As a happily married woman in her mid-30s, let me explain.
1 in 3 women are victims of violence, and I’m pretty sure the number is actually quite a bit higher. Only a few hundred women have ever been mauled by bears.
As a woman, there are very few certain methods to avoid being assaulted or harassed by humans. But bears are relatively uncomplicated and there are simple steps to avoid getting mauled that almost always work.
Now, let me get this really really clear. The question is “if you have to be in a forest with a random man or a bear”. The bear is predictable, the man is not. The bear will always mind its own business and will almost always avoid you. The man might not. The man might be super nice, quite a lot of men are, but you can’t know that, it’s a random man. The bear is a bear, a known factor.
Almost every woman will have a story, first or second hand, where an otherwise good and trustworthy man suddenly does something unwanted. Again, most men won’t, but you can’t know that in advance. The bear, on the other hand, will remain a bear in all cases.
The question is not “would you prefer to be locked in a tiny cell with a man or a hungry bear”. It’s not “who would you rather fight?”. The question is, “do you prefer a known-but-dangerous animal, or an unknown man?”. And women are choosing a known and controllable quantity, over a human male they don’t know and can’t control for.
Only a few hundred women have ever been mauled by bears.
Don’t you think this is subject to sampling bias? How much time do women spend with bears versus men?
My wife was recently in a forest with a random bear. The bear walked away.
My mother and sister told a story of meeting a bear on a trail. The bear walked away.
A large percentage of women I have met have a story about a problem with an aggressive man at some point.
“as a rule, men are subhuman scum more dangerous to me than wild carnivorous animals”
Lol. No one said that. But the fact that you hear that when women say they feel threatened is very telling of who you are as a person. I hope your wife finds freedom eventually.
It’s clear you are choosing not to understand the difference between what you said and what the question said. I can’t save you from your willful ignorance.
Even if 99% of men were not abusers, the 1% that are also tend to hide their malice and pretend to be decent until alone and the woman is vulnerable. So as women interact with hundreds or thousands of men over their lifetimes they will come across these abusers or know someone who was abused and that the system blames victims and the fear is not just about percentage chance of a horrible outcome, but that society continues the abuse.
A bear is a known factor, dangerous but never in a deceptive way and society doesn’t tend to blame victims of animal attacks.
Also the percentage of abusers is way higher than 1%. Everyone knows multiple rape and abuse victims, but few people know someone who was mauled by a bear. That is the context for this question.
“As a happily married man I’m got so triggered by an internet meme that I started ranting to strangers about divorcing my wife.”
Healthy and normal…
Ok. I see you didn’t. Pretty sexist of you to assume your wife answer btw.