Now there’s a good entry in the man vs. bear saga that explains why I felt so strongly about it.
If a woman says she’s prefer the bear to a man, the men who ARE like the bear and would have her by force if necessary won’t give a damn, but the ones that aren’t, who might be available to form an emotional bond with her, will have their patriarchal wound reinforces and thus be turned off.
So what that statement is really doing is reinforcing the patriarchy. It’s just another way of saying “men are all the same and nothing will ever change that.” It practically guarantees a continuation of the status quo and eliminates all possibilities for healing.
I’m with you. For my part I am trying to just encourage a space of positivity under these memes, listening to women express their stories of course because that was the original point.
But then once that is said and done, I don’t recommend we ever come back to the bear hypothetical, double down on it, or encourage any man to take it personally. Because yeah while it grabs attention, it’s also rhetorically just very inefficient compared to something as simple as posting bell hooks memes.
Really? I don’t think it’s reinforcing the patriarchy. I think it’s pretty funny, a satirical commentary on the unfortunate truth that most people don’t feel safe around males. Like, bruh, I’m a dude, but I’d rather see a bear than another man if I was on a solo backpacking trip.
Like, bruh, I’m a dude, but I’d rather see a bear than another man if I was on a solo backpacking trip.
I think you may have a skewed perception of the risks, at least where I live. As someone who is out in the wilds of the Rocky Mountains on a frequent basis I’d much rather wander into another man than a bear. Here in Wyoming Brown Bears, aka Grizzlies, are now mauling or killing multiple people per year during wilderness encounters however I haven’t heard of a single random wilderness encounter where a man attacked or killed someone in at least a decade.
If you are hiking somewhere that only has Black Bears than yeah you are statistically safer with the Bear. If you hike here though you are statistically safer with the man.
OP here, obviously I have no authority but it would be excellent if we could refrain from rehashing any of this debate here. It tends toward discussions that get my posts removed and I like them to stay up. <3
If you can’t hold yourself back, please continue to be respectful and excellent to one another (you are good so far 🙂).
