A hypothetical question going viral on social media asks women if they’d rather be alone in the woods with an unknown man or a bear.
Majority of women are choosing the bear. Reasons women say they’d choose the bear.
“The bear will either kill me or leave me alone, there are not 400 other horrible ways a bear can hurt me,” the post read.
Among other reasons, according to the post, that women said they would choose the bear:
“No one would question me about what I was wearing if the bear attacked me.”
“If I survive the bear attack, I will not have to see the bear at family reunions.”
“A bear would not film it and send it to his friends.”
“No one will question if the bear attack really happened.”
#IChooseTheBear #BearOrMan #WomenChooseTheBear
https://www.alaskasnewssource.com/2024/05/07/viral-question-asks-women-if-theyd-rather-be-alone-woods-with-bear-or-man/
@MicheleV_AK
Is it common to invite the unknown man who attacked you in the woods to your family reunions? 🤔
@m0xee
“unknown” behaviors of an acquaintance, perhaps? as almost all unfortunate incidences occur with a known person.
In my personal experience (long time ago), this unknown man was very kind and walked me to the inn I was looking for in the desolate moor in West Yorkshire at dusk. There are decent and kind men out there.
Interesting hypothetical question though!
@MicheleV_AK
@otterX
A relative or a friend of a family taking advantage of a woman is no joke — and I'm sure it happens way more often than a bears attacking women in the forest.
Yet the message of this whole bear thing is still very confusing — I don't think it's necessary to bend the facts this way to raise awareness 🤷
@MicheleV_AK
@MicheleV_AK
> The stats on women being killed by bears are extremely low
This is precisely where the facts are twisted: comparing 🍏 to 🍊. One in 6 women in the US gets sexually assaulted in their lifetime, according to the article — and yet, women encounter dozens of men, some of them — daily. How many women ever encountered a bear alone in the forest? I don't have any hard numbers, but I think this number is minuscule.
If you meet a man in the forest he doesn't necessary mean harm…
@MicheleV_AK
He might just say hi and walk past, but okay, let's even assume that all men are rapists — there's still a non-zero chance for success if you fight back, but if you indeed encounter a bear — you're royally fucked 😱
The premise that encountering a bear is less dangerous is just false — for obvious reasons: bears are physically stronger.
Not all men are nice — that's for sure, even for other men it's wise to avoid some men.
@MicheleV_AK
What's even worse — this type of men won't become good as a result of flash-mob on social media, young women should be aware of that, of how to avoid dangerous situations and how to get out of them if this still happens.
But the message that men in general are more dangerous than bears is wrong and accomplishes nothing good, it just sows seeds of distrust 🤷
But I'm pretty sure it all has been said a hundred times already, right?
@m0xee @MicheleV_AK @otterX a woman would have nothing to fear from a bear if she minds her own business, and doesn’t threaten the bear or its cubs. The bear has no reason to attack.
Sadly, not so with men. They tend to have other selfish reasons to be aggressive toward women.
@dashrb
So how do you imagine this, if you encounter a bear face to face, you'd just tell it: "Sorry, wrong meadow! I'll go now!",— and leave? That probably won't work!
Sure, the bear won't run towards you from the opposite side of the wood — just as man won't. And no, men do not "tend to have reasons to be aggressive" — most don't.
@MicheleV_AK @otterX
@dashrb
Are you or your friends like that? Mine aren't — it doesn't mean that there are no men like that and it's still bad, but again — there is no need to make it look worse than it already is. There is no need to portray men as being more dangerous than bears and nothing good will ever come out of convincing young women that without men world would become a safe space — it won't, ever! It's unfortunate, but there will always be bad actors 🤷
@MicheleV_AK @otterX
@m0xee @MicheleV_AK @otterX no, I’m not like that. Obviously I don’t know you, but…
You were just granted exposure into the fears of women en masse. They told you/us that they feel unsafe around unknown men. Your reaction: discredit their feelings as inaccurate/exaggerated, & defend yourself & your friends, while admitting there are some “bad” men.
They said they’re scared. You don’t take it seriously. So: you aren’t safe. Women can’t trust you. Do better.
@MicheleV_AK @m0xee @otterX you are welcome! After many years of being silent on such issues, I realize I was indirectly part of the problem. I need to call out misogyny (and racism) rather than ignore it as not my problem.
@dashrb @m0xee @otterX I am grateful when people who may not necessarily experience racism, bigotry or misogyny take a stand! I believe it is our moral responsibility. Women's rights have been stripped to the bone in the US in the last few years and it enrages me. Transphobia and anti-LGBTQ+ bigotry are at an all-time high and despite claims to the contrary, racism is alive and well. I am an old woman now, but as long as I have breath, I will be vocal about the inequities faced by so many.
@dashrb
Oh, yes, the Council of Women have spoken and now the Council of Men which simply wasn't aware of the problem has to issue a decree for all men to act accordingly… But it can't — because someone on the social media isn't taking it seriously 😱
Bad news however, the Council of Men doesn't exist. Same as the Council of Women — but there are those who like to speak on behalf of all (or most like in this case) women.
BTW you know who else exhibits such behaviour?
@dashrb
Starts the conversation with devaluing you, using an extremely broad categorization, tells you to shut up and listen, gives you a morsel of approval only if you behave, and if you disagree with something, tells you to "fuck off" and starts acting as if you're the problem? I'll give you a hint — that's what manipulators do. Were I a girl saying that my significant other does this to me, I would be told that these are red flags.
@dashrb
That's right, some communities have been discussing abusive behaviour so often that it got normalised, and some women failed to notice when they adopted it themselves.
The one, who values your opinion doesn't do that if you disagree.
But you went further yourself and started putting words into my mouth. Whose feelings did I discredit? Hello! Council of Women isn't in the room with us — it's only the author of the original post, whom I disagree with.
@dashrb
And, news at eleven, you aren't really helping women by "speaking out" on social media — the only thing you can achieve this way is to get social approval, and you did! Congrats!
So, what exactly did I personally do to make "them" feel unsafe, disagree with the false premise?
Maybe numerous threads like this one about something being fundamentally wrong with men had more to do with it?
Welcome to the brave new world created by it: https://slate.com/technology/2024/05/ivf-daughters-toxic-masculinity-sex-selection.html
@dashrb
Oh, wait, maybe Slate is some right-wing conspiracy website? Nope, looks pretty centrist, left leaning even. And the author of the article is a woman 🤔
According to the article, it's even banned in most of the rest of the world, except US, where "womens' rights have been stripped to the bone".
Well, maybe eugenics was only wrong when Nazis did it, queer couples with correct political alignment can do it right 😏
It's important to recognize antisocial behavior anywhere you find it.
@m0xee @MicheleV_AK @otterX as a man, this is how I see it:
Women have been asked a question, and given their answer. I can react by arguing with them about their answer, or I can shut up and listen to them.
@cohomologyisFUN @m0xee @otterX Thank you! Shutting up and listening is the perfect answer. 🧡
@m0xee
This hypothetical Q certainly caught our attention, though, to say the least. 😆
Realistically speaking, most bears would stay away, they’re smarter than we think. We’ve been hiking in NH and MA for 20+ years and never encountered a bear. *knock on wood* 🐻 👀😄
@m0xee @otterX I'm not bending anything just merely sharing the comments by women who have been sexually assaulted, harassed, abused, demeaned, etc. who would choose the bear. If you don't get it, I will happily explain in more detail. The stats on women being killed by bears are extremely low; the same cannot be said of women being killed or hurt by men. It's not complicated. I also choose the bear.