"Not all Bears Are Like That!"

As an outdoor enthusiast, I have seen bears, in person, multiple times in my life. Most encounters were when they were rummaging through the garbage looking for food; a couple times, I saw them in the distance while hiking/camping.

However, I have never once been physically harmed by a bear. Does this mean bears are not dangerous?

Of course not. We all know that bears have sharp teeth and claws, they are larger and stronger than us, and because they are wild animals, they can be unpredictable. Even though bear attacks are very rare, humans are still expected to take reasonable precautions to protect themselves from bear attacks by keeping garbage in a secure area, carrying bear mace while hiking, and stringing food between two trees out of reach when camping.

Worldwide, women are more likely to be killed by their husband/boyfriend/father than by a bear, statistically speaking. Yet, whenever feminists talk about protecting women from male violence, men (and even some women) are quick to jump down our throats and complain "not all men are like that!" "misandry!" "you are being sexist and discriminatory against men!"

I'd also like to point out that many outdoors enthusiasts will (correctly) point out that people are far more likely to die from drowning, hypothermia, and west nile virus than a bear attack, and that it is completely normalized to take safety precautions such as life jackets, layered protective clothing to preserve body heat, and insect repellent, respectively.

So, why is it that any safety precautions designed to protect women from men is treated with such vitriol? When I am wary, cautious, or untrusting of men, I am chided for being irrational and unfair for "judging an entire group based on the actions of a few."

And yet, that is precisely how risk management works. When there is evidence that something has the potential to cause harm, we as a society take reasonable safety precautions to prevent people from getting hurt. When you are a passenger in someone's car and you put on your seatbelt, does the driver act all offended like "seriously? Do you think I'm a bad driver? You are a bigot, you're judging me because of the actions of a few bad apples." Of course not.

It is an objective fact that men are dangerous, not just to women, but also to other men. 10.5-57% of men self-report committing sexual assault, depending on the study. 89.5% of homicides in the United States are perpetrated by men. According to the FBI crime database, 98% of those arrested for forcible rape are men, over 80% of those arrested for robberies, burglaries, arson, vandalism, and offenses against families and children are men, and 79% of those arrested for aggravated assault are men. Since 1982, 113 mass shootings have been committed by men, and only 3 have been committed by women.

Men are larger and stronger than women. Men are uniquely capable of killing women with their bare hands, but not the reverse. Men have more testosterone, which increases muscle mass, and has the potential to increase aggression. Violent crimes are overwhelmingly perpetrated by men, especially sexual assault, rape, and pedophilia.

Am I saying that all men are rapists, pedophiles, and criminals? Of course not. That would be like accusing me of saying that going swimming will absolutely kill you, 100% of the time, no exceptions. However, to deny that water plays any role whatsoever in deaths caused by drowning is just as absurd, and this attitude will probably cause more people to get hurt than taking the overly cautious approach.

(Side note for the male lurkers: No, I don't believe the one statistic y'all are always sending me, the one that says 40% of domestic abusers are female. This is because women are unlikely to report a crime when the perpetrator is someone they love, or when they have less power than the abuser. For example, something like 90% of wife-beatings and child molestations go unreported. Whereas abusers often submit false reports to punish and control their victim, and to shield themselves from accountability, thereby inflating the number of male victims. A prime example would be Onision. Y'all love to get hate-boners for false accusers, so how about you start with the ones committed by your own sex)

Some reasonable safety precautions that women might take to protect themselves from male violence may include rigorously vetting a man's character, always telling a trusted friend/family member where you are going before going on a date, taking self-defense classes, carrying self-defense tools, refusing to be alone with men you don't know or trust, or keeping a secret stash of money in case your boyfriend/husband becomes abusive and you need to escape. As always, if a man starts waving red flags: ghost, block, delete.

But really, the most foolproof way to protect yourself from male violence is to avoid men altogether. Most are not worth the trouble anyways. Camping, hiking, and swimming are a lot of fun, and I'm not going to allow the relatively low risks to prevent me from doing things that bring joy in my life. Unfortunately, being in a relationship with a man often comes at a much higher cost and risk, and since most men are low value, the payoff is much lower.

"But that's soooo unfaaaair" whine the male lurkers. "It's so much harder for me to get laid when women are cautious of men! Think about my peeeenis, think about how saaaad my weiner will be if women avoid me. Men have neeeeds..."

To that I say, why don't you go dance with a bear? Bears also have needs, predators gotta eat too. It would be unfair of you to deny them the food they need to survive. I mean really, stop being so selfish, the morally right thing to do would be to freely offer up your body for their consumption. What about how more bears are killed by humans than humans killed by bears. See? Completely safe. Stop being so irrational, you won't be in any real danger anyways.

After all, "not all bears are like that!"