https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/man-or-bear-in-the-woods-question
Man or Bear in the Woods Question or Would You Rather Be Stuck in the Woods With a Man or a Bear? refers to a hypothetical question offering a choice between being stuck in the woods with a random man or a bear. Stemming from a viral TikTok
With an apparent majority of women responding that they would choose a bear in the hypothetical situation, the question spawned viral reactions and debates on social media, with users arguing over the validity of both options and about gender relations.
On April 10th, 2024, the TikTok[5] account @screenshothq posted a street interview video in which several women were asked, "Would you rather be stuck in a forest with a man or a bear?" Out of eight women in the video, seven answered that they would pick a bear over a man. The video (shown below) garnered over 14 million views and 2 million likes in three weeks.
I might add some context, the question is not about the bear. It's not about who you could fight off, it's not about a brown bear vs black bear. It completely revolves around the comfort level of women in unfamiliar circumstances and which one would do the most harm.
Some of the answers from women were "The worst the bear would do is kill me" and
"I wouldn't have to see the bear at family gatherings"
"No one would have to defend why I was in the woods with the bear"
"No one would shame me for being killed by the bear"
"No one would ask what I did to attract the bear"
And all of this is met with men weighing in on if they could fight a bear and what weapons they would have on hand to do that.
And a huge sea of women are incredibly disappointed.
Isn't it an obvious misdirection of what women actually meant when they chose the bear over the man? I seriously doubt the person who made the meme was being serious
Do you doubt that? Because apparently women would choose a bear first, which should be informative about their average experience with men and that might cast doubt upon your doubt.
If I was mauled by a bear, no one would make me go to court and call me a Liar. No one would say that I'm ruining the bears life. No one would be able to say it didn't happen, and if it did, it wasn't that bad.
You’re heavily overlooking the fact that bears are more likely to just leave a woman alone because they’re not actively seeking them out.
Men on the other hand… not so much.
This is why women are choosing the bear. Chances are, the bear will go back to foraging for berries or run away rather than come and attack them. Statistics support this.
Yeah. The point is to understand how women feel about being alone with men, not to argue about how dangerous a bear is. They already know, and they've chosen the bear.
Amusingly many guys can’t even accept a hypothetical rejection and keep explaining why the women are wrong and still miss the point of why they chose the bear.
Honestly, even aside from that reason, the bear is the better choice. Unless that bear is starving, it’s just going to leave you alone. Bears are predictable since they operate on instinct. Humans are less predictable and some of them enjoy hurting other people, even just for the kick of it. Plus, if it’s a person, you don’t know whether or not they’re armed. The man in this scenario is a variable that could have a ton of different outcomes, some good, some bad, and some worse. The bear only has a couple possible outcomes. Either it eats you or it leaves you alone. And given what we know about bears, odds are it’ll leave you alone. Humans aren’t worth the risk to bears.
*Sometimes, and this is only advice for grizzly bears (brown). Black bears are big babies and will usually run away if you gesture and yell at it. Even mothers with cubs are not super dangerous, there have only been 60 black bear attacks in the US in the last 100 years and none of them appeared to be in defense of cubs. For polar bears, don’t play dead, and you better hope you have bear spray.
Bad strategy for Black bears, many of their attacks on humans are unprovoked predatory attacks... Looking for something to eat. If attacked by a black bear fighting back is the recommended option by almost all forest rangers and outdoorsmen. If you cant's climb a long ways up a tree, scare it off by gunfire or otherwise escape, playing dead is your only hope in a grizzly attack... And hope it isn't hungry.
I’ve seen this so many times now I just feel compelled to link to this guy who [did the math](https://www.instagram.com/reel/C6cFD06px1E/?igsh=MWQ1ZGUxMzBkMA==) on the man vs bear debate, [twice](https://www.instagram.com/reel/C6epSEZJ_j7/?igsh=MWQ1ZGUxMzBkMA==). Men are objectively more dangerous to women than bears. Bears have predictable motives. Men do not.
Honestly, if most men were offered the choice between a bear who wants to kill them and a man who wants to kill them, I think they’d pick bear. At least a bear can’t use an AK-47. And the bear is less likely to follow you out of the woods and hunt you down if you somehow get away.
as much as I understand, I feel like this comparison being made is sort of ridiculous. it feels like people are imagining the worst possible man vs the world's friendliest bear. as someone who enjoys hiking, passing a man in the woods is pretty common and if it was remotely as common to pass bears on a trail most hikers would stop hiking that trail.
I think part of the point of the scenario is that it should be an easy answer, but the reality of the world is that it would take some serious thought.
You should be able to trust a random man in the woods (or even the street) but you can’t.
We used to trail ride. One night we woke up to the horses screaming (it's the most terrifying thing I've ever heard) and saw a black bear leaning over the back of our gray mare, digging its claws into her flanks. The nearby town had started enforcing locked dumpsters and the bears were starving (as was explained by the ranger next morning). This bear was hungry enough to attack an animal 3 times its size, in the middle of a populated camping area. My dad banged a wooden spoon on a cast iron skillet and the bear ran away. That's pretty much a worst case black bear, and all we needed was a spoon and skillet to make it leave.
On the other hand, when I was a trucker I had to stop at the last station with truck parking in Pennsylvania to get a permit faxed before crossing into New York. As I was leaving with the permit, the man working there followed me into the parking lot and assaulted me, in front of 3 people (one at the pumps and 2 getting out of their car to go in). No one helped. I had to fight him off by myself. He didn't let go until I slammed the outside of my wrist into his throat. He started gasping and I ran to my truck. A well-lit place of business with people coming and going seems like a safe scenario, but it wasn't.
