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Illustration of the "bear" scenario on the left and the "man" scenario on the right

"Man or bear" (also called "man vs. bear") is a viral social media debate and Internet meme 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

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The 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

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Online reception

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The 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

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Some 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.[11] Journalists highlighted various murder cases such as Grace Millane's and Futura Junko's.[11][12]

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 National Review criticized the bear-favoring statistics people shared as an example of the base rate fallacy that he stated was widespread in modern American politics.[13] 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".[14]

Legacy

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Later 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".[15][16] In addition, the influencer Sir Carter referenced the meme in the most viral LGBT TikTok of mid-2024.[17]

Kayleigh Donaldson of Paste associated the novel Bear (1976) by Marian Engel with the meme.[18] According to Tamlyn Avery of The Conversation, Julia Phillips's 2024 book Bear alludes to the debate during a scene with the main character Sam at a family funeral.[19]

Statistics

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The 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

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  1. ^ 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. Archived from the original on May 29, 2024. Retrieved July 31, 2024.
  2. ^ Adams, Abigail. "Would You Rather Be in the Woods with a Bear or Man? TikTok Users Weigh In on the Debate". People. Archived from the original on August 1, 2024. Retrieved August 1, 2024.
  3. ^ a b Philibert, Marjorie (June 21, 2024). "Alone in a forest, most women would rather run into a bear than a man". Le Monde. Archived from the original on August 17, 2024. Retrieved July 31, 2024.
  4. ^ Encinas, Amaris. "Man or bear? Hypothetical question sparks conversation about women's safety". USA Today. Retrieved July 31, 2024.
  5. ^ a b "Women will stop fearing men when men are less frightening". The Seattle Times. May 20, 2024. Archived from the original on August 17, 2024. Retrieved August 1, 2024.
  6. ^ 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. Archived from the original on May 14, 2024. Retrieved August 1, 2024.
  7. ^ 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. Archived from the original on May 30, 2024. Retrieved July 31, 2024.
  8. ^ a b Ulatowski, Rachel (May 1, 2024). "Men Are Proving the Whole Point of the Man vs. Bear Debate". The Mary Sue. Archived from the original on June 4, 2024. Retrieved July 31, 2024.
  9. ^ Willingham, A. J. (May 6, 2024). "Man or bear? A viral question has revealed some uncomfortable truths". CNN. Archived from the original on May 27, 2024. Retrieved July 31, 2024.
  10. ^ a b Bokody, Nadia (April 29, 2024). "Men missing the point in viral man vs. bear debate". news.com.au. Retrieved August 1, 2024.
  11. ^ a b "Are women safer with men or bears? I vote bears – and I'm a bloke". The Independent. May 1, 2024. Archived from the original on August 17, 2024. Retrieved August 1, 2024.
  12. ^ Rahman, Nufaiysa M. (August 18, 2024). "Men vs Bear: Why Women Will Always Choose the Bear". Prothom Alo. Retrieved August 19, 2024.
  13. ^ "The Man-vs.-Bear Fallacy". National Review. May 14, 2024. Archived from the original on August 17, 2024. Retrieved August 1, 2024.
  14. ^ McArdle, Megan (May 9, 2024). "Who loses in the 'man or bear' showdown? Women". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on May 18, 2024. Retrieved August 1, 2024.
  15. ^ "Woman has close encounter with grizzly in Montana — but would still 'choose the bear'". The Independent. July 17, 2024. Retrieved July 31, 2024.
  16. ^ Shafiq, Saman. "Video shows woman's scarily close encounter with grizzly. She says she'd still 'choose the bear.'". USA Today. Archived from the original on August 17, 2024. Retrieved July 31, 2024.
  17. ^ Maskell, Emily (August 16, 2024). "The funniest and most viral LGBTQ+ TikTok videos from the last six months". PinkNews. Retrieved August 17, 2024.
  18. ^ "Are You Team Bear? This Novel Was Ahead of the Curve". Paste. June 11, 2024. Retrieved August 17, 2024.
  19. ^ Avery, Tamlyn (August 15, 2024). "A post-pandemic novel with a fairy tale twist, Julia Phillips' Bear is a harrowing story of economic hardship". The Conversation. Retrieved August 17, 2024.
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