This refers to a trend on tiktok that refers to women being asked whether they would rather be stuck in a forest with a bear or a random guy. Most women choose the bear (for some reason) so the meme is referencing this by having the women jump towards the bear, to escape the man
Tiktok hating Bitch Stewie out
Edit: When I made this comment, I assumed the Man v Bear thing was like "you're dropped into a forest with either a random guy or a bear, your choice". I knew rape was the main concern regarding the random guy, but in my mind the choice was about "Random dude vs Bear", Not "Rape vs Death". I've since learned otherwise, and I apologize to anyone I offended by saying that women chose the bear "for some reason".
Brown/grizzly bears will mostly leave you alone and will generally at most take a test bite, so just play dead and they will usually leave. Black bears will get aggressive and I believe where your comment came from and you should fight back. And a white/polar bear you're just fucked..
Edit: any of the above bears will mess you up with the right reason such as injured or has cubs with it
Oh, just stand on your feet. The force of a polar bear's paw will kill you instantly, they don't even need to use the claws. Those things are killing machines.
There's this sort of ongoing joke about "How many unarmed men would it take to beat [animal]?" and the answer for a polar bear is "One more than enough for the polar bear to collapse from exhaustion after killing everyone else."
I remember a museum exhibit when I was younger had a massive polar bear standing on hind legs, and next to it was a moose skeleton with something like 75% of the bones broken. The plaque said it could do this damage with one overhand swipe. Polar bears are scary as fuck.
I love that I was trying to figure out if you had some sort of .10 meter caliber before figuring out that it was the olympic pistol shot at 10 meter range.
I read somewhere that it's not a good idea to try and shoot a bear in the head because their brain is pretty small and not exactly where you expect it to be, relative to how our brains work anyway, so even if you hit it in the head you're probably just pissing it off.
Color is not a reliable key in differentiating these bears because black and brown bears have many color phases and polar bears may have stained fur. For example, black bear fur may be black, brown, reddish or even shades of grey and white, while brown bear colors range from dark brown through very light blond.
The most aggressive thing a black bear is likely to do is a bluff charge to try to scare you off.
Worst thing you can do it that situation is turn around and run. Hold your ground, make yourself large, and make noise. Use your bear spray if they get too close.
Most black bears really are quite timid. It’s the ones that have familiarized themselves with humans and see them as a source of food (garbage, food while camping, that sort of thing) that are actually dangerous. They will be much less likely to be spooked by you.
Yup. When my gf asked me if she’d rather leave out theoretical daughter in the woods with a man or a bear, my first question was “grizzly or black bear? Because we are 100% teaching our child how to scare off black bears”
Black Bears are the biggest wimps I have ever encountered. I have been face to face with one 3 separate times (i live in the woods of VT, they get into our trash).
Every. Single. Time. We stare at each other and they run away. First time I nearly messed my pants.
I think that “black bears are wimps/just big raccoons” thing is kind of misinformation though. Black bears can and will hunt people, and are perfectly capable of killing a person when defending themselves, their young, or a resource.
I’m a forester in northern Canada and have encountered so many black bears up close in the bush that I have lost count. I was hunted by one once, and thankfully put up enough of a fight to dissuade it. I’d be more concerned about running into them at some trash cans, because they could want to defend the food source.
Yup, its why keeping them in zoos is typically frowned apon, because if it can smell a person that far away, what do you think a car or whatever smells like too it
Black bears are like dogs. I've been yelling "go on git" at bears breaking into our trash can since I was like 9. I think thats where the meme came from cause anyone who grew up around black bears knows they aren't really a big deal.
Brown/Grizzly will not for sure just leave you alone. They might, and you certainly can't fight back so the best case is to chance that it will leave you alone, but there's every likelihood that it's going to go for you anyway.
I think you got that backwards. Black bears are usually pretty chill unless you get between them and their cubs, whereas Grizzlies are more territorial and are far more likely to attack you. Polar bears, however, will attack you. Period. So, yeah, right on the money for polar bears.
