Why women would prefer to be alone in the woods with a bear than a man

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Why women would prefer to be alone in the woods with a bear than a man

Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

Would you rather find yourself alone in the woods with a bear or a man? This is the question currently

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. Based on the responses online, it looks like most women answering the question say they would choose the bear, a decision that is

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.

The reactions show some men don’t understand women’s experiences. The assertion that women would prefer to encounter a bear is based on evidence about the rate of male ********* against women, and on a lifetime of learning to ***** and anticipate this *********. This is especially true of ******* *********, something which would not be associated with encountering a bear.

According to the World Health Organization,

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—around 736 million globally—will have experienced ******* or physical ********* by an intimate partner or ******* ********* from a non-partner in their lifetime. This figure has largely remained unchanged over the past decade.

Being attacked by a bear is much less common, with only

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over 15 years, and very few

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. And bears tend to avoid humans, attacking only when provoked or protecting their young.

This is not about generalizing or fearing all men. Women know that not all men are dangerous. But women don’t know which men they should *****, only that male ********* and male entitlement to women’s bodies is something that they have to be on guard for.

Women are

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of sexualized *********, and men are overwhelmingly the perpetrators (including

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). There are enough men who have hurt or are capable of hurting women, and women have no way of knowing which ones these are.

While much ********* against women comes from men they know, the risk of danger from men they don’t know is something that informs their day-to-day lives.

For example, research shows that women change their behavior—making certain decisions about the routes they take or what they wear—to avoid harassment or ****** from men in public. Scholars such as Fiona Vera-Gray refer to this as

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Women’s view of men is also ******** by their non-violent actions that harm women. Clearly, bears also do not contribute to or uphold systemic sexism and misogyny, but most men do.

My

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on misogynistic online groups has explored how men engage in acts against women that reinforce gender inequality.

Writer Emma Pitman has described this phenomenon using the analogy of a

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. The choices of some men to stay silent about ****** is the base of the pyramid, holding up other men who engage in misogynistic jokes or commit *********.

The overall effect, whether deliberate or via ignorance or indifference, is to normalize and support the actions of male ******* predators and domestic ****** perpetrators.

This culture props up the men who are silent bystanders, observing sexism, harassment or ****** but doing nothing, the men who make or laugh along with the sexist or ***** jokes, those who are ***** apologists and blame women for their ******* victimization, those who become aggressive when women turn them down, those who stalk, control and ****** women, and those who are rapists, ******* harassers and murderers. This continuum of misogyny is women’s everyday reality—and at no point do bears feature.

Men on the defensive

Men are generally surprised, defensive even, when the subject of male ********* against women is discussed. This is often where people invoke the response “not all men.”

When women took to social media to express their anger and devastation following the ******* of

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by a police officer in 2021, #NotAllMen trended online. Meanwhile, police advised women not to walk alone at night, placing the burden of avoiding ********* on women.

This conversation is about privilege, and not recognizing it. Many men are able to move through their daily lives not being worried that they are going to be attacked or ******, can walk alone late at night without taking any safety precautions or even not having such thoughts cross their minds, and do not feel their hearts beat faster if they hear footsteps behind them.

It may not be all men, but it is all women, who live smaller lives because of the threat of some men’s *********.

These discussions are an opportunity for men to understand women’s genuine fears and to be part of the solution rather than the problem.

Provided by
The Conversation

This article is republished from

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under a Creative Commons license. Read the

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Citation:
Opinion: Why women would prefer to be alone in the woods with a bear than a man (2024, May 4)
retrieved 4 May 2024
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