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

Men’s reactions are real… telling tbh.

There’s one, posted a video ranting about how his mother was attacked by a bear, wrote a book about it and anyone answering best should feel privileged that they didn’t know the reality of a bear attack.

Turns out his mother did a Reddit AMA after the book, and she carries a gun, in case she meets dodgy men 😐

vm.tiktok.com/ZGexrvPhH/

Meh. Daily mail.

There's also the point that if you tell somebody there's a bear following you and you're scared, they won't tell you you're imagining it, the bear just wants to be friends with you, you should have stopped and talked to the bear because it was lonely or why did you go out in clothes that will obviously attract the Wrong Sort of Bear.

For the majority of us who don't have the need to go clumping through the forest making it clear you're coming along and giving bears a warning that you aren't going to surprise them creeping around a corner whilst armed with bear spray and a big fucking gun, and are instead trying to walk home from the train station without being followed, asked for your phone number/whether you're married/if you like to 'party'/do you like it up the arse/why are you such a snotty bitch that thinks she's too good to talk to somebody 'just being nice', day after day, night after night, you're relying on a man wild animal not being rapey, pissed off with you or just a bit mad.

The fact that i had to even think about the answer is alarming.

Well done for managing to completely miss the point.

Your little rant has NOTHING to do with the question at hand.

Bear.
I live next to a lovely wood, that I don’t walk in anymore alone because of the actions of several men.

No. Just being caught alone with a man I don't know well or one I already know to be a problem. As I believe most women do.

This trend has now evolved on Tik Tok with women asking their partners

"Would you rather our daughter was in the woods with a bear or a man"

Almost all of them answered "bear" and the fear in their eyes gives them away. Men know.

The comments on those threads are heartbreaking too. Women saying

"At least if I said I was attacked by I bear, everyone would believe me"

"I wouldn't have to meet the bear in a family reunion every year".

What is interesting to me is not whether people chose man or bear (I'd probably choose man, btw) but the fact that 'woman or bear' is not even a question because the answer is so bloody obvious...

Completely agree with this @AnthuriumCrystallinum

@Topofthemountain I wouldn't especially want to be in the woods with Liz Truss but it wouldn't bother me too much. I would definitely prefer the lettuce though.

What is interesting to me is not whether people chose man or bear (I'd probably choose man, btw) but the fact that 'woman or bear' is not even a question because the answer is so bloody obvious...

Completely agree with this @AnthuriumCrystallinum

@Topofthemountain I wouldn't especially want to be in the woods with Liz Truss but it wouldn't bother me too much. I would definitely prefer the lettuce though.

Except women out walking encounter a LOT more men than they encounter bears.

Those that choose "bear" are not doing so here because they hate men.

Just to be clear, one of my reasons for choosing team bear is because I dislike most men. Personal experience has taught me a lot.

That’s very interesting @BigRedCat

Haven’t read the whole thread but wondering if anyone has seen the same TikTok video that I did, where a park ranger pointed out that female only hiking groups are highly unlikely to be attacked by a bear, whereas male or mixed sex groups are more likely - women apparently take more evasive action and have less threatening body language. Male groups or men within
a group are more likely (statistically) to antagonise the bear, so fatalities are more likely - in mixed sex groups women are more likely to be killed.

As a thought experiment it’s highlighted what a problem men are, and how so many are too stupid to understand the point.

I've just asked my DH, he thought for a very long time (relatively) before saying Man. I then asked bear or woman and he almost immediately said woman. When I pointed out the time difference he immediately said 'I was trying to work out the man's intention's'

It was lost somewhat on teenage ds with autism who waffled on about not wanting to be in a wood with Liz Truss, but Bear Grylls might be ok.

Have you read this whole thread - I hope not, or else you have had an empathy bypass. But have a slow hand clap for never having encountered a frightening, as in potentially deadly, man.

This is quite ridiculous. I am a solo woman country walker and have been for many years. iI is so unlikely to meet a man with bad intent whilst out country walking whereas a cow or herd of cows can pose genuine danger. The chances of meeting a bear are next to none of course. As for bad men, they’re more likely to hang out in the church opposite my home than hang about any open countryside and looking for a woman to abuse.

Though surprisingly many women will shack up with a man again, leaving her and her dc vulnerable.

I will not do it again, despite 30 years of mainly safe marriage.

Me, DH and DD were in a large city centre on saturday and as we walked past an alleyway I saw several young men look at us and then go in and just stand there .
DH went to go down saying it was a shortcut back to the car and both myself and DD said no. DH didnt understand why, he hadnt even noticed the men (unlike us) but even after he followed us the long way around he said that we didnt know if they were doing anything wrong. DD asked did he want to risk it?
Its all about mitigating risk as a woman and I doubt most men spend a lot of time assesssing threats and risks like we have to, or even seeing potential ones.

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

Safe with either, as long as they have a big can of bear spray which works on both. 😎

Men just don't get it. They've more than likely never felt vulnerable or intimidated by an unknown male. They know they're not about to harm you, so what's the problem??! I challenged a male tradesman working in one the cubicles of the female toilets in a pub recently. I asked if a sign could be put on the door advising he was there, so giving females like myself that were uncomfortable with him being there the option not to enter. He looked at me like I'd gone mad. Then DP looked at me like I'd gone mad when I told him. They just don't get understand and that puts us all at risk.

@SwordToFlamethrower @rainbowbee @BouleDeSuif 💐💐💐

It would depend on the situation but I'd probably pick a bear. The ones in tourist areas, where I am most likely to encounter one, generally leave ppl alone. If you leave your food out overnight, you might wake up to one enjoying breakfast at your picnic table but after it eats, it leaves to look for another campsite where the humans were silly enough to leave food out.

I suppose it depends how you interpret the question. For me, the issue is that the bear is meant to be in the woods, so there's every possibility it has no interest in you and your paths will never cross.

The man has a reason to be in the woods. Hopefully he's just walking his dog, but who knows.

I walk in the woods most days with my (small) dog. I see lots of men. 99% have a dog, are clad in running gear, etc. I live in the UK, so no bears. Occasionally I'll spot a man alone dressed in the 'wrong' clothes and I wonder if my luck has finally run out.

What is interesting to me is not whether people chose man or bear (I'd probably choose man, btw) but the fact that 'woman or bear' is not even a question because the answer is so bloody obvious...

100%. I was scrolling down and kept thinking how the whole point is so lost on this thread.