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

Who would you chose if you needed help on your walk in the woods? The bear or the male human being.

It took me three seconds to choose bear. I decided I would rather be killed than whatever a man might actually do. Plus if I was walking in bear country I would take precautions of bear spray and a gun. Neither can be used on a man (ignoring the self defence part because most men/police/cps don't believe in it, women are automatically considered to be at fault).

#Teambear

I think the point is that you KNOW the bear is dangerous and can act accordingly but we have no idea if a man is or not.

I'd rather bump into a man in the woods than a bear. Most men aren't a threat, it's a gamble I'd take.

I want to say the bear, but honestly it depends on the species. My thoughts would be if this turns nasty, can I save myself? I have a much better chance against a man than a polar or grizzly bear. If it’s a sun bear I’ll have the bear.

I know I take things incredibly literally and I'm therefore not the best example, but I'd have to say I'd rather come across a man than a bear. I feel like if you run into a man, there's at least a chance he'd be a good one. A bear? I mean, I'm sure some bears are calm and (relatively) safe but at the same time I think the actual odds, if I ran into one, would be far worse.

That said, I completely understand the reasons people have for choosing the bear. If I was asked in a group with men, I'd probably pick the bear as well to make the point. As a hypothetical, I think it really does serve to make men think, when they see which option so many women would choose. At the same time, I sincerely hope nobody here ever comes across a wild bear with some of these assumptions 😅

(And I know, the logical debate really isn't the point, but I just couldn't help it)

At least the bear won't get aggressive when I take precautions against it being aggressive.

That is a myth. The TikTok is a joke. Bears are actually more attracted to the fruity perfumes women wear or fruit shower gel/shampoo, so women are the cause of more bear attractions and who bears beeline too. They love that manuka honey and strawberry shampoo with almond body lotion….

I am a little skeptical that most women saying they would rather meet a strange bear have actually ever really met a wild one before.

Same. I have lived in bear country and would definitely choose a man, not a bear. I have hiked and camped alone in bear and mountain lion areas and so I always take with me a loaded high calibre gun, carried in plain sight. If I meet a man that gets dodgy, unlikely as he will see I am armed, but say he is stupid and I shoot him, he’s going down. Man down.

If I meet a bear then it is likely it is surprising me with the intent to rip my guts out and chew on my head or I have surprised it which will make it want to immediately rip my guts out and chew on my head. (The only safe way to meet a bear in the woods is for it to not know you are there.) Anyway, I would have to shoot the bear and it is likely that it would still kill me after I’d unloaded the 3-4 bullets I’d have time to shoot.

Women choosing the bear come from a place of not knowing real bears.

Man over bear here.

Well it's obviously a bear isn't it, because I don't speak bear, so when Mr Bear said I asked for it, at least I won't be able to understand him.

Surely the most revealing question to fathers of daughters is
Would you rather your daughter was alone with a bear or a transwoman?
Answer of bear - dad thinks transwomen are men

Neither can three determined rapists. There is not one single defence any woman, or in my case a slight fifteen-year-old girl, can put up against such an attack.

I speak from experience.

Dear gods. I'm so sorry ❤

Women are stepping right out of line in presuming to talk about male pattern violence and their consequent, very understandable wariness of men.

It makes men look bad.

Said women should therefore be discredited, ridiculed or silenced (the preferable three options), or at best have their justifiable concerns rugswept or minimised.

I've lived in Maine.

We know what precautions to take in that neck of the woods. Chances are that even if you're a nature lover and woodland hiker you're unlikely to meet a bear because if you make a noise they'll stay well out of the way. One locals' tip was to carry a bell with you and ring it at intervals.

As I know to my cost, men are a different proposition entirely. Raped twice. Stalked twice. Completely lost count of the lower-level harrassment. Leered at, groped, approached and hassled in the street, shoved up against a wall on the Tube, repeat ad nauseam. They probably echo far too many women's stories, and I'd stake a hefty bet that almost all women could tell more than one.

I'll take the bear any time, thanks.

Bear every time

I walk daily through woods and see men regularly, most are absolutely fine, just out walking their dogs or running etc.

But you can guarantee that every few days I will meet a man who doesn’t look quite right or doesn’t fit with the environment, or is acting oddly and you can guarantee that it will be when I am furthest away from other people or civilisation, and you get that gut churning feeling that this might be my luck running out.

it’s bloody annoying and it ruins every single walk just never fully being able to relax and enjoy the scenery without being constantly on alert. And because I do it for fitness and my dog needs a walk, I don’t want to stop doing it, although every time I hear something in the news I lose my confidence a little bit more and do shorter walks for a bit.

But we know that bears are dangerous. What we don’t know is if a male stranger might be.

I have encountered several varieties of bears in the woods. Admittedly, all of them have been near human settlements or major camping areas so they have been bears who are used to seeing humans. They know we are the creatures who occasionally get sloppy and leave yummy food around. They aren’t just going to attack for fun, it will be because they feel threatened for some reason.

so definitely going to take my chance with the bear over a random man with no witnesses. I don’t even like being in an elevator alone with a man.

A bear! I walk a lot around urban areas where I live with occasional parks. If I am alone and see someone coming toward me, I notice how I quickly try and work out if it’s another woman and breathe out in relief.

Some men are busy keeping fit but there are others where you very much get the vibe that they just had a row at home or something, they look angry and stare at me as I go by. Those are the ones that make me feel nervous.
I am in Australia and it doesn’t help that one of my DC’s friends was murdered by a man who just decided that he would kill a woman. Younger men in particular are quite radicalised by stuff they watch on the internet.

Increasingly that is what some women are choosing to do.

Completely nonsensical

Or mansplain about how silly the women are for choosing the bear without listening at all to why women choose the bear. It goes completely over their heads but, instead of trying to look at it from women's POV, they immediately assume they know best and lecture us instead of thinking about how telling it is that so many women see men as so dangerous.

It is interesting that the response from a lot of men has been to get angry rather than think oh my god, what the fuck has gone so badly wrong with men that women would rather take their chances with a bear

Random... 😵‍💫