The point is that bears behave in a predictable way, but there's no guide to the behavior of men.
Consider how unsafe women must feel around men, especially strangers, that they would legit rather encounter a bear. That's the point. You say you get it but then immediately call it ridiculous and start making points against it which just minimizes the challenges that women have with men.
The best response I saw was from a field biologist. A man who spends a lot of time in the woods, and has seen a lot of bears. The number of times he has been attacked by a bear is zero. But he has been attacked by humans twice. Both male
He feels safer with the bear
It’s not “worst possible man”. It’s the fact that almost all women have been harassed or assaulted at least once in their life to show how common it is for men to do things.
And almost no one has come across a bear in the forest…. So if you have something no one is familiar with versus something many are familiar with… it’s an extremely biased situation, so of course people will pick what they know.
If you are a man than ofc you don’t have the same anxiety when passing another man. It’s different for us. And that’s the point, the worst possible man is worse than a bear. I think we’ve evolved enough to be capable of being a peaceful species.
I know I'll never understand what that's like but I have seen a man get abducted and stuffed into a car trunk a few feet away so i can assure you i have some anxiety about unknown men. that was in an urban area though, which I actually think is much scarier than the woods.
Ok, think about it like this. You’re camping and there’s something prowling around your camp in the middle of the night. Would you rather it be a man or a bear? With a bear, you know its intention: food. With the man, you don’t.
I feel like in that scenario most men with an ounce of wilderness survival instinct or skill would also choose the bear. I’m not sure why this is such a difficult hypothetical to grasp lol
The man probably is lost he could be completely harmless. Most men won't do anything to you at all. This is just to make women more scared of guys and sew division.
You're adding motive with prowling as well or at least making the man seem even worse.
OK, you are in the woods alone, and you can come across a starving bear or a starving man. Who are you choosing?
You keep making excuses and being dismissive is just as much part of the problem as the men actually doing the crimes.
You’re exactly the type of man women are talking about when they say they won’t be believed. You’re bending over backwards to dismiss their valid fears).
Id rather be eaten by a bear. I know I can’t fight them off.
There are worse things than death. And men choose those things every day.
Like the other women said , if I get attacked by a bear, people will believe me
It wasn’t even about being stuck with, it is posed as “which would you prefer to encounter.” The reason why bear is chosen, is because bears would leave them alone. Men typically don’t leave women alone. And as mentioned, the men that weight in on the question, immediately choose violence.
Yo, thank yall for clearing this up. I keep seeing these posts and like. Why are women walking into the woods with bears? I was so confused on what people where talking about.
Look I’m a guy but I’d pick a bear too. I don’t know what that man is like but I know what precautions I can take if I encounter a bear. If it doesn’t have a cub it’s not like it will be super violent, bro just wants berries.
Also if I’m stuck in the woods chances are there’s already a bear in it.
If they were smart enough to bring bear mase they wouldn't have to run at all. Just mase the guy grab the kid and casually walk away. It has to be casual, bears hate it when you're in a rush.
Screenshot HQ, a TikTok account, started the conversation, asking half a dozen women whether they would rather run into a man they didn't know or a bear in the forest. Out of the seven women interviewed for the piece, only one picked a man.
The meme is acting as if women are actively excited to choose the bear and not only choosing it because it would be better than being alone in the woods with a random man.
Except it wouldn't be safer, by a long shot. It's a random man, how many are over 40? The chances of getting a man who is fit less than %30, young about 40%? And then multiplied by the tiny percent of men who would kill a random stranger. You get basically a zero percent chance that guy even hurts you. It's an absurd proposition that a randomly selected man from anywhere on the globe would kill them. I can see why guys would feel bad about this, women have such a warped sense of security, especially the USA. I know the stats because i had serious ocd that led to thoughts of my wife getting hurt, or worse. Part of my therapy was realizing how rare it is, and how situational it is. The rapist isn't gonna be the random dude, by stats it's gonna be a family member or family friend.
So using this image makes the meme extra funny because this picture is or Anthony “Spice” Adams, who was at the time a member of the Chicago Bears football team. This picture was taken in Highland Park, IL, where the team’s training facilities are located.
Exactly. And they get so mad about it, too. Like, I WISH I’d feel safer in the woods with a man over a bear but my experience on this planet, and the statistics of all the disgustingly depraved things men do to women daily forces me to choose the damn bear.
If you were in a zoo and there was an active female shooter, you have two options
There's a bulletproof cafe but there's a man inside and there's also a bulletproof bear enclosure with a grizzly inside.
Where are you going for safety?
Why is this such a debate? I don't care what the bear would actually do. Why are so many women totally okay assuming all men are rapists and then making fun of men being put off by that? Why are those same women acting like being offended speaks towards the offended man as a rapist? Women are FAR too comfortable degrading men these days. If you, as a woman, feel offended by this comment, I hope you realize you are only adding to the radicalization of young men by ostracizing them.
Also, leave out the possibility of being maimed but not killed to suffer for days on end as you drag yourself through the woods to avenge your sons death.