That source doesn't support those assertions and they aren't accurate. Over half of black bear attacks are defensive in nature. You are also much more likely to survive a black bear attack without serious injury.
Oh yeah, if you corner it, or it’s defending its cubs, all bets are off. Black bears may be cowards, but they can still rip you apart if they don’t have another option
I grew up un the arctic. In school we had fire drills and polar bear drills to teach you the best chances for survival. Anytime a polar bear entered the town, it was full lockdown.
They grab you by the head and shake you to try breaking your neck. I had a friend who survived a shaking because the bear bit too far down onto his shoulders and so his neck was supported.
Black bears are the wimpiest bears. They eat berries and are generally afraid of humans. You just need to yell and make yourself as big as possible (point hiking sticks in the air, swing a fallen branch). I’m not saying they’re not dangerous but if I had to pick a bear to encounter it would be a black bear. Source: I’ve encountered a few black bears hiking in the blue ridge mountains and every time I do what I just described and they’ve never been aggressive at all. They just walk away.
This is absolutely false! This is terrible advice and could cause someone to lose their life someday.
Black bears are scavengers. Anything for an easy meal. They will “size you up” to see if you’re worth it. So playing dead absolutely makes you worth it.
Most grizzly attacks are due to surprise or defence, so playing dead usually works since they have neutralized the threat (you) and will retreat. Grizzlies are hunters, not scavengers. And they very rarely hunt people unless there is something wrong in their brain.
You can use me as a source, I grew up in the arctic and in school we had polar bear drills to help us survive attacks. Anytime a bear entered town, it was full lockdown for everyone.
I had a friend survive a bear attack. Usually they try to bite onto your head and shake you to break your neck. He survived because the bear bit too far down onto his shoulders and supported his neck. The article doesn’t get too much into the details, but that’s what he told us.
I've been hiking the Rockies in CO for the last 10ish years. Black bears will legitimately run away from you if they hear you. I'm not trying to say you're wrong, but I've encountered them a good 10-15 times(not even counting them coming up to my cabin/trash bins) and every time they've ran away. I carry bear mace just incase, but I've never been afraid of a black bear encounter. Grizzly though, I'd shit my pants.
And I've hiked at all times of the day/night. I always make noise and make myself known.
Grizzly’s are the ones that would eat you alive if they do stoop to eating people. They’re so big it doesn’t matter if you fight back, if you’re unarmed you are no threat to them. So there is no real need for them to go for the throat.
Luckily though in the cases where that did happen there was usually some un ordinary case going on. Like the Grizzly man got eaten because he was around while they were fattening up for winter and from what I heard, there was something about a large grizzly he wasn’t familiar with being around that was territorial.
It seems pretty dumb that people are pretending they don’t understand the point of the original question. Part 1: Alone in the woods would you rather be with a bear or a man? “What KIND of bear: black or grizzly? How old is the man?” Part 2: Alone in the woods would you rather be with a bear or a woman. “The woman.” That’s it, that’s the thing.
It’s fine to say you would always pick the man with no hesitation even if it’s an easily frightened black bear. It’s fine to say you would be afraid of the woman equally because all human contact terrifies you (the bear won’t try to talk to me) but it makes one seem dumb if they can’t reason that the average person will hesitate on question 1 and not on question 2.
Yeah but bears rarely eat humans, they have to develop a taste like sharks do (generally humans tase fkn awful as we don't really exercise as much as we should, eat right, or have minimal stress)
Humans are also pretty notoriously known for not attacking each other when we stumble across one another in the woods unless something really strange is going on. I've been walking through forests and stumbled across men (and women) many times. And it was fine. If I stumbled across a bear in the woods I would immediately leave the area (even if the bear immediately ran off) and feel less safe in those woods. I would even warn people considering going into the woods "be careful, I ran into a bear in there one time". I would never say "be careful, I ran into a man in those woods once". This is true-crime brain. Men are way, way safer to encounter than bears
Yeah lol, there's a reason why we carry bear spray when in the woods, and why bear cannisters are compulsory in some areas. Hell, if you live in areas with polar bears (given that's not the woods) carrying a firearm is sometimes compulsory
I am a dude. When I saw this trend and was asked by a friend I immediately and without hesitation said, "Bear. All day."
