationality or neurodivergence; and (3) “Carrying the weight of academic cultures” – high performance demands, reviewer hostility and subtle discrimination undermined wellbeing, with Bear/GMPD spaces sometimes offering counter-narratives of desirability and acceptance. Life satisfaction scores suggested generally mixed to low satisfaction. The study argues for developing body diversity literacy in universities and for closer connections between Bear/GMPD communities and educational institutions.
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Conference: ACEID2026Stream: Mind
This paper is part of the ACEID2026 Conference Proceedings (View)
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To cite this article:
Rudorfer L. (2026) Gaps in Bear Research: A Qualitative Study of Plus-Size and GMPD Inclusion in University Education (Theory of Change Analysis) ISSN: 2189-101X – The Asian Conference on Education & International Development 2026 Official Conference Proceedings (pp. 337-350) https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2189-101X.2026.28
To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2189-101X.2026.28
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