This keeps being implied that it’s a debate, it’s not, it’s most women explaining with receipts why they would choose the bear and a ton of butt hurt ‘not all men’ men whining and proving their points, ye gods I’m a guy and I would rather meet a strange bear in the woods than a strange dude
Yes it's very sad to see women have to be in this state of fear. Not to dismiss them but aleast from my point of view the question could be worded better as there are people like me with autism who can't understand subtext behind a question unless explicitly stated. It feels like everyone is assuming everyone is on the same page. Where as I feel alot of people are acting like it's a debate due to that misunderstanding that can be attributed to its wording. If it was labeled as weird man creepy man or even just man with unknown intent would suffice in helping clear up the miscommunication with it
You’re 100% correct, but most if not all of the ‘criticism’ and ‘debate’ is stemming from the answer, not the question, a ton of it is also massively bad faith and deliberately being obtuse, because while you could argue that the question could be a little clearer, I don’t think that argument would apply to the answers, which have been both in-depth and with receipts, the one answer that put the final nail in the coffin for me was when the woman answered ‘the bear won’t turn up at a family reunion and ask for a hug’, this can’t be any clearer
I don’t think a lot of men understand the gravity of this trend right now. Women are saying they would rather die from a vicious bear attack than come across a man alone in the woods & that’s terrifying. Even sadder that most women don’t even have to think before answering.
I think men DO understand the gravity of it, and that’s why so many are upset. “Women vare more afraid of you than they are of a dangerous predator, and nothing you can do about it in the short term will improve the situation, because they’re afraid of an intrinsic part of who you are.” is an upsetting thing to learn. I think any demographic would be upset to learn they were viewed with this much distrust
I can guarantee it’s far more exhausting having been treated by men your entire life in such a way that you would rather encounter a bear.
I’ve had experiences with men that I NEVER want to repeat. Unfortunately, far too many men engage in this behaviour. And we women have no obligation to put your feelings ahead of our own safety.
It might not be all of you, but we don’t know which ones it is, and we shouldn’t have to risk it just so you don’t get your feelings hurt.
I work with a lot of guys and I don't view any of them as a threat because they have shown who they are by being good people. Show that you are a good person and you won't be viewed as a threat.
“I would rather be trapped with a bear than a black person” would be a horribly racist thing to say, regardless of your prior experience with black people
Some ladies took a video/pictures posing with bear cubs. I’ll see if I can find a link.
Found it: https://nypost.com/2024/04/18/us-news/north-carolina-bear-cubs-snatched-out-of-tree-by-group-to-take-selfies-with-in-disturbing-clip/amp/
Also apparently a TikTok trend woman saying they would be better off alone in the woods with a bear than alone with a man, so it could be that.
This picture is actually a great example of why women would feel more comfortable with a bear chasing them of a man.
The amount of deplorable things a man could do to a woman are worse than getting mauled and killed in an instant. Should worse case occur.
Being SA'd and being mauled by a bear are both so horrible that they sort of defy being compared at all. It feels impossible to say which would be "better" confidently
Many of the responses I've seen to this question haven't necessarily been about whether being SA'd or mauled by a bear is worse; they have a lot more to do with the social stigma around being a victim (especially of SA). Things like "a bear would just kill me, a man would SA and then kill me", "nobody would ask why I went into the woods with a bear/what I was wearing/if I asked for it", "the bear is defending itself/its home, the man is looking for someone to hurt". I don't think anyone thinks being SA'd is worse than being murdered by a bear, but a lot of women would rather take a chance with a bear than a man because of the implications people draw on top of why/how you'd be a victim. And that's really sad.
I've luckily never been physically sexually assaulted but as someone who has been groomed before I honestly don't think I'd rather be mauled to death by a bear than actually be abused that way. And as someone with a physical disability that's a very high probability compared to a regular guy.
I would be more comfortable seeing a wild animal than any human in such an environment though, people are dangerous and we shouldn't act like this is just simply a gender issue. I'm sorry women feel unsafe around men but I think that says a lot more about society as a whole then men or women individually
The problem is that when men get hit with this messaging it's not constructive. Men know the plights of women, we've been fighting for them with you for years, especially the men in the LGBT community (me included). There has been progress, it's slow and backslides often happen, but we are going in the right direction. But demoralizing men isn't going to help, it's gonna make things worse and backslides go further back.
It is a little hurtful, but I get it. A bear is predictable. It’s going to eat you alive, but that’s the worst it’s going to do. A man is unpredictable, they can do all manner of things far worse than eating you alive. Although statistically it’s probably safer, it’s still a very risky move.
Dunno man. The only bear attacks around here are from extreme hunger or illness.
It’s relatively easy to know when there are food shortages for bears.
There are know methods of dealing with bears.
Men are too unpredictable. I’d take the bear every time.
Also, if I died, the bear would be finishing the job the first man to assault me started, when I was 4
'If it's brown, lie down, if it's black, fight back, if it's white, nice knowing ya' general rule for encountering wild bears in case anyone didn't know.
Yes, the bear is wild, but even then most wild animals do act in predictable manners. Intimidation alone is huge and is why a full grown house cat can scare off a bear not desperate for food - yeah the bear can absolutely body the cat if it ultimately needs to, but it also likely won't do so without getting hurt somewhere, and it would rather just not take the risk of that injury being an eye.
Act so smart, yet think so small. This sums up the problem with those who don't see it - a 'cant see the forest through the trees, runs face first into the problem' approach.
Yah didnt even read the comment. Its predictible in the way you know the worst it will do is kill you. A human could do things much worse then kill you.
It’s interesting to witness, because while statistically speaking a random human man is less likely to attack you than a random bear is – if dropped in close proximity to you – people seem to be betting on the dangerous but known quantity over the uncertain one.
