Let's talk about the "Man or Bear?" TikTok-debate.

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I've been wearing this for the last few days and women have never been friendlier to me. Even some dudes invited me to share their tent.
 
I copied this from a friend's FB post. As a woman I can relate. Haven't been to Yellowstone, but I have received insistent and unwanted attention on park benches while peacefully reading my book, in cafés, elevators, buses, trains, sidewalks, office corridors - everywhere. Even in my sixties it was still going on albeit less frequent. Damn nuisance!

Bear or man? I have a whole ass, real life story that involves both. I did a 10-day trek through Yellowstone a couple years ago with two of my closest friends and four other women, one of whom was our guide. It's super unusual to see any bears at all while you're there, but we saw THREE. We came across the first one in the first 20 minutes of the trip. Following the advice of our guide, we were noisy as hell, singing Xmas songs at the tops of our lungs to let them know we weren't to be messed with. All of these bears steered clear of us, including the one that tried to come into our campsite to steal snacks on the fourth day.
Fast forward to something like the 6th day, we came across a couple of men in one of the hot springs along the way. We'd covered several miles that day, and we were exhausted, eager to ditch our 40 lb packs and thrilled to get in the water and rest for a bit. Even though we were mindful about following hiker etiquette by choosing a different area of the spring, so as not to disturb them, one of the men immediately swam over to us, placing himself firmly in the midst of a bunch of half dressed women. He was relentless about trying to talk us into coming back to the springs "after dark." We said no several times, relating that we still had another 700 feet of elevation to hike before we'd get to our campsite.
We parted ways, hiked onward, and about an hour after arriving at our campsite and setting up, as some of us were literally undressing and washing ourselves off in a stream, this same guy walks into our site (a huge faux pas under any circumstances) and just won't take a polite hint. He's still asking us to join him at the springs after dark, mentions that he has some booze and some weed, etc. Someone even said to him, "Hey man, we covered a lot of ground today, we just wanna get cleaned up and rest." This motherfcker looked her dead in the eyes, then sat down on a rock and kept talking. The friend he was with tried several times to pull him away, saying things like, "Bro, let's head on out." Eventually, his friend got embarrassed enough to walk off without him, and that's ultimately what made him decide to leave, still saying on his way out, "If you ladies change your mind..."
If you think it ended there, every woman reading this knows it didn't. We crawled into our tents that night with the knowledge that there was a man out there who really wanted our attention, a man we (as politely as possible) rejected, who knows where we're sleeping, who could possibly have a weapon on him (bears don't carry knives or guns). If he was that brazen with a group of women, I could only imagine how much more "insistent" he might have been if one of us had been alone, or even if there'd only been two of us. All of those thoughts were far more terrifying than any of the bears (that we felt an actual privilege to witness) out in the wild.
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Akela said:
I copied this from a friend's FB post. As a woman I can relate. Haven't been to Yellowstone, but I have received insistent and unwanted attention on park benches while peacefully reading my book, in cafés, elevators, buses, trains, sidewalks, office corridors - everywhere. Even in my sixties it was still going on albeit less frequent. Damn nuisance!
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I empathize, I truly do; however, I feel like I need to point out that the bears left without incident. Bears sometimes aren’t scared and don’t leave, just like the male in the story.

Let’s just say for a moment this story isn’t made up and assume there were 6 girls yelling at a bear that won’t leave, and then the bear decides to follow you for the rest of the day until you inevitably set up camp and go to sleep. What are the odds the six of you ladies far from civilization are fighting off a bear at your campsite in the middle of the night, and how comfortable are you sleeping with that thought? Do you feel like the 6 of you would have a better shot at protecting yourselves from the man, or the bear at that point?
Are you then more comfortable with this bear stalking you, or the guy who won’t seem to take no for an answer? Answer to yourself what is more likely the worst case scenario between a creepy guy following you around, and a grizzly bear stalking you?

I’m not trying to downplay the fact that men can be quite creepy, I have seen it myself countless times. But what the TikTok mafia is failing to convey is the true feeling of what it’s like when you’re being stalked by an entity that is higher on the food chain, is hungry or territorial, it doesn’t have to answer to the authorities, you’ve got nowhere to run, and no one is coming to help. It’s not the same feeling as a creepy guy that’s bothering you.
 
Akela said:
I copied this from a friend's FB post. As a woman I can relate. Haven't been to Yellowstone, but I have received insistent and unwanted attention on park benches while peacefully reading my book, in cafés, elevators, buses, trains, sidewalks, office corridors - everywhere. Even in my sixties it was still going on albeit less frequent. Damn nuisance!
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My wife messaged me this week with "You need to check out what I'm wearing when I get home. Guys are checking me out at the shops". So when she got home I see she's got her blonde hair out, high heels, and looking pretty fine, with this top on with a pattern that really makes her big boobs stick out. I just explained what I see and thought she liked the attention at the mall but she said it was pretty creepy "One guy had a child in his shopping cart and was checking me out!"

