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

I would stake a lot of money on them at least knowing another man who has sexually assaulted a woman

Most men don’t want to think they know a rapist, but it seems pretty unlikely they don’t, given how common it is.

More chance of knowing a bear!!

Absolute nonsense, of course most men don't know a rapist.

Australian women's perspective is heavily influenced right now towards the bear, after, in February, a woman went for a run in the woods.

A man she came across in those woods killed her.

We know as much as anyone that wild animals are dangerous, we're just so distrustful & angry that we'll take our chances with an animal we know is dangerous.

1 in 4 women have been raped or sexually assaulted as an adult, 1 in 6 children have been sexually abused, 1 in 18 men have been raped or sexually assaulted as an adult

67938 rapes were recorded last year in England and wales

The odds are fairly high that most men do in fact know a rapist.

Bear. I don't even have to think about it - i'd rather take my chances with a bear.

However, I would be pretty terrified to meet either a man or a bear in the woods. Bear spray would work on both I guess.

I wouldn’t count on it.

Stephanie Blais, 44, female
August 20, 2020
Buffalo Narrows, Saskatchewan

Blais was communicating with her father from a satellite phone while camping with her two children and husband at a family cabin on McKie Lake when the bear attacked her. Her husband, Curtis, was inside the cabin's kitchen 98 feet (30 m) away. The investigation showed the attack was unprovoked and predatory in nature. Curtis subsequently sprayed the bear with pepper spray, but this only aggravated the animal. He grabbed a gun and shot it twice, killing the bear.

Approaching this logically, most men are harmless. A small percentage are dangerous.

I would hazard a guess that a larger percentage of bears are dangerous, in comparison to men, with grizzlies and polar bears being considerably more dangerous than black or Andean.

However, I would be pretty terrified to meet either a man or a bear in the woods. Bear spray would work on both I guess.

I would think most men wouldn't know a rapist, just as they wouldn't know a murderer.

The thing is as well - I’m not scared of men in general, as in, I do walk alone, I’m not particularly bothered about it being dark etc. I’ve luckily never had any terrible experiences with men, some dodgy consent experiences when I was much younger, the “normal” harassment in pubs or clubs, but you know, nothing awful.

I was once walking my dog in the woods, woods where I meet someone else walking their dog maybe a couple of times a year at most…and suddenly further up the path I saw a man hiding behind a tree, I was surprised by just how scared I was tbh, I literally froze in terror, so badly that my dog then tensed up and started growling.

It was my DP 😐 he’d come home from work, realised where I was and come to join me, he was hiding from the dog because they often play hide and seek. Didn’t occur to him I’d spot him first 🤦‍♀️

Those few seconds before I recognised him were honestly the most scared I’ve ever been. I don’t even know what of, I clocked a man hiding behind a tree and it was like a completely visceral automatic reaction.

Now, I’ve never met a bear in the woods, but I have met a badger, aggressive dogs, had unexpected deer running at me, I’ve been in fields with angry cows and charging sheep (not walking to be fair, on purpose to do something with them) and I’ve been worried, possibly even frightened - but not like that.

The fact we even have to think about the answer for more than two seconds is a damning indictment on male violence that most men just can't see.

’Every woman knows another woman who's been raped or sexually assaulted, yet no men know a rapist. Cognitive dissonance,'

So true.

See I’d argue it could still be bear 😂

if a lift door opens and a bear is in there, you’re no going in it are you?

realistically if it’s a man you’re going to feel like you have to…

Most situations it’s still bear… strange bear in your house, you know it’s in there by mistake, not so much with a strange man. Strange bear hanging about outside your house, it’s just a case of waiting for it to leave, strange bear tries to get in your car, same thing.

and if you need to phone for help - you know they’ll take the threat seriously if it’s a bear.

The bear is an obvious threat and you know that the second you see it. The man can walk right up to you, seem perfectly normal, get close to you and then attack you. That’s not theoretical - it’s the lived experience of millions of women who have been sexually assaulted, beaten, raped or murdered by men. Carrying a gun doesn’t do any good if someone overpowers you before you have a chance to use it.

It’s the wood that complicates the scenario.

Given a choice of being in a lift with a man or a bear, then man every time.

Woods is definitely muddying the scenario!

I think the problem is if you encounter the bear you have an issue, you can easily walk in the woods and never see a bear but if you do you are in trouble. But isn’t that also the point you can do the same walk in the woods day after day and never meet the bear and then one day you do and that is it, you didn’t do anything different it’s just there but for every walk you are vigilant to make sure the bear isn’t there

Shouldnt that be the analogy that sometimes men are the bear and that there is nothing you can do. Women need to be vigilant at all timesin case they encounter the man who is that bear in the woods, except it is a lot harder to spot them

Thing is, the question isn’t who do you think you could beat in a fight if they tried to kill you, a man or a bear?

Because the answer to that is, well probably neither, but obviously I’d have more chance with a man.

But in a situation where they just happen to be nearby

The chances are the bear is avoiding you and you never even actually meet it, if you do, you can tell what kind of bear it is by looking at it, you can size up whether you can back up and it’s likely to just carry on doing whatever it was it was doing, whether it’ll go away if you shout at it etc. Or if it is in fact going to attack you.

If it’s a man you can’t tell any of that, it’s all out of your control. You have to just hope for the best and you know, it probably is fine, but you don’t know that and can’t do anything about it.

And the worst a bear is going to do is kill you.

Polar bear could have escaped from a zoo. It would be confused in the woods and extra irritable.

😁

I guess it's also possible to be getting attacked by a man in the woods, then be saved when a bear eats the man!

I think you missed the point, if the bear you encounter on your walk wasn't as you say yogi bear, and was actually going to attack you, then would you welcome help from anyone, even if it was .......shock horror.... a man .

That’s stupid - nobody thinks the bear is yogi bear