Bara as a genre is at its core defined as "men's love" synonymously with yaoi because that's how the term came into being as a result of Bara Magazine, which focused simply on "men's love". So why do we only see "bear" types and such referred to as bara today? Well, because the definition has evolved into its own sub-genre separate from yaoi. If you take some of what people now consider yaoi and start calling it bara, you'll be laughed out because that's simply not what the word means to people anymore. Ever notice how people use the word "literally" to mean "very" or "jealous" to mean "envious", even though that's not actually what those words originally meant? It's just like that. In the interest of semantics (and speaking as someone who would rather the words literally and jealous stay their own words), both interpretations are correct.
Now: In the interest of anyone who legitimately enjoys the bara threads, as well as of those who feel uncomfortable with their repeated occurrence, I'm gonna forgo typing out what I was originally going to say and refer you to
>>14245486 as he beat me to it.