So, I’m just assuming we’ve all seen the discussions about the bear.
Personally I feel that this is an opportunity for everyone to stop and think a little about it.
The knee-jerk reaction from many men seems to be something along the lines of “You would choose a dangerous animal over me? That makes me feel bad about myself.” which results in endless comments of the “Akchully… according to Bayes theorem you are much more likely to…” kind.
It should be clear by now that it doesn’t lead to good places.
Maybe, and I’m open to being wrong, but maybe the real message is women saying: “We are scared of unknown men.”
Then, if that is the message intended, what do we do next? Maybe the best thing is just to listen. To ask questions. What have you experienced to make you feel that way?
I firmly believe that the empathy we give lays a foundation for other people being willing to have empathy for the things we try to communicate.
It doesn’t mean we should feel bad about ourselves, but just to recognize that someone is trying to say something, and it’s not a technical discussion about bears.
What do you think?
Maybe it depends on the type of bear.
If it’s brown, lay down. If it’s black, fight back. If it’s white, say good night (RIP).
On the other side of things, there’s probably the context. Some women would never go into the woods at all, so if they’re there with a strange man, things are probably going to get bad.
But if there’s a bear, they’re probably alone, and just need to leave the area. The bear lives in the woods (unless it’s a polar bear), and it’s probably minding its own business.
Maybe what depends on the type of bear? Because the context is what a man should do when a woman tells him she’d rather be near a bear than him.
I’d love to hang out with a sun bear.
Definitely would rather be in the woods with a strange sun bear than a strange man. What if he tries to get me into Magic The Gathering?