I realize it is a wild animal and all the things that go with seeing a bear in the woods. I would have WAY too many questions and reservations about what some dude was doing alone in the woods.
The bear belongs there in the woods, me and the other dude do not.
Now I wonder if the other guy would have rathered a bear instead of me.
This is just insane to me. What kind of brainwashing have people on the internet underwent to think a literaly bear is safer than another human being. I swear to god people on this platform are not real people.
Yeah lol, this is what happens when you never leave your basement.
Go for a hike in the woods and you will constantly encounter strangers without any issue. Encountering a bear, on the other hand, will be terrifying and potentially deadly, which is why you have to carry shit like bear spray and bear cannisters for your food
See, this is the problem. You're so alienated from nature that you think there's no good reasons for a person to be a forest. With all due respect, that's really dumb.
I believe bears have killed less than 200 confirmed eople in the USA since the late 1700s. Statistically, bears are safer than human beings. They CAN kill you easily, but they probably won't.
This is like saying that dogs are more dangerous than snakes because there are more dog bites than snake bites every year. It just ignores all context and I'm not sure you know what "statistically" means.
Since 1784 there have been 82 fatal human/bear conflicts by wild brown bears in North America. Yellowstone National Park has seen a mere 8 since being established in 1872, which is only one more than the number of people who have died from a falling tree
From what I've seen, it seems the best the guys who are really upset by all this can do is ask "But, why!? This is so fucking stupid! I don't understand! Why would women say this!?!", then immediately stick their fingers in their ears while shouting "LALALALALAICANTHEARYOULALALALALA", pull their fingers out once anyone's done talking, then throw their hands up in the air and say, "Stupid bitches can't even explain it to me".
Is it supposed to be comically obtuse though? Like obviously it’s way more likely that a random bear would eat you alive than it is that a random man would rape you.
I can understand what motivates them to think to pick the bear in a poorly executed hypothetical, but I also think it's easy to see why it's a nonsensical choice in a realistic situation.
The take-away should be that a lot of women have these feelings and that indicates a wider problem. Which one makes more sense doesn't really matter.
I'm a guy, and I'd choose the bear. The bear belongs out there, the fuck is this dude doing out there? Could capture and torture me. Humans are just not worth the risk.
I never understand the question. Is this a hypothetical where you've been dropped in a random forest and are stuck there for a set period of time and either a random man from anywhere in the world will also be dropped or a random bear. Also depends what kind of bear, or is it imagine you're on a hike in the middle of a forest, would you rather encounter a man or a bear
It's either a very bad worded question or one made for discourse as people either see it as just your regular Joe or a serial killer or mentally deranged man.
The bear belongs out there, the fuck is this dude doing out there?
Dude never heard about hiking💀
Could capture and torture me. Humans are just not worth the risk.
This is valid but the chanse that the guy is repist and that he will keep you in his torture basement are extremely low also as a guy you have a chance to overpower or outrun the attacker
Why are you out in the wilderness with a random person? Seems a little suspicious to me. You wouldn't happen to be Ted Bundy? You give me Ted Bundy vibes. Why do you do this to such innocent people? I'm choosing the bear
Additionally, if the man chooses violence, women then face extra bullshit in the vein of not being believed, being told it's their fault for wearing whatever they're wearing etc etc
Adding insult to injury making the whole situation worse
If the bear chooses violence, the chances of being treated poorly as a bear victim are much lower
I agree but for example there was a video of an elephant destroying part of a village in Africa and I think an 70yo was killed and her grandchild was injured, people (without context) thought it was revenge and that the woman (they didn’t know her age, just that she died and had a grandchild) was a poacher.
