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

[IcakethereforeIam]

This is an interesting thought experiment

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/relationships/article-13360727/man-bear-viral-question-domestic-violence-australia-dating.html

The DM nick enough off MN, so no apology for returning the favour.

Definitely team bear here.

There are links to articles regarding DV in Australia.

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

You have a point. However, like most posters here, I'm basing my reply on the many male crackpots I have met over decades.

I'm not as brave as a pp to list the various incidents, but having my tits grabbed by a swivel eyed loon while waiting for the 9 p.m. bus on my way home from work, was one of the lesser scary moments.

Apparently 6 people a year die from bears in the US.

It’s a no brainer to answer bear.

The thing is, even those of us who live around bears meet a lot fewer of them than we do men.

So the chances of a negative encounter with a bear are far far less.

If we met hundreds of bears along in the woods every year, we might all have bad incidents to report.

This debate is wild on tiktok. So many men getting really upset that women keep choosing the bear.
"But what if you were going to be locked in a house with a bear?"
"What if we replaced all men with bears?"
"What if there were two islands, one with bears and one with men?"

They just can't accept the answer that generally women feel safer around bears than men.

Sure, a bear might kill you. But it will kill you probably to protect itself. We know there are men out there who would do much, much worse and do it for fun.

Some kinds of bears hunt people.

#NotAllBears

Pandas attacked a zookeeper last week https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13349103/Shocking-moment-PANDAS-attack-zookeeper-China.html She was "gnawed."

Even so, I'd rather take my chances with the bear.

I’ve always had an irrational fear of large mammals, which have specifically included bears, so I would choose a man. I must admit to being taken aback by how many women chose bear but I can see their perspective too.

Bear of course. It's a no-brainer. The fact men can't (won't?) comprehend this and see it as a cause for self-reflection is - um - telling.

Pondering further...as an arachnaphobe.

Given a choice between being in a bathroom with a spider or Eddie Izzard, I'd have to choose the spider.

Or if Bears hated us the way so many men seem to

That's the problem, we've no way of telling.

@SwordToFlamethrower

I think too many women won't gamble with either and keep themselves and their children out of the woods. Even in this country where there are no bears.

@LarkLane at least the spider won't t keep going on about itself.

Interesting question. As a data scientist I'm forced to say Man - Purely because, a probably higher than I'd like to admit proportion of men will be rapsits/predators/killers, but you could bump into my brother out for a walk or one of our sons doing a scout hike etc etc, whearas pretty much every bear, unless it's just eaten, is going to try and kill and eat you. So statistically, I'd take my chances with a man (and I know where the weak spots are, could have a go at a kick in the bollocks that might buy me enough time to get away etc).

However, PP is exactly right. I hear many parents, mothers and fathers, and I have said to my own children, if you get lost find a woman and ask her for help. If someone is hassling you on the train, go and sit with a woman. No one says go and find a man.

It depends if the man is bare!

@SwordToFlamethrower I'm so sorry that you went through this.
I came here to just flippantly say #notallbears but your post pulled me up somewhat. I hope you're now healing from this experience ❤

Someone said the bear. Because if you get attacked by the bear and survive, you won't have to meet him at family events for the rest of your life.

I haven't met a bear. I believe they are pescatarian. They might hurt you for food, in self-defence or to protect their young. They might also leave you alone as you would them.

The human male might hurt you, scare you, rape you etc simply because they can. I have met many human males. Human males have street harassed from the age of 11 until my walk home from work today at 40. They have stalked, groped, catcalled, and attempted assault. Human males murder women every day.

I would take the bear.

While I understand the reasoning for women choosing bear (and the thought experiment of it), I would not choose bear. There are bears in the woods in my area, I would not want to meet one of them. I do walk in the woods (a wood that doesn't have bears in) and I've often come across men there but only once felt scared, but most of the men I see in the woods are my neighbours who I vaguely recognise on sight. Its not the same as meeting a complete stranger and having no idea what they might do.
But a bear badly mauled a local man's dog last summer. The man was lucky to escape unharmed.

Bear. I wasn't trafficked into prostitution by a bear, or sold to thousands of bears.

I walk a lot birdwatching, some of it in woods.
So far none of the men I've met have done anything except say good morning, and sometimes chat about the birding.
I've just had 4 days away, and each day I met some really nice blokes , with whom I had some interesting talks ( again, mostly about birds/nature!)
I am cautious always if I'm on my own but I reckon even I have a better chance against a man than a bear, particularly a bear close enough to talk to.Bears are definitely armed, could outrun me,smell and hear me in situations where a person couldn't....
And yes, like everyone I've had bad experiences.But not out walking yet.

Bloody hell SwordToFlamethrower I'm so sorry 💐💐💐

Bear if I get to choose the bear (koala) but man if I don't (have you seen a polar bear up close? Their paws are giant, they're really fast & they're hungry)
Totally understand why others would choose the bear though 😔

Well I could shoot a bear and not get in trouble for it

I thought the point was to ask the "man or bear" question, and have the man you're asking consider that for a while before then asking which would they choose out of a bear and a woman. When they answer "woman" without needing any debate, that's when the penny is supposed to drop.

Having encountered both men and bears in woods, I would say man with no hesitation. The bear did me no harm, but hung around watching while we cooked, and came to check out the tent overnight. It was a little unnerving, though probably not especially risky.
It wouldn't cross my mind to assume I was in danger from a random man who also happened to be in the woods, and find it incredibly sad that so many women (have reason to) feel otherwise.

Who would I rather spend time with?

Men who have built roads and hospitals, are medics and first aiders, top university graduates and soldiers or police (mostly) helping to protect us

or a wild animal?

if you picked bear you have a problem.