Are women safer if they encounter a bear or a man in the woods?

You know exactly what you're getting with a bear. No bear is ever going to put on a very convincing act of being a pacificist or a vegan and then maul you when your guard is down. A bear will either attack you or walk away. It won't spend years abusing you, it won't sexually assault you, it won't spike your drink, it won't fuck with your mind by blaming you for making it maul you, it won't tell tell all your friends and family that you have MH issues to undermine your credibility and it won't self-identify as a human and demand it has a right to share your tent.

SwordToFlamethrower
It was difficult to read about your experiences, so living them, surviving them... I can't even imagine. Sending you strength and healing and whatever inadequate words might carry some meaning for you.

I am genuinely surprised, but also so saddened that so many people feel like this. I would choose the bear (and would also choose if I was asked about my young children) - but while I've had bad experiences with men, I know that many women have experienced horrific things that I have not. I was about to say that makes me lucky but that's in itself awful - it shouldn't be 'lucky' not to have been raped.

What type of bear? I'd definitely take an encounter with a panda 🐼

This. I’ve seen a lot of TikTok’s where people ask fathers of young daughters whether they’d rather leave their daughter in the woods with a bear or a man. It engages their brain a bit more rather than getting them offended. I’ve yet to see someone choose the man

The one I read was she asked if he'd prefer the daughter to encounter a bear or a woman and he answered woman with no hesitation - then realised what he had said as compared to when he was asked to choose between a MAN and a bear.

Me - I'd take my chances with the bear.

Unlikley to rape you before during and after though and then claim you asked for it

Bear.
And lets face it if it does attack/kill me at least no one will be asking what I was wearing or if I was giving it the wrong impression...

You could ask men if they would rather there wife, sister, daughter, mother was alone in the woods with a man or a bear and see what they say then

Actually, bear.
I've spent time in the kind of countryside where people get eaten by large carnivores. And bears can move surprisingly fast and have form for biting people's faces off.

Team Bear here
One interesting addition was that a woman asked her husband this question and he replied by asking more questions - what kind of bear? how old was the man? etc
When asked if he would rather his daughter was alone in the woods with a man or woman he answered Woman with no questions.
I would have assumed that a man would probably be stronger than most women so more able to protect his daughter and probably more likely to have useful survival skills but it seemed the man didnt have to know anything other than the persons sex.
its almost as if sex matters

Bear for sure.
Not so many of them lingering without purpose around our local canal tow path.

A bear won't rape me and then claim I like rough sex, causing all my friends to call me a liar, a 7 month police investigation that ended with the words "some women like rough sex, try not to let this ruin your life", when in fact, my life had already been ruined.
Quit my degree, had a breakdown, got diagnosed with PTSD and to this day, I am too scared to go out on my own 99% of the time. 12 years on and not much has changed.

And that isn't even an isolated incident. That was rape number 5 in my life.

So yeah, bear.

If the man had dangerous intentions toward a woman, I'd like a big carnivorous bear behind him to give 'The Revenant' treatment. This may serve as a deterrent.

So many men are getting angry at women choosing the bear and not taking the chance to try to understand why that is.

Bear, obviously. They're more likely to run away if you make a noise, and aren't eating people for shits and giggles/to get their rocks off.

Yes it's ridiculous that even today in the western world. Women don't feel safe around men

How utterly ridiculous