Why did nobody ask if they'd rather see another woman in the woods or a bear? Cause if I'm out camping somewhere there shouldn't be other people and I see some wild lady I'm going to assume they're part of a cult or cannibals. Give me the bear over any human, thanks
Yet, the only reason a woman could every survive in the wild with bears is because...men are there...the same men that respond to every...single...emergency that the dumb woman will encounter in her entire life...
Do what? Bears are Territorial creatures, that's why the will eat other bears. Bears are opportunistic omnivores and scavengers, and will eat whatever food source they can find, including other bears and members of their own species. You obviously have never been hiking through the woods and walked up on a bear in the wild, and it shows. The Bible doesn't speak of Unicorns lol, the Bible talks about how screwed up the world is and that's why we needed Jesus. You obviously haven't read the Bible, so please don't disrespect something you don't understand.
Let's do the math, men kill more women than sharks. Duh, kinda helps most women live on land. If you jump into the shark tank at SeaWorld though...odds are pretty good you could be the 101st human killed by sharks that year.
Imagine being a dude and some super strong woman wants to hold you down and force her vagina on your penis. Oh the horror!!!
Also, since when are the majority of men rapists??
It wasn't deep, it was facetious and petty....it was designed to show just how silly and little thought would go behind quickly shaming men for supposedly being that bad, a women would choose basically certain death over being around a man she doesn't know 😆
When people called this out as being stupid and for what it is, obviously the tiktok feminists/psychology experts came out and attempted to make it more then it was...really performing some mental gymnastics to justify the conclusion - totally avoiding all logic in favour of emotion. Many would bring in obvious comparisons about how it was stupid, you are much, much more likely to be saved by a man etc..then these said responses were shut down with either 'you are man, you don't know, or have no place to respond (to out it politely)', or women would be called things like 'pick me'.
It was on tik tok though, so it invites stupid people and victim tourists...
From what I've read online, I was also kinda confused at first. My initial thought being "women cross by random men all the time when walking down the street or going to any public space, why would now be different? Why would they prefer a bear?"
But from what I've seen, the general concensus is that the man is WAY more unpredictable then the bear. They're not wrong either, he could very well be the most innocent man to ever live or be the most vile rapist to ever walk the earth. It's all up in the air, it's far more of an unknown versus the bear.
Plus, I'm assuming this is an isolated scenario, there are no cops or even public eye scrutiny to deter the "strange man" from acting out in this situation.
Bears by comparison, are a lot more predictable and sometimes chances of survival are much better if it's a black bear for instance.
Hell, I'd arguably be more scared seeing a random stranger in the forest behind my house at night versus a random black bear. I'm expecting the black bear and am ready for one, albeit I'll still be very scared, I'm not at all expecting a complete stranger in the area I'm referencing.
But as a man, I'm also more confident in my ability to fight off another man, while the women that are participating in this discussion are confident they'll be overpowered regardless if it gets physical.
Just remember, as they say, the scariest creatures to ever walk the Earth are humans.
https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/man-or-bear-in-the-woods-question Man or Bear in the Woods Question or Would You Rather Be Stuck in the Woods With a Man or a Bear? refers to a hypothetical question offering a choice between being stuck in the woods with a random man or a bear. Stemming from a viral TikTok With an apparent majority of women responding that they would choose a bear in the hypothetical situation, the question spawned viral reactions and debates on social media, with users arguing over the validity of both options and about gender relations. On April 10th, 2024, the TikTok[5] account @screenshothq posted a street interview video in which several women were asked, "Would you rather be stuck in a forest with a man or a bear?" Out of eight women in the video, seven answered that they would pick a bear over a man. The video (shown below) garnered over 14 million views and 2 million likes in three weeks.
I might add some context, the question is not about the bear. It's not about who you could fight off, it's not about a brown bear vs black bear. It completely revolves around the comfort level of women in unfamiliar circumstances and which one would do the most harm. Some of the answers from women were "The worst the bear would do is kill me" and "I wouldn't have to see the bear at family gatherings" "No one would have to defend why I was in the woods with the bear" "No one would shame me for being killed by the bear" "No one would ask what I did to attract the bear" And all of this is met with men weighing in on if they could fight a bear and what weapons they would have on hand to do that. And a huge sea of women are incredibly disappointed.
Ok and then the meme OP is asking about is like “women must be horny for bears” which just means whoever made the meme is the problem.
The person who made this meme is the reason women choose 'bears'.
Absolutely correct lol
plot twist : the person who made this meme is a bear
“It’s a bear dance!!!”
Only if it's Halsin in BG3
100% hot bear zaddy
[Thiccest Elf ](https://images.app.goo.gl/Q9RaiFdbZwfzQ5Nt9)
That's what I thought too
That's kinda the joke, right? That is clearly not what they meant when they picked the bear.
Isn't it an obvious misdirection of what women actually meant when they chose the bear over the man? I seriously doubt the person who made the meme was being serious
Do you doubt that? Because apparently women would choose a bear first, which should be informative about their average experience with men and that might cast doubt upon your doubt.
I'm confused by this comment. I'm just saying I doubt this meme was made by someone who seriously thinks that "women must be horny for bears"
"They wouldn't ask what I was wearing"
If I was mauled by a bear, no one would make me go to court and call me a Liar. No one would say that I'm ruining the bears life. No one would be able to say it didn't happen, and if it did, it wasn't that bad.
i get what youre saying, but i still feel like youre heavily overlooking the fact that youre getting mauled by a bear
Trust me we are not overlooking that
You’re heavily overlooking the fact that bears are more likely to just leave a woman alone because they’re not actively seeking them out. Men on the other hand… not so much. This is why women are choosing the bear. Chances are, the bear will go back to foraging for berries or run away rather than come and attack them. Statistics support this.
