If you find yourself alone in the wilderness, what would you choose: a stranger or a bear? This intriguing question has recently taken social media by storm, particularly on TikTok, where multiple women have shared their thoughts on the matter. Nearly all of them prefer the bear, a creature they believe poses less risk compared to an unknown man. This viral trend has sparked discussions not just about fear, but also about the deeper implications of trust, safety, and the choices women face in society today.
If you’re alone in the forest, who would you rather run across: a man you don’t know or a bear? This question, posed to multiple women in a TikTok video last month, has taken the dilemma of man versus bear viral. And women online are nearly unanimous in favor of the stocky, shaggy, sleeps-through-the-winter one.
Let me clarify in case you know guys who fit that description: the bear. They’re all choosing the bear.
The question is a chance for women to compare fears, to figure out which danger looms larger. In the video that kicked off the trend, seven of the eight women who give “bear” responses lay out the same reasoning: A bear is appealing, they argue, precisely because it is not a man. “Men are scary,” one says.
Looking at the data, these responses are reasonable. The World Health Organization reports that nearly one-third of women
