Would You Rather Be in the Woods with a Bear or a Man? Women on TikTok Weigh In on Viral Debate
Many say bears are the preferable option, backing their opinions up with eye-popping statistics
Getty Images
Cinnamon American Black Bear poses on a large boulderWould you rather be in a forest with a bear or a man? That's the latest question being hotly debated across TikTok, with many saying they'd rather take their chances with the animal.
The question began gaining traction on the social media platform in April, after a video posted by Screenshot HQ went viral. The women featured in the clip largely agreed that the bear was the preferable option — and a lot of people who have subsequently weighed in on the topic agree.
A number of women in the Screenshot HQ clip, which has been liked more than two million times on TikTok, said that being around men can be “scary” at times. And one woman also noted that bears aren't prone to "attack you,” unless you agitate them.
A clip shared by @plutorulesmy12th showed the difference between her experiences with a man and a bear in the woods. In the first clip, the woman’s encounter with the bear seemed largely uneventful, while in the second clip, she could be heard begging a man to stop following her on the trail.
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Some women posed the question to their partners. A TikTok user named Lilianna Wilde said her husband would “lean more toward the bear” because they're more predictable.
“I feel like I would know what the outcome would be with a bear, even if it was an aggressive one,” he explained in the clip. “I don’t know what the outcome would be with, like, a bad man.”
Meanwhile, Tiktoker Ariel Hendrix’s boyfriend said the bear only has the ability to kill her 4-year-old daughter “or leave her alone,” while there are “a thousand possibilities” for what a man could do.
Related: Maddy Baloy, TikToker Whose Terminal Cancer Journey Touched Millions, Dead at 26: 'So Special'
Although bears can be deadly, attacks in the U.S. are rare and are mostly done out of a bear’s interest in “protecting food, cubs, or their space,” according to the National Park Service.
Black bears, which are the most commonly found bear in the U.S., kill less than one person per year, according to Lynn Rogers, founder of the North American Bear Center. Meanwhile, men between the ages of 18 and 24 are 167 times more likely to kill someone than a black bear, Rogers said.
Related: Who Is Pinkydoll? Everything to Know About the TikTok Creator Known for Being an 'NPC'
About one in three women globally experiences physical or sexual violence from a man in their lifetime, according to the World Health Organization.
“Understanding how men will continue to harm women at an alarming rate, I’d go bear every day of the week,” said a TikTok user by the name of Jon the Detective, a retired detective of over 30 years.
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go to rainn.org.
For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!
Read the original article on People.
