The turnover rate for TikTok trends is absurdly fast, but none have had the lasting impact that the “man versus bear” debate has. Darker than the viral “How often do you think about the Roman Empire?” question, this trend stems from a video of eight women being asked “Would you rather be stuck in the woods with a man or a bear?” and seven women answered “bear.” This exploded into both online and in person discourses surrounding the larger question of why women feel so unsafe around men. It was not the original video, but the response from females everywhere that caught my attention and caused me to look inward. This trend is communicative of a greater issue. Women do not feel the same level of safety that men feel at all times, indicative of a societal problem of gender-based violence.
A rendezvous with a grizzly in the woods is obviously not ideal, unless you are of the National Geographic fanatic variety. However, many women are in agreement that they would rather play dead than encounter a man. One factor is unpredictability. Through one way or another, we have all received instruction on how to deal with an unexpected animal, and if you have not – for black bears, you make yourself bigger and make noise, for grizzlies, play dead. The bear has an unfortunate but accurate reputation as aggressive and deadly, so one is aware of its intentions. However, when coming across a man by yourself, women everywhere have provided the consensus that his intentions are unknown and the unpredictable nature of his actions could be worse than the threat of a bear attack. Forbes says, “In one video liked more than 2 million times, a user compiled some of the most gut-wrenching reasons women chose the bear—such as ‘the worst thing the bear can do is kill me,’ ‘the bear doesn’t get enjoyment out of it’ and ‘the bear sees me as a human being.’” CNN compiled more chilling TikTok comments, “If I got attacked by a bear people would believe me” and “The fact that women would even consider hypothetical man/bear questions means we have utterly failed to create a safe society.” The article continued, “Another user added a layer of nuance, pointing out that men (or people in general) can lie, make false promises, downplay their own danger and generally be predatory on a level no bear could ever be.” It is frightening that public opinion says a bear attack is favorable to the unknown intentions of a man.
Unsurprisingly, as with all trends, this one quickly received backlash, especially from aggravated and hurt men who interpreted responses to the “man versus bear” question as misandry. An article written by a man at the Washington Post provided a bunch of juxtaposing data that overall minimalized the issue. The article noted that “in the United States, men commit about 80 percent of violent crimes, a high percentage of them against women, especially sexual assault. So, yes, women should stay alert in such situations” and “According to a 2017 government survey, nearly 50 percent of women have had unwanted sexual contact with a man, while a woman’s lifetime risk of forcible rape is higher than 16 percent. One in 8 of those rapes is committed by a stranger — like our hypothetical man in the woods.” However, the writer was bogged down by statistics and largely disregarded the overarching opinion that women do not feel safe around men they do not know. The pro-bear response made by most women is not intended to be targeted hate towards men, and I think this is a facet of the major misconception about feminism: that it is anti-men. It is difficult because not your boyfriend, nor your brother, nor your mailman is at the center of this viral quandary. It is the man that makes a woman feel unsafe, and the women responding to this trend are asking for empathy.