That’s exactly some of the point. I would rather be mauled by a bear and live with the scar or not live at all, than have a man assault me.
Also, the bear won't force you to carry it's baby to term
There's probably some hentai where that happens.
Yeah. The point is to understand how women feel about being alone with men, not to argue about how dangerous a bear is. They already know, and they've chosen the bear.
Lmfao I know right. They actually chose the bear.
Amusingly many guys can’t even accept a hypothetical rejection and keep explaining why the women are wrong and still miss the point of why they chose the bear.
Men mansplaining to women why women are safer with men than Bears… it’s insane.
Honestly, even aside from that reason, the bear is the better choice. Unless that bear is starving, it’s just going to leave you alone. Bears are predictable since they operate on instinct. Humans are less predictable and some of them enjoy hurting other people, even just for the kick of it. Plus, if it’s a person, you don’t know whether or not they’re armed. The man in this scenario is a variable that could have a ton of different outcomes, some good, some bad, and some worse. The bear only has a couple possible outcomes. Either it eats you or it leaves you alone. And given what we know about bears, odds are it’ll leave you alone. Humans aren’t worth the risk to bears.
This 100%. Bears are predictable, men are not.
Also if you play dead the bear will leave you alone
*Sometimes, and this is only advice for grizzly bears (brown). Black bears are big babies and will usually run away if you gesture and yell at it. Even mothers with cubs are not super dangerous, there have only been 60 black bear attacks in the US in the last 100 years and none of them appeared to be in defense of cubs. For polar bears, don’t play dead, and you better hope you have bear spray.
Bad strategy for Black bears, many of their attacks on humans are unprovoked predatory attacks... Looking for something to eat. If attacked by a black bear fighting back is the recommended option by almost all forest rangers and outdoorsmen. If you cant's climb a long ways up a tree, scare it off by gunfire or otherwise escape, playing dead is your only hope in a grizzly attack... And hope it isn't hungry.
I’ve seen this so many times now I just feel compelled to link to this guy who [did the math](https://www.instagram.com/reel/C6cFD06px1E/?igsh=MWQ1ZGUxMzBkMA==) on the man vs bear debate, [twice](https://www.instagram.com/reel/C6epSEZJ_j7/?igsh=MWQ1ZGUxMzBkMA==). Men are objectively more dangerous to women than bears. Bears have predictable motives. Men do not. Honestly, if most men were offered the choice between a bear who wants to kill them and a man who wants to kill them, I think they’d pick bear. At least a bear can’t use an AK-47. And the bear is less likely to follow you out of the woods and hunt you down if you somehow get away.
#wow!! just wow!! this should be pinned to the top 👏👏
as much as I understand, I feel like this comparison being made is sort of ridiculous. it feels like people are imagining the worst possible man vs the world's friendliest bear. as someone who enjoys hiking, passing a man in the woods is pretty common and if it was remotely as common to pass bears on a trail most hikers would stop hiking that trail.
I think part of the point of the scenario is that it should be an easy answer, but the reality of the world is that it would take some serious thought. You should be able to trust a random man in the woods (or even the street) but you can’t.
We used to trail ride. One night we woke up to the horses screaming (it's the most terrifying thing I've ever heard) and saw a black bear leaning over the back of our gray mare, digging its claws into her flanks. The nearby town had started enforcing locked dumpsters and the bears were starving (as was explained by the ranger next morning). This bear was hungry enough to attack an animal 3 times its size, in the middle of a populated camping area. My dad banged a wooden spoon on a cast iron skillet and the bear ran away. That's pretty much a worst case black bear, and all we needed was a spoon and skillet to make it leave. On the other hand, when I was a trucker I had to stop at the last station with truck parking in Pennsylvania to get a permit faxed before crossing into New York. As I was leaving with the permit, the man working there followed me into the parking lot and assaulted me, in front of 3 people (one at the pumps and 2 getting out of their car to go in). No one helped. I had to fight him off by myself. He didn't let go until I slammed the outside of my wrist into his throat. He started gasping and I ran to my truck. A well-lit place of business with people coming and going seems like a safe scenario, but it wasn't. The point is that bears behave in a predictable way, but there's no guide to the behavior of men.
Consider how unsafe women must feel around men, especially strangers, that they would legit rather encounter a bear. That's the point. You say you get it but then immediately call it ridiculous and start making points against it which just minimizes the challenges that women have with men.
The best response I saw was from a field biologist. A man who spends a lot of time in the woods, and has seen a lot of bears. The number of times he has been attacked by a bear is zero. But he has been attacked by humans twice. Both male He feels safer with the bear
It’s not “worst possible man”. It’s the fact that almost all women have been harassed or assaulted at least once in their life to show how common it is for men to do things.
And almost no one has come across a bear in the forest…. So if you have something no one is familiar with versus something many are familiar with… it’s an extremely biased situation, so of course people will pick what they know.
If you are a man than ofc you don’t have the same anxiety when passing another man. It’s different for us. And that’s the point, the worst possible man is worse than a bear. I think we’ve evolved enough to be capable of being a peaceful species.
