Thank you to the men in the comments who react like humans with empathy!

But god damn there are a lot of people on this thread that are taking this VERY personally.

1. Nobody is denying that men in our society deserve to be respected, nobody is saying IF YOU'RE A MAN FUCK YOU ID RATHER BE MAULED, and nobody is saying that women are always right no matter what.

2. Of course the man could be weaker/not a threat. Of course he should be assumed safe. Of course everyone should respect all genders. And, OF COURSE, some women lie about rape! Yes! You do in fact have valid concerns!

HOWEVER, It is really shitty some people commenting decide to take a clear example with obvious intentions and then make it about themselves, and then abuse women in the comments... you are proving the point, and in fact, you are a huge red flag already.

This question already sets the scene, you are alone in the woods: there is a strange man OR you are alone in the woods: there is a strange bear. The man's intentions (AND the bear's intentions) is not clear, we only know that he is there, and he is strange. No need to make up reasons why the guy is OK, minding his business, etc. Because in the situation given, the point of the question was to ask people how they would feel lost in the woods with a man or a bear, with such a small amount of information!

The question is trying to shed light on WHY the women asked said they prefer the bear. Do they think every man -at all- is a threat? Do they think that all men will overpower and harm them"because all men want to use their strength to rape/hurt women" because they are "biologically meant to*?* and, then, where do the fears come from and what can we do to change that? Why assume the worst when everything could be just fine?

I wish people would react more like "this is very depressing, and I understand why women are sometimes afraid of men in situations out of their control" or "I am doing my part to be a safe man ". But ask yourself, "do I know someone that would clearly make a woman feel unsafe to be around?" You might know more than one person like this, and they are why we talk about this in the first place.

The best way I've ever heard to describe this fear women live with is this: "when I approach a bees nest, it is highly unlikely they will attack me, they are usually docile!. That does not mean I won't try to avoid being stung. "