"Man or bear" (also called "man vs. bear") is a viral social media debate centered on a scenario for women to consider: whether they would prefer to be alone in the woods with a man or a bear.[1] The meme originates from a popular TikTok video by Screenshot HQ posted in April 2024. The prominence of responses choosing the bear has been associated with the widespread violence against women.
Background
editThe meme originated from a TikTok video published by Screenshot HQ in April 2024 which interviewed eight women on the question, with seven out of them picking the bear.[1] The post went viral and gained over 16 million views in two months.[2][3]
Response
editOnline reception
editThe online reception to the Screenshot HQ video was divided.[4] Most women responded to the meme saying they would also choose the bear.[5][6] One of the main reasons they chose this answer was that men are more likely to commit sexual violence against women than bears.[6] Other popular arguments included that bears are unable to commit acts worse than murder, that they are more predictable, and that they treat women as people.[1]
When posed the same question, many men also chose the bear.[1][7] Many men also negatively responded to the common choice of the bear among women.[8][9]
Commentary from journalists
editSome journalists compared the response of women sharing their assault experiences online with the #MeToo movement.[5][10] Femi Oluwole of The Independent argued that the debate showed that men need to be more informed about the dangers women face in society, highlighting murder cases such as Grace Millane's and Sade Robinson's.[11]
Rachel Ulatowski of the feminist magazine The Mary Sue called men's backlash to women picking the bear "bizarre" and "laughable" due to weak arguments with misused statistics and claims of misandry.[8] Some journalists compared it to the #NotAllMen meme.[10][6] Clarissa-Jan Lim of MSNBC argued that discussion focusing on the actual hostility of bears misses the point, which she said was the "dangers that women experience in [a] world" with men.[7]
Wilfred Reilly of the conservative publication National Review criticized the bear-favoring statistics people shared as an example of the base rate fallacy that he claimed was widespread in modern American politics.[12] Megan McArdle of The Washington Post argued that those statistics were a confusion of the inverse fallacy that "reinforce harmful stereotypes" of women being "irrational, neurotic and bad at math".[13]
Legacy
editLater in July, the influencer Amanda Wylie shared a video to TikTok about her encounter with a bear in the woods. She compared it to the "man or bear" meme, saying she would still "choose the bear".[14][15]
Scientific validity
editThe World Health Organization states that one in three women face sexual or physical violence in their lifetime, overwhelmingly by men. In contrast, there have been 664 bear attacks over fifteen years with most being non-fatal, which means bear attacks are far less common.[6] Bear expert Jean-Jacques Camarra says that bears have evolved to fear humans, and would therefore most likely run away.[3]
References
edit- ^ a b c d Murray, Conor. "Man Or Bear? Many Women Say They'd Rather Be Stuck in the Woods With a Bear in Latest Viral TikTok Debate". Forbes. Retrieved July 31, 2024.
- ^ Adams, Abigail. "Would You Rather Be in the Woods with a Bear or Man? TikTok Users Weigh In on the Debate". People. Retrieved August 1, 2024.
- ^ a b Philibert, Marjorie (June 21, 2024). "Alone in a forest, most women would rather run into a bear than a man". Le Monde. Retrieved July 31, 2024.
- ^ Encinas, Amaris. "Man or bear? Hypothetical question sparks conversation about women's safety". USA Today. Retrieved July 31, 2024.
- ^ a b "Women will stop fearing men when men are less frightening". The Seattle Times. May 20, 2024. Retrieved August 1, 2024.
- ^ a b c d Sugiura, Lisa (May 2, 2024). "Why women would prefer to be alone in the woods with a bear than a man". The Conversation. Retrieved August 1, 2024.
- ^ a b "Why a question about whether a woman is safer with a man or a bear has made people angry". MSNBC. May 7, 2024. Retrieved July 31, 2024.
- ^ a b Ulatowski, Rachel (May 1, 2024). "Men Are Proving the Whole Point of the Man vs. Bear Debate". The Mary Sue. Retrieved July 31, 2024.
- ^ Willingham, A. J. (May 6, 2024). "Man or bear? A viral question has revealed some uncomfortable truths". CNN. Retrieved July 31, 2024.
- ^ a b Bokody, Nadia (April 29, 2024). "Men missing the point in viral man vs. bear debate". news.com.au. Retrieved August 1, 2024.
- ^ "Are women safer with men or bears? I vote bears – and I'm a bloke". The Independent. May 1, 2024. Retrieved August 1, 2024.
- ^ "The Man-vs.-Bear Fallacy". National Review. May 14, 2024. Retrieved August 1, 2024.
- ^ McArdle, Megan (May 9, 2024). "Who loses in the 'man or bear' showdown? Women". The Washington Post. Retrieved August 1, 2024.
- ^ "Woman has close encounter with grizzly in Montana — but would still 'choose the bear'". The Independent. July 17, 2024. Retrieved July 31, 2024.
- ^ Shafiq, Saman. "Video shows woman's scarily close encounter with grizzly. She says she'd still 'choose the bear.'". USA Today. Retrieved July 31, 2024.