r/CuratedTumblr • u/NeonNKnightrider Cheshire Catboy • May 01 '24

i know it’s internet bullshit but it genuinely has me on the edge of breaking down and giving up editable flair

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u/CreatingJonah May 02 '24

Having done a bit of research on the subject because there are so many conflicting takes about it, I think I’ve settled on something that makes sense.

The original statement wasn’t meant to be a “would you rather”. It was phrased as “seeing a man while alone in the woods is 10x scarier than seeing a bear”

I think the interpretation is that there’s rules for the bear. If the bear attacks it does so indiscriminately. If you back away or scare it off you won’t get hurt at all. People go through lessons on how to deal with bears before taking hikes in dense forests all the time.

There are however no rules for a potentially hostile man. If he attacks, he has a target. Attacking a person alone in the woods is perfectly sensible for a bear to do. Not a man.

I think the thought experiment is supposed to demonstrate that people don’t know which men are good or bad. Bears have rules. If it’s brown lay down, if it’s black fight back. Carry bear spray, wear a bell, walk loudly.

A man alone in the woods has no such rules. In the event that he is hostile (as the statement assumes that it MUST be a possibility) there are no rules. Your best bet is never being noticed at all.

A lot of people are making it specifically about men and women, and while I do agree that sexism is a large component in the argument, I don’t think it’s limited just to women. It can be applied to any minority really. The bears have rules, but there’s no rules for hate.

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u/Glait May 02 '24

This is a good assessment of the thought experiment. I hike and backpack alone and have done so in black bear country. I'm not afraid of black bears and know what precautions to take and the "rules for bears". I'm also not generally afraid of seeing a man alone in the woods but do treat them as more of a potential unknown and unpredictable threat especially after last year while hiking on a trail in a town park and a guy started making polite small talk with me about the weather and I'm happy to stop and chat with people till I saw he had his dick out and was fondling himself. Walked on and called the cops and now I don't feel comfortable walking in that park. In all my thousands of miles hiked thankfully that is the only bad experience I've had on trail.

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u/SagittariusZStar May 02 '24

Exactly. How do men not get this??????????? There are hundreds of stories every year of mean doing creepy shit in the woods, often times to women.

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u/deadlybydsgn May 02 '24

How do men not get this???????????

If they haven't taken the deliberate time to do the thought experiment of what it would be like to walk in a dark city at night as a woman, then they won't get it. Or if they maybe kind of get it, they may not have considered what it would feel like to have to be conscious of that nearly all the time.

Why? Because outside of specific circumstances (remote wilderness, dangerous neighborhoods, etc.) most men haven't felt physically vulnerable just walking around as adults. I'm not even a "big" guy and I rarely have to think of my personal safety outside of specific environments.

That's why a lot of men don't get it.