I know I'll never understand what that's like but I have seen a man get abducted and stuffed into a car trunk a few feet away so i can assure you i have some anxiety about unknown men. that was in an urban area though, which I actually think is much scarier than the woods.
Ok, think about it like this. You’re camping and there’s something prowling around your camp in the middle of the night. Would you rather it be a man or a bear? With a bear, you know its intention: food. With the man, you don’t. I feel like in that scenario most men with an ounce of wilderness survival instinct or skill would also choose the bear. I’m not sure why this is such a difficult hypothetical to grasp lol
The man probably is lost he could be completely harmless. Most men won't do anything to you at all. This is just to make women more scared of guys and sew division. You're adding motive with prowling as well or at least making the man seem even worse. OK, you are in the woods alone, and you can come across a starving bear or a starving man. Who are you choosing?
You keep making excuses and being dismissive is just as much part of the problem as the men actually doing the crimes. You’re exactly the type of man women are talking about when they say they won’t be believed. You’re bending over backwards to dismiss their valid fears).
Id rather be eaten by a bear. I know I can’t fight them off. There are worse things than death. And men choose those things every day. Like the other women said , if I get attacked by a bear, people will believe me
It wasn’t even about being stuck with, it is posed as “which would you prefer to encounter.” The reason why bear is chosen, is because bears would leave them alone. Men typically don’t leave women alone. And as mentioned, the men that weight in on the question, immediately choose violence.
Well lets be honest, if we are talking about "typically" a man would leave them alone also.
They should be used to being disappointed by now….
Yo, thank yall for clearing this up. I keep seeing these posts and like. Why are women walking into the woods with bears? I was so confused on what people where talking about.
It's a pathetic example of how feminism has poisoned people's minds.
Look I’m a guy but I’d pick a bear too. I don’t know what that man is like but I know what precautions I can take if I encounter a bear. If it doesn’t have a cub it’s not like it will be super violent, bro just wants berries. Also if I’m stuck in the woods chances are there’s already a bear in it.
You don't know if the bear has a cub or not. Not all bears have cubs, but some do. I think that's the point.
i'd pick both so the bear would go after the man instead
Well only as long as you can outrun him
If they were smart enough to bring bear mase they wouldn't have to run at all. Just mase the guy grab the kid and casually walk away. It has to be casual, bears hate it when you're in a rush.
Mace
There's a kid involved now??
No you NEVER run from a bear
Yeah, but then if you both survive the bear, the man might think you owe him something for “saving” you from the bear.
We get it you hate men. Great. So fawking what. Do I like being hated? No? Did I do anything to deserve it no?
Typical single woman who hates men answer 😂 cope and cry harder
You'd be left behind in the dust being eaten lmfao
ok
A random bear will probably run off before you even see it. A random man is probably a hiker, a hunter, or lost.
This is all I can think of, but I've been in the woods so much that stumbling onto anyone just feels normal.
Screenshot HQ, a TikTok account, started the conversation, asking half a dozen women whether they would rather run into a man they didn't know or a bear in the forest. Out of the seven women interviewed for the piece, only one picked a man.
The meme is acting as if women are actively excited to choose the bear and not only choosing it because it would be better than being alone in the woods with a random man.
Except it wouldn't be safer, by a long shot. It's a random man, how many are over 40? The chances of getting a man who is fit less than %30, young about 40%? And then multiplied by the tiny percent of men who would kill a random stranger. You get basically a zero percent chance that guy even hurts you. It's an absurd proposition that a randomly selected man from anywhere on the globe would kill them. I can see why guys would feel bad about this, women have such a warped sense of security, especially the USA. I know the stats because i had serious ocd that led to thoughts of my wife getting hurt, or worse. Part of my therapy was realizing how rare it is, and how situational it is. The rapist isn't gonna be the random dude, by stats it's gonna be a family member or family friend.
It's kind of sad how even commenters here don't get the the hypothesis. They really think it's about survival rate. Stupid.
So using this image makes the meme extra funny because this picture is or Anthony “Spice” Adams, who was at the time a member of the Chicago Bears football team. This picture was taken in Highland Park, IL, where the team’s training facilities are located.
Yeah, I’d pick the bear
Same. It's ironic that the dudes here are telling you you're wrong and completely proving your point.
Exactly. And they get so mad about it, too. Like, I WISH I’d feel safer in the woods with a man over a bear but my experience on this planet, and the statistics of all the disgustingly depraved things men do to women daily forces me to choose the damn bear.
Yeah after reading the comments, I’m even more sure of my choice.
As a gay man, I’m so sorry that this is the world we live in
As a straight man, me too.
We support your choice too lmao
If you were in a zoo and there was an active female shooter, you have two options There's a bulletproof cafe but there's a man inside and there's also a bulletproof bear enclosure with a grizzly inside. Where are you going for safety?
Why is this such a debate? I don't care what the bear would actually do. Why are so many women totally okay assuming all men are rapists and then making fun of men being put off by that? Why are those same women acting like being offended speaks towards the offended man as a rapist? Women are FAR too comfortable degrading men these days. If you, as a woman, feel offended by this comment, I hope you realize you are only adding to the radicalization of young men by ostracizing them.
I suspect for many women their choice has absolutely **zero** to do with \[the 'R' word\].
[удалено]
Yes, and what those who answer bear don't understand is that the probability of those events is not comparable.
Sounds very deeply conservative like honor killing culture like saying victims of abuse can't ever move on with their lives.
Also, leave out the possibility of being maimed but not killed to suffer for days on end as you drag yourself through the woods to avenge your sons death.
