Sure, but it's nowhere near as likely a possibility that the bear will eat me vs leave me alone than that the man will abuse or take advantage of me vs leave me alone.

Sometimes men eat other people. It's seems to be rather pipukar amongst deeply misogynistic serial killers.

Also, your average bear is it your average man in the environmental situation of "the woods".

The bear is where it's supposed to be. The man is, on average, out of pocket. In the woods, he's not comparable to the average guy you see on the street every day.

Whenthe question was asked to me, I was thinking back woods, not like a National Park or trailhead where there are Rangers and Wardens, and still some element of public safety about.

You run across a random guy out in the back woods, he's not a hiker going about his day. He's up to something. Maybe he's collecting water samples and maybe he's doing something illegal.

Somethibg it might behoove him to get rid of you over rather than run the risk of you informing on him.

Many women have experience living in bear country or isolated, rural areas that is being ignored by men who refuse to decenter their egos.

I forgot to mention in that longer comment that it was men gaslighting as well, that made it be about sexual assault in the way that it has become.

They keep ibsistinf that there is no other option than that the bear will kill AND eat us. And they're getting very graphic about the descriptions of what's going to get ripped off (our faces and our tits) and how well be alive while it eats us. There's a lot of projection that's somewhat vicarious in those comments. Like, even if they wouldn't personally because they're a "nice guy", they'd still love to kick back with a bix of pipcorn and watch a grizzly do that to us.

Strange that's it's always a grizzly, because they aren't even the most aggressive or violent bears.

I believe that honor belongs to the Kodiak Brown Bear or a polar bear. The Kodiak because it's more inherently territorial and will defend its territory. And of course, the polar bear is more likely to attack on a whim.

Both of those are larger than grizzlies too.

Grizzlies are most dangerous when cubs are involved.

I grew up in black bear country and have had dozens of encounters, all next to magical experiences except two. And those weren't that bad, I was just worried about the bear.

I've been fascinated with bears since I was five.

My initial response to the question (to which I didn't even wait till it was out in full before I was picking the bear) had to do with that, not hate of men.

And let's face it, you can see Kevin in his ill fitting cargo shorts and flip flops any old day. It's not that exciting. Same old same old. Even for those of us who live or have lived in bear country, encountering a bear is exciting. If you go back to the very beginning before men started losing their damn minds and projecting their dark fantasies of harming women, you see a lot more of that.

And come on? Wouldn't you say the same? Would you rather encounter a dragon (or whatever, some animal you don't often or ever get the chance to see) in a fantasy or hypothetical woods situation or your ideal of the most beautiful woman (physical looks only)?

It was men who made it creepy.

And men and their egos who are now blaming women for that.