Man vs Bear: Which Would You Rather Meet in the Woods?
The latest conversation around women, men, and predators.
Content warning: talk of sexual assault and rape.
The question is simple: as a woman, which would you rather meet randomly in the middle of the woods? A man you don’t know? Or a bear?
Alternatively, if you’re a man, which would you rather your daughter, sister, or partner meet? Man or bear?
Think about this for a bit. Really, give it some thought. Which would you choose?
For most women I’ve seen, the answer is simple and straightforward: the bear.
Why, you might ask, would a woman rather encounter a bear in the woods than a random man? A human being would surely be preferable, right?
Right?
Well, no, not for quite a few women, and I’m going to take a stab at exploring why for the guys out there who are perplexed.
Let me preface this with the obvious: I am not a woman, nor do I identify as femme in any particular way. I’m a white straight cis man, and that informs all of my opinions. Still, I like to think that I have some level of empathy and base-level understanding of the realities of the world, so yeah, just keep that in mind, please.