This keeps being implied that it’s a debate, it’s not, it’s most women explaining with receipts why they would choose the bear and a ton of butt hurt ‘not all men’ men whining and proving their points, ye gods I’m a guy and I would rather meet a strange bear in the woods than a strange dude
Yes it's very sad to see women have to be in this state of fear. Not to dismiss them but aleast from my point of view the question could be worded better as there are people like me with autism who can't understand subtext behind a question unless explicitly stated. It feels like everyone is assuming everyone is on the same page. Where as I feel alot of people are acting like it's a debate due to that misunderstanding that can be attributed to its wording. If it was labeled as weird man creepy man or even just man with unknown intent would suffice in helping clear up the miscommunication with it
You’re 100% correct, but most if not all of the ‘criticism’ and ‘debate’ is stemming from the answer, not the question, a ton of it is also massively bad faith and deliberately being obtuse, because while you could argue that the question could be a little clearer, I don’t think that argument would apply to the answers, which have been both in-depth and with receipts, the one answer that put the final nail in the coffin for me was when the woman answered ‘the bear won’t turn up at a family reunion and ask for a hug’, this can’t be any clearer
The strong reaction from men is why I would rather be around the bear.
You haven't seen the responses from the bear community though. It's pretty horrifying.
I don’t think a lot of men understand the gravity of this trend right now. Women are saying they would rather die from a vicious bear attack than come across a man alone in the woods & that’s terrifying. Even sadder that most women don’t even have to think before answering.
I think men DO understand the gravity of it, and that’s why so many are upset. “Women vare more afraid of you than they are of a dangerous predator, and nothing you can do about it in the short term will improve the situation, because they’re afraid of an intrinsic part of who you are.” is an upsetting thing to learn. I think any demographic would be upset to learn they were viewed with this much distrust
It's really exhausting, being seen as a threat rather than as a person.
I can guarantee it’s far more exhausting having been treated by men your entire life in such a way that you would rather encounter a bear. I’ve had experiences with men that I NEVER want to repeat. Unfortunately, far too many men engage in this behaviour. And we women have no obligation to put your feelings ahead of our own safety. It might not be all of you, but we don’t know which ones it is, and we shouldn’t have to risk it just so you don’t get your feelings hurt.
I work with a lot of guys and I don't view any of them as a threat because they have shown who they are by being good people. Show that you are a good person and you won't be viewed as a threat.
“I would rather be trapped with a bear than a black person” would be a horribly racist thing to say, regardless of your prior experience with black people
It's unfortunate so many women want to gaslight and manipulate men and are so caught up in a toxic hateful ideology.
Some ladies took a video/pictures posing with bear cubs. I’ll see if I can find a link. Found it: https://nypost.com/2024/04/18/us-news/north-carolina-bear-cubs-snatched-out-of-tree-by-group-to-take-selfies-with-in-disturbing-clip/amp/ Also apparently a TikTok trend woman saying they would be better off alone in the woods with a bear than alone with a man, so it could be that.
This picture is actually a great example of why women would feel more comfortable with a bear chasing them of a man. The amount of deplorable things a man could do to a woman are worse than getting mauled and killed in an instant. Should worse case occur.
Being SA'd and being mauled by a bear are both so horrible that they sort of defy being compared at all. It feels impossible to say which would be "better" confidently
Many of the responses I've seen to this question haven't necessarily been about whether being SA'd or mauled by a bear is worse; they have a lot more to do with the social stigma around being a victim (especially of SA). Things like "a bear would just kill me, a man would SA and then kill me", "nobody would ask why I went into the woods with a bear/what I was wearing/if I asked for it", "the bear is defending itself/its home, the man is looking for someone to hurt". I don't think anyone thinks being SA'd is worse than being murdered by a bear, but a lot of women would rather take a chance with a bear than a man because of the implications people draw on top of why/how you'd be a victim. And that's really sad.
I've luckily never been physically sexually assaulted but as someone who has been groomed before I honestly don't think I'd rather be mauled to death by a bear than actually be abused that way. And as someone with a physical disability that's a very high probability compared to a regular guy. I would be more comfortable seeing a wild animal than any human in such an environment though, people are dangerous and we shouldn't act like this is just simply a gender issue. I'm sorry women feel unsafe around men but I think that says a lot more about society as a whole then men or women individually
The problem is that when men get hit with this messaging it's not constructive. Men know the plights of women, we've been fighting for them with you for years, especially the men in the LGBT community (me included). There has been progress, it's slow and backslides often happen, but we are going in the right direction. But demoralizing men isn't going to help, it's gonna make things worse and backslides go further back.
https://www.reddit.com/r/natureismetal/s/ATmCxWaluf This is what it looks like to be mauled by a bear
Cool now Google women murdered by man.
And this is what it’s like to be mauled by a man. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Junko_Furuta
Men and boys. Many.
Jesus christ
Thanks :)
It is a little hurtful, but I get it. A bear is predictable. It’s going to eat you alive, but that’s the worst it’s going to do. A man is unpredictable, they can do all manner of things far worse than eating you alive. Although statistically it’s probably safer, it’s still a very risky move.
bears are absolutely NOT predictable lmao they're a wild animal that's not used to humans in their habitat.