I didn't say "Would you have preferred to spend life as an ugly bitch?" I just thought it, as I agree we should have a world wear women (or man) can just wear a bikini to the mall (topless if they want) and guys (and lesbians) maintain control. That is a good world goal. Better than world peace.
 
aur0ra said:
I empathize, I truly do; however, I feel like I need to point out that the bears left without incident. Bears sometimes aren’t scared and don’t leave, just like the male in the story.

Let’s just say for a moment this story isn’t made up and assume there were 6 girls yelling at a bear that won’t leave, and then the bear decides to follow you for the rest of the day until you inevitably set up camp and go to sleep. What are the odds the six of you ladies far from civilization are fighting off a bear at your campsite in the middle of the night, and how comfortable are you sleeping with that thought? Do you feel like the 6 of you would have a better shot at protecting yourselves from the man, or the bear at that point?
Are you then more comfortable with this bear stalking you, or the guy who won’t seem to take no for an answer? Answer to yourself what is more likely the worst case scenario between a creepy guy following you around, and a grizzly bear stalking you?

I’m not trying to downplay the fact that men can be quite creepy, I have seen it myself countless times. But what the TikTok mafia is failing to convey is the true feeling of what it’s like when you’re being stalked by an entity that is higher on the food chain, is hungry or territorial, it doesn’t have to answer to the authorities, you’ve got nowhere to run, and no one is coming to help. It’s not the same feeling as a creepy guy that’s bothering you.
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What I don't think you understand is the majority of men find this guy to be a piece of shit too.
 
Just a thought. How many of you guys have daughters age 12 and up? Imagine taking a walk with her. She is dressed in her everyday normal attire, nothing flashy. You walk at good bit behind her, just so you can see what is going on and run to her should she need it. Watch how guys are treating her.
I remember this forum about 20 years ago when a lot of focus was on getting laid and busting inside. Some of you might still be like that, but I guess most of you are responsible loving husbands and fathers and a new generation of hormonal youths are sniffing around the hips of your little girl. Creeps do exist.
 
Akela said:
Just a thought. How many of you guys have daughters age 12 and up? Imagine taking a walk with her. She is dressed in her everyday normal attire, nothing flashy. You walk at good bit behind her, just so you can see what is going on and run to her should she need it. Watch how guys are treating her.
I remember this forum about 20 years ago when a lot of focus was on getting laid and busting inside. Some of you might still be like that, but I guess most of you are responsible loving husbands and fathers and a new generation of hormonal youths are sniffing around the hips of your little girl. Creeps do exist.
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It's funny because a handful of guys in this place are all about "i have a wife, YO!" and "yoyoyoyoo i have a family I'm superman!!" yet it feels like they've never had at least somewhat of a decent conversation with their spouse or daughter about how a lot of men tend to behave.

There are a lot of messed up guys out there. I don't understand why some men get all defensive about it. "Not all guys!" - of course not, but still way too many. If you as a man don't understand that it's our shared responsibility to address shitty behavior from other men and even feel like you have to defend it by saying "but hey not all of us do this" then you have your brains up your ass.. but then again.. this is TW. ;)
 
Akela said:
Just a thought. How many of you guys have daughters age 12 and up? Imagine taking a walk with her. She is dressed in her everyday normal attire, nothing flashy. You walk at good bit behind her, just so you can see what is going on and run to her should she need it. Watch how guys are treating her.
I remember this forum about 20 years ago when a lot of focus was on getting laid and busting inside. Some of you might still be like that, but I guess most of you are responsible loving husbands and fathers and a new generation of hormonal youths are sniffing around the hips of your little girl. Creeps do exist.
Click to expand...
I do absolutely empathize. But comparing a man, even a creep, to a hungry, territorial grizzly bear that’s decided it’s going to stalk you while you’re nowhere near civilization is not the same thing. And yes creeps do exist and they’re not uncommon. People here seem and type coldly or in jest, but I feel the reality is they’re all saying the same thing ->that a hostile grizzly bear encounter might be less likely than a creepy male bothering you, but it’s MUCH less forgiving, and it’s probably more likely to kill you. TikTok doesn’t convey this feeling. I live in grizzly country, I travel in their territory with loaded firearms.


That just happened out here. It ate their dog too. This kind of thing is on par with swimming in and amongst great white sharks. It’s just not the same as a creepy male. Sorry.

apple.news

Bear Attack Caught on Video, Rushes Car and Smashes Windshield — TMZ

A couple foragers ended up in a hairy situation out in Japan -- speeding down the road in a forest when a bear attacked their car, cracking their window ... and it's all on camera.
apple.news apple.news
 
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