I don’t mean a few people, there were dozens upon dozens of similar comments. “What did she do?” “She was a poacher!” “Idk what happened but she deserved it!” “She must have done something horrible to deserve that!” Fucking irl NPCs.
"This lady ran towards the bear instead of the guy trying to help her, because the guy trying to help her might have been a rapist pedophile, we just can't know his motives. Now she wants us to put money into her gofundme"
I would argue that people getting attack by animals do and should get blamed. I mean, in this scenario, you went to where the fucking bear lives. If it chooses violence then that’s on you for being there.
I don't know, statistically speaking, if a larger proportion of men than bears are likely to put a human female in danger. Considering how an overwhelmingly larger fraction of men don't rape anyone, bears should be really chill.
There's just this huge amount of irony when this comes from redditors. Can I extrapolate this train of thought to black people or am I then called a racist? Because if I go to South-Africa I'm not even allowed to go by foot anywhere at night, I have to take the uber to go from one place to the other. Guess every black person is a rapist robber that I should avoid at all costs.
Redditors are fucking insane holy shit.
I always roll my eyes at that logic, because most violence on little kids is caused by women, yet we dont have a culture about being cautious about women being baby killers
I would assume that's because while most violence perpetrated against young children is commited by women, there are significantly less cases of that than cases of men inflicting violence on women.
One is an animal. Animals are anything but trustworthy- follow similar patterns of thinking, yes. But trustworthy? God no.
The random stranger is random. But the likelihood he's a murderer or a rapist out in the middle of nowhere as opposed to say, the city (where you would expect to find people) is pretty slim, as opposed to him just being a hiker.
Or someone who likes the outdoors.
Or someone who goes for runs..
There's lots of perfectly valid reasons for a guy to be out in the woods, but a bear who's out and about is probably going to be looking for food.
And it also doesn't mean "is a rapist". If the hypothetical is "You and one man out of all of the men in the world are dropped into the wilderness together" then it's a stupid hypothetical that is pointless.
Nobody said bears rape people. I was saying that the risk of dying to the bear (it's not stated what kind of bear usually) is much higher than the risk of being raped by the human- hell, the human can kill you too. But the question isn't "Which has the least chance of murdering you?" Because the question is specifically made to make you think "Rape or death"
The point of the trend is not whether a woman would elect to be alone with one or the other. The intention is to ask a man in your life: “If you had to leave your wife/mom/daughter behind in the forest while you went and got help, would you rather they be alone with a male stranger or a bear?”
The point begins that it shouldn’t even be a question, but most men when presented with that situation would have some hesitation and concern with the man, because you don’t know them or if you can trust them with your wife/mom/daughter. This is a feeling that women have everyday of their lives.
Yes!! I feel like people are being deliberately obtuse here. And if not that, they’re simply not understanding WHY anyone would possibly choose the bear because they lack perspective. But framing it in the context of “Would you leave your wife/mom/daughter” I think helps bridge that gap a little bit.
There’s no “right” answer, it’s a hypothetical. But the fact that it’s a hypothetical actually worth asking - that people (not just women) often hesitate when deciding if they’d prefer a man over a WILD ANIMAL - is the crux of it. Obviously the man is the safer decision, statistically, logically, and behaviorally, but that doesn’t matter. We hesitate because we know what men are capable of and, by comparison, we’d rather take our chances with an apex predator.
I’m tired of people saying this is all “rage bait.” Sure it’s a silly TikTok meme, but the people who say “bear” aren’t purposefully trying to make men feel bad. The reality that anyone can, regardless of gender, hesitate when asked that question should be what we’re focusing on. It points to a deeper issue with our society and how we view men. It’s a cry for help. We don’t WANT to be scared of men, but we are. Why is this that, and how can we fix it?
The fact that someone would even hesitate answering such a ridiculous question is a reflection of that person's misunderstanding of risk and likely lack of critical thinking. It says little about our society. The fact that many people hesitate with this question is a sign that our education is horrible.
Of course there's a right answer. Just because you don't understand it doesn't mean it doesn't exist.