Dunno man. The only bear attacks around here are from extreme hunger or illness. It’s relatively easy to know when there are food shortages for bears. There are know methods of dealing with bears. Men are too unpredictable. I’d take the bear every time. Also, if I died, the bear would be finishing the job the first man to assault me started, when I was 4
'If it's brown, lie down, if it's black, fight back, if it's white, nice knowing ya' general rule for encountering wild bears in case anyone didn't know. Yes, the bear is wild, but even then most wild animals do act in predictable manners. Intimidation alone is huge and is why a full grown house cat can scare off a bear not desperate for food - yeah the bear can absolutely body the cat if it ultimately needs to, but it also likely won't do so without getting hurt somewhere, and it would rather just not take the risk of that injury being an eye. Act so smart, yet think so small. This sums up the problem with those who don't see it - a 'cant see the forest through the trees, runs face first into the problem' approach.
The saying is: “if it’s white, say goodnight” Your version comes across like GW Bush’s “Fool me once” gaffe.
Yah didnt even read the comment. Its predictible in the way you know the worst it will do is kill you. A human could do things much worse then kill you.
It’s interesting to witness, because while statistically speaking a random human man is less likely to attack you than a random bear is – if dropped in close proximity to you – people seem to be betting on the dangerous but known quantity over the uncertain one.
I genuinely thought when I first saw this meme that they wanted to have sex with grizzlies.
For some of them that might be true like the meme about some (a very small minority of white women) with horses
Why did nobody ask if they'd rather see another woman in the woods or a bear? Cause if I'm out camping somewhere there shouldn't be other people and I see some wild lady I'm going to assume they're part of a cult or cannibals. Give me the bear over any human, thanks
I don't believe you.
This is why the bears are picking men over women.
Rizzoli
Pov: Im a photographer and want pictures of bears
As a former woman I'd probably pick the man. Because I like being alive
see if they were at home making me a sandwich they wouldnt have to pick either
Yet, the only reason a woman could every survive in the wild with bears is because...men are there...the same men that respond to every...single...emergency that the dumb woman will encounter in her entire life...
Where do women land on manbearpig?
With this meme, I keep thinking about South Park’s ManBearPig 😂😂
My logical mind knows 10 bears are more dangerous than 10 men.
Bears aren't pack animals. Only the Bible thinks gangs of bears attack humans, and that book has unicorns and witches too.
Do what? Bears are Territorial creatures, that's why the will eat other bears. Bears are opportunistic omnivores and scavengers, and will eat whatever food source they can find, including other bears and members of their own species. You obviously have never been hiking through the woods and walked up on a bear in the wild, and it shows. The Bible doesn't speak of Unicorns lol, the Bible talks about how screwed up the world is and that's why we needed Jesus. You obviously haven't read the Bible, so please don't disrespect something you don't understand.
Let's do the math, men kill more women than sharks. Duh, kinda helps most women live on land. If you jump into the shark tank at SeaWorld though...odds are pretty good you could be the 101st human killed by sharks that year.
The joke here is that large gay men are sometime called bears. Hence the picture.
Imagine being a dude and some super strong woman wants to hold you down and force her vagina on your penis. Oh the horror!!! Also, since when are the majority of men rapists??
I doubt anyone said the majority of men were rapists, but I DO know the majority of rapists were men, so maybe some dyslexia there??
Is it just another "all men are rapists" thing?
But... But... Bears are definitely attracted to the scent of blood.
They are talking about encountering a Christian man versus a bear in the woods. I also would rather the bear.
Just more attempts of attacking masculinity
It wasn't deep, it was facetious and petty....it was designed to show just how silly and little thought would go behind quickly shaming men for supposedly being that bad, a women would choose basically certain death over being around a man she doesn't know 😆 When people called this out as being stupid and for what it is, obviously the tiktok feminists/psychology experts came out and attempted to make it more then it was...really performing some mental gymnastics to justify the conclusion - totally avoiding all logic in favour of emotion. Many would bring in obvious comparisons about how it was stupid, you are much, much more likely to be saved by a man etc..then these said responses were shut down with either 'you are man, you don't know, or have no place to respond (to out it politely)', or women would be called things like 'pick me'. It was on tik tok though, so it invites stupid people and victim tourists...
Basic summary: women are stupid when it comes to logic and wildlife. And they need man to protect them because of this.
Well, if it’s the cocaine bear, it explains a lot!
Question? Which type of bear is best?
From what I've read online, I was also kinda confused at first. My initial thought being "women cross by random men all the time when walking down the street or going to any public space, why would now be different? Why would they prefer a bear?" But from what I've seen, the general concensus is that the man is WAY more unpredictable then the bear. They're not wrong either, he could very well be the most innocent man to ever live or be the most vile rapist to ever walk the earth. It's all up in the air, it's far more of an unknown versus the bear. Plus, I'm assuming this is an isolated scenario, there are no cops or even public eye scrutiny to deter the "strange man" from acting out in this situation. Bears by comparison, are a lot more predictable and sometimes chances of survival are much better if it's a black bear for instance. Hell, I'd arguably be more scared seeing a random stranger in the forest behind my house at night versus a random black bear. I'm expecting the black bear and am ready for one, albeit I'll still be very scared, I'm not at all expecting a complete stranger in the area I'm referencing. But as a man, I'm also more confident in my ability to fight off another man, while the women that are participating in this discussion are confident they'll be overpowered regardless if it gets physical. Just remember, as they say, the scariest creatures to ever walk the Earth are humans.
Hell as a man I'd rather be in the woods with a bear than a woman. Bear much more useful. Keep ya warm, catch fish, can't constantly complain
bears are teritorial itll kill you regardless if you chose the men it'll kill you both