Man vs. Bear

Neither! Statistically most encounters with either man or bear do not end in disaster. I would probably take the view that the bear is in his natural habitat and going about his everyday business, whereas the man might have deliberately followed me into the forest and is more likely to be up to no good.

On the other hand if both were determined to kill me, I may have a better chance of outrunning the man and trying to fight him off or using words to dissuade him from harming me.

The most likely bear attack would be from a female defending her cubs or one that is starving. So I suppose it would serve me right for invading their territory. Men predate women for their own gratification.

On balance, I think I'll go with bear.

I just asked my DH and he said he would rather a bear for me because I can scare a bear away.

There is a podcast on BBC Sounds called “Antisocial” by Adam Fleming.
The latest episode is Man vs Bear. I’ve not listened yet but the other episodes have been fascinating, intelligent balanced debate about hot button topics.

This question started as part of a dialogue on sexual violence against women by men.
OK perhaps it is cynical but victims of abuse, sexual attack, random as well as domestic violence and rape will almost certainly have encountered some of the these…
Food for thought, I think
A bear won’t hit you in the face with a brick if you won’t give it your phone number.
A bear won’t stalk you if it told you you’re pretty and you said you weren’t interested
A bear won’t pretend to be kind to get you to lower your guard
A bear won’t lock you in a basement for months to torture you.
A bear generally won’t bother you if you’re not bothering it
If you encounter a bear, it will almost always retreat slowly because it means you no harm.
If you do get attacked by a bear and you say so, people will believe you
No one will ask you what you were wearing that made the bear attack you
No one will ask you how much you had to drink.
No one will ask you what you were thinking, being in the woods.
No one will ask you if you even tried to fight back.
No one will ask you if you led the bear to believe you wanted to be attacked
No one will condemn you for not fighting back harder.
No one will arrest you for harming the bear.
No one will say you deserved the attack
No one will ask how many bears you allowed to attack you before
The bear won’t say you were asking for it.
The bear won’t say it was consensual
The bear won’t try to convince everyone you’re lying
The bear won’t get his buddies to maul you too
The bear won’t threaten you to get you to keep the attack a secret
If you survive a bear attack, you don’t have to worry that the bear might be good friends with medical staff or the police
You won’t have to hear that you’re making it all up to get attention
You won’t have your reputation called into question
You won’t get called a slut.
People won’t tell you you’re paranoid for being cautious around bears
People won’t tell you that not all bears are dangerous
If a bear attacks you, you won’t be told it wouldn’t be fair to ruin the bear’s future by bringing it up
You won’t be told the bear is from a nice family and they don’t deserve the humiliation of an arrest
IF A BEAR ATTACKS YOU, WE KILL THE BEAR SO IT DOESN’T HARM ANYONE ELSE

If you still don’t get it, consider this:

Many women in the woods carry bear spray .

AND IT’S NOT BECAUSE OF BEARS.

It all depends on what type of bear I'd have thought

But I'd certainly head to the man if it was a grizzly.

I've seen and heard a lot about how bears attack. They don't just kill you immediately. They take chunks out, the way we'd eat an apple.

Online you can find the horror that happened to Timothy Treadwell and his girlfriend. There was audio of his last 28 minutes as he was eaten alive. He'd been in his tent. The bears knew him. But something went horrifically wrong

Also a young Russian girl was in the woods with her dad. Bear attacked. Then killed her. Slowly. She phoned her mother who had to listen for almost an hour as she was eaten alive.

So I'm heading towards the bloke. Most men are actually decent human beings. It's sad to hear women think that men are predatory. They're not. We all have fathers, husbands, brothers.

How do women manage to get into Ubers with male drivers? Male delivery drivers?

Yes, there are some awful things that man can do. I've been on the receiving end myself

But if I see a grizzly in the woods I'll be heading towards the bloke.

Also it's highly unlikely we'll run into a bear

But we'll run into a lot of men in our lives.

Most are decent

I’d rather run into a man. You may be able to talk him out of harming you. But a bear, no chance.

I’ve been in a frightening experience with a man I managed to get out . If a bear is determined to hurt you there’s no out

I don't have experience with bears, but I would speculate that if you are minding your own business and not bothering the bear, it won't bother you, either. On the other hand, if I encountered one accidentally, I think I would be terrified.

Oh dear {sigh}

I think I'd take my chances with a man and hope that he's a decent one. I don't fancy being eaten by a bear.

Obviously they haven't said what kind of bear. Some black bears are used to people and don't bother with them.
I wouldn't want to come face to face with a grizzly!

I'm with henetha
What a silly question!

I wouldn't mind if it was a Koala

NotSpaghetti

Obviously they haven't said what kind of bear. Some black bears are used to people and don't bother with them.
I wouldn't want to come face to face with a grizzly!

I'm with henetha
What a silly question!

Oh dear!
When people take everything literally………

henetha

I wouldn't mind if it was a Koala

Koalas aren't bears!

They are marsupials, Phascolarctidae, unrelated to other species although have similarities to wombats.

And - they have very sharp claws!

Paddington would be ok 🙂.

Jaxjacky

Paddington would be ok 🙂.

Oh yes, especially if he brought marmalade sandwiches!

Man, definitely.
What others say about bears is true, they snack on people, so horrendous.
Thank God none in the UK.

https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202405/medium-535559-da084b28-00eb-4e6f-984a-91bfc5c9e761.png https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202405/medium-858393-6945dc4e-b990-445f-a61e-ed848dd5a3a9.jpeg

I wonder if anybody heard Adam Fleming on last night’s “Antisocial” on Radio 4.

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0018h15/episodes/guide

Puts it into context.
(So many people have simply missed the point.)

I don't think I (and others) have "missed the point" - I just think the "point" is rather silly.

And it's listed in "Games"!

The choice of forum was not mine
I don’t think any form of violence against women can be dismissed as “silly” do you?

RosiesMaw, I’ve just read this thread, and I thought your post on 4/5/24 at 20:21 was interesting and indeed, food for thought. Please can I have a prize for not missing the point, please please?

👏👏🏆🥇