The man vs bear meme

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I understand the point of it, and people are free to choose either answer. The article you posted says that the choice is about being "stuck" in the woods with a man or a bear. I thought it was just a matter of walking through the woods one day and passing one or the other. I'd rather pass a man, with all things being equal, assuming the man is just a random hiker and it's daytime and there's no reason to think he'll hurt me.

That being said I hope my answer doesn't suggest there isn't a worldwide problem with violence against women, or that women shouldn't be free to choose whichever option makes them more comfortable.

Women are free to pick whichever choice they want to. There’s been no suggestion to the contrary.

I don’t think I can make a choice without knowing more details - like what type of bear, distance to said bear, and what sorts of objects I can have on my person to defend or distract. I’d probably be more likely to go with man.

I didn't mean that you're suggesting the contrary.
It seems that some people are offended at women's answers.

I agree there's too much unknown.
We don't know enough.
Maybe we know the man.
Maybe he's a park ranger and tour guide (although that means nothing, I know).
Maybe he's wearing an orange jumpsuit and shackles.
Maybe the bear is across a lake.
Maybe the woman is in a vehicle.
Maybe she's on her period (that can attract bears).

There's too much unknown.

My girlfriend would rather encounter a strange man in the woods than encounter a strange man in other more social enviornments like shopping, riding a bus, or walking down the sidewalk. It's probably due to her social phobia & avoident personality disorder. The woods is more relaxing & there's less focus on being social. I think that I also would rather have a conversation with a stranger in the woods than other places.

I've been fishing & camping a bit as a kd & teen & I never encountered a bear but I've seen quite a few alligators, I even watched my uncle catch a baby one once on his fishing pole. I'm originally from Louisiana. I've seen alligators move very fast & I've heard various stories about them attacking people or their dogs & other animals. I'd much rather be threatened by a bear. A bear can be scared off by yelling or throwing rocks. Intrestingly a couple times recently while riding our bus we've seen people being chased by a turkey I guess Vermont has wild turkeys to chase people instead of bears or alligators. I doubt I'd be that bothered by a wild turkey if I'm wearing jeans.

I’m a bit more comfortable talking to strangers in town when other people are around, not that I like it even then.

I'd rather talk to a bear than a person, assuming it was in a cage.



*Again, please don't anyone think I'm not taking the topic seriously.

Question for men -

Would you rather your wife / girlfriend / sister be in the woods with a man or a bear?



btw -
My daughter's answer is she'd rather be with a bear than a man.
She knows bears well.
She said if it was a different wild animal like a tiger, she'd pick the man.

Man.

I don't like the meme and I think it's a good illustration of why memes are an absolutely terrible way to hold an important conversation.

Memes are reductive, eschew nuance and seek to shore up entrenched positions rather than illuminate.

Of course there's a problem with male violence against women. Of course it needs to be talked about.

Likening men to wild animals isn't going to make any significant number of men think differently. It's just going to make them feel hurt and they're going to retreat from the conversation or take up an oppositional position.

One of the main reasons that most men don't understand why women find them threatening is because most men pose no threat to women.

A closer analogue than bears would be domesticated dogs. Most dogs pose no threat at all. They want your attention, they want to lick your face, they want you to like them because that makes them feel good. And some will put that need above good manners and some people will find that threatening and some people won't mind so much. And then there's a few dogs that will bite you and hurt you. And there's there's an even smaller number that won't stop until you're dead.

But you can't put that in a meme.

So bears it is.

I would put any female member of my family in the woods with a man over a bear any day because the vast majority of men will not harm them in any way and many will actually protect them, because that's an instinct we have too.

Bears won’t normally harm you either. I’m not saying that I would choose a bear, but I think it’s understandable why many would do so, perhaps especially if they’ve experienced gender-based violence in the past as many women have.

I’m not particularly afraid of bears. I grew up in the country/woods and have seen plenty of them. Well, a Grizzly bear or polar bear might be a different story…

Bears tend to be afraid of people. They are also less intelligent and easier to outsmart. They aren’t smart enough to be dismissive of female concerns/opinions or to victim-blame.

219 injuries and 6 fatalities from bear attacks in Japan in the past year, as Japan seeks to trial a bear warning system.

I guess we should have a man warning system too?

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/apr/30/japan-to-trial-ai-bear-warning-system-after-record-number-of-attacks?embed=true

I feel like people are pushing the meme much further than it was intended. I don’t think equivalence is implied here. Women were asked which they’d prefer. That’s not saying those options are equal. It seems as though many women would pick the bear although this is by no means scientific research.

If I’m asked if I’d prefer to live in a shack or a mansion, that doesn’t mean that the shack is equivalent to a mansion.

The point of the meme is that many women find men threatening. It’s not because men are bad or wild animals. (We ARE animals, but I digress…) The problem is that it’s impossible to differentiate between the “good guys” and the “bad guys.”

As this thread has demonstrated, violence towards women, especially sexual violence, is still not very well understood. There are a lot of good articles out there that are handling the meme in an informative way, so it would seem that positive things ARE coming from it.

^