The man vs bear meme

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^ Not at all.

I was making light of the comparison between man and bear.

Cheer up.

I like to think I'm prepared for quite a few eventualities to do with people...thats just me personally

I do see how some women would be truly terrified if they were approached by a man in the woods and I defo see why they would prefer to come face to face with a bear but it is totally hypothetical if you think about it

I also get why some men would be offended by the response of some women

I wonder if men who'd been attacked by a bear even once in their life, or men who knew other men who'd been attacked by bears, might be afraid to encounter another bear, even if it was in an enclosure, or even years later?

This is trauma. I don't know why it's OK for men to have trauma responses but when / if women have them, it's suggested that they're overreacting.

Nearly every woman I know, and a few men too, have been assaulted, injured, robbed, threatened, stalked, mocked, or otherwise harassed by at least one man. That includes my partner who was SA, my son who was stabbed, my daughter who is being stalked, and my own hell at the hands of a psycho.

I don't know anyone who's been hurt by a bear, although of course it happens and the very thought of it is terrifying.

Despite my experiences I'd rather walk past a man than a bear, because I have a fear of wild animals and I like to focus on th fact most men are good. That doesn't mean that anyone else is wrong to choose bears. A person can choose whatever they want to choose and they shouldn't be heckled as a result of their opinion.

This should be treated as a learning opportunity.

What do you mean? I'm not unhappy.

Your post seemed a bit sour and serious in tone - the one where you questioned whether I was humoured regarding violence towards women (obviously that wasn't what I meant, but you seemed to jump to that preliminary conclusion anyway).

My 'cheer up' comment was in response to the tone of your post.

I wasn't trying to impart an estimate of your general mood.

Asking someone to elaborate isn’t being “sour.” It IS a serious topic and there are survivors here, so I’m a bit puzzled as to why people would want to make light of it unless their understanding of the issue is rather limited which is probably why Issy asked what you were referring to. Telling a woman to “cheer up” seems a bit like telling a woman to smile…

People can speak in whatever way feels appropriate to them at the time as long as they aren’t breaking any rules.

Last edited by TwilightPrincess on 08 May 2024, 12:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I was specifically making light of men being compared to bears, not the topic at large. I think that I have said that already.

I wouldn't wanna run into a bear me

Me neither.

Or snakes... human snakes especially. You have to be weary of those things.

Having grown up in the country, I don’t mind bears. I actually like seeing them. They are dangerous when there are cubs around or if they are backed into a corner. I wouldn’t want to be very close to one. Normally, they’re afraid of people. However, I only have experience with black bears that I can recall.

I would easily pick a man over a tiger. I’m more on the fence with bears. It depends on a few variables. Tigers are carnivorous not omnivorous, like bears. Bears are more likely to attack if they feel threatened, so it’s less about hunting a tasty meal.

I think I might need a new pair of underwear if I were to meet a tiger in the wild.

Yeah I'd definitely s**t myself

I wasn't feeling sour, but just stating the truth that there are "man warning systems".
That's why dangerous offenders are listed in registries, or they have permanent records.
The same is true for dangerous women but that wasn't the topic.

I'm not sure how anyone would interpret "tone" or sourness from stating facts.

I asked if you were humoured to clarify, because you put a laughing face.
I didn't want to jump to conclusions without double-checking.

You said earlier that the man / bear thing was an opportunity for the internet to hurt men.
I just want to make it clear that the public response to this meme hurts women too.

I agree with everything Duck wrote about the topic causing unnecessary division.

Yup. I also agree with Duck's last post. I see the meme as mostly an opportunity for men and women to hurt each other. Might be different if it were presented to a group of extremely calm, thoughtful and co-operative people, but it got posted in the public domain on social media. Accident or design? Even here there were moments of friction, to say the least, but it seems to be coming back onto an even keel. It's one of the thorniest subjects I've seen.

I think the division caused by the meme is disheartening to say the least. People seem quick to take offense rather than listen to the concerns made by many women. It’s a hard topic to address if people are going to be so easily bent out of shape over it. That happens a lot when women share their experiences regarding abuse. We have to give a lot of disclaimers that it’s not all men or else people will assume we’re misandrist. In order for change to happen, people need to do more interacting and less reacting.

Underrated comment:

Last edited by TwilightPrincess on 08 May 2024, 3:13 pm, edited 1 time in total.