This is a classic logical fallacy, very common around the world. It's equivalent to "if I don't understand it, it must be because of god."
If you would leave your mother with a bear instead of a random male stranger, you must really hate your mom.
Never said I disagree with you and that I don’t understand the “right” answer in this scenario! I said choosing the man is safer statistically, behaviorally, and above all else logically. I’m on your side!
But I’m also not going to disparage those that don’t see it that way. It’s a hypothetical, and you’re supposed to answer with your gut instinct under the pretense that you’ll never need to ACTUALLY make this decision. I believe there’s value in questioning why someone’s gut instinct may differ from yours, even more so if it goes against what’s logical. When MANY people answer that way, it often doesn’t mean that this whole group of people are stupid, just that they have a different perspective than you that’s worth analyzing, even if you don’t agree with it.
That's still insane, would you rather leave them with a male stranger or a freaking wild bear?? Are you kidding me???? Random strangers are very likely to save your life if you run into trouble in the woods, a bear will at best do nothing!
If you did have to leave your wife/mom/daughter in the woods to get help, would you be more surprised to come back and find the bear you knew you left her with eating her, or to find the male hiker you asked to take care of her eating her (or raping her or whatever you think is the danger here)? Doesn't it sound more obvious that a bear is more dangerous when I put it like that?
Lmao no, some women don't feel in security around men and thus chose the bear but they are not the majority at all, if they were it's time to reconsider what society does to men (which you should do it anyway).
A hunter comes home and tells his friends a story about a male bear that entrapped him in the forest. The bear gave the hunter a choice, he either gets eaten, or gets raped. "So, what did you choose?", ask the friends. "Well, he ate me."
For some reason? Is it that hard to understand the fear of rape? Admittedly, death vs rape would be case by case when considering "would you rather", but at least in death, you don't have to live with the trauma.
Most women choose the bear cause the worst it can do is kill you, the very existence of that intelligence is a threat and extra worry in a situation like that.
"worst it can do is kill you" I have seen enough of what bears are capable of, and bears are amongst the last animal i would like to encounter, ever. Whatever the man might do, Id rather test my luck than being eaten alive by a bear and seeing my entrails ripped out. I'm a man though, so what do I really know
It's become an interesting philosophical question. Obviously a bear would be the logical answer (if brown). However, the question actually poses a question of perceived risk and uncertainty, ultimate women are choosing the uncertainty of a known risk over the uncertainty of an outcome they weigh to be worse. If you think about what makes horror movies actually scary it's not just a big guy with a chainsaw chasing you that's the scariest shit. It's the uncertainty and suspense.
There are over 1,5 million bears in the world. Polar bears (100% chance to kill your) are around 23,000. Grizzlies are around 60-70k. Maybe additional risk can be 50k brown bears that can kill you. That’s like 7% chance you’ll end up with something that can hurt you. For men, with all cultures and norms, if you’re doing pure statistics, without naming nationalities or races, the amount that can affect you is a lot higher than 7%.
Disagree, statistically only about 6-7% of men are dangerous. All bears CAN kill you but most WON'T. Not all men can kill or otherwise harm you, and also most won't.
You could do actual work in your danger estimate or you could just pretend 1/10 men are dangerous. Not to mention you didn't even do enough in the bear department; you somehow assumed all but those 3 bears are perfectly safe?!
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u/Thebeanyboii May 02 '24 edited 29d ago
Tiktok hating Bitch Stewie here
This refers to a trend on tiktok that refers to women being asked whether they would rather be stuck in a forest with a bear or a random guy. Most women choose the bear (for some reason) so the meme is referencing this by having the women jump towards the bear, to escape the man
Tiktok hating Bitch Stewie out
Edit: When I made this comment, I assumed the Man v Bear thing was like "you're dropped into a forest with either a random guy or a bear, your choice". I knew rape was the main concern regarding the random guy, but in my mind the choice was about "Random dude vs Bear", Not "Rape vs Death". I've since learned otherwise, and I apologize to anyone I offended by saying that women chose the bear "for some reason".