The Englishman and the bear is a trick question. I got no beef with the bear. If I pick the bear, I don’t get to fight the Englishman. And you never pass an opportunity to bouter de l’anglois. It’s a matter of personal pride.
Okay, but how often do Englishmen stalk or molest French people? How many Democrats have raped and killed a Republican?
Now the one re: communists and Nazis is actually close to being on point.
The point isn’t the bear, it’s the actual (like in the actual lives they’ve lived) dangerous and scary entity to the person being asked the question. I have been molested, I have been raped, I have never been scared of a damn bear.
I do understand that take. I just don’t think this meme is doing anyone a favour by polarizing genders.
I think it’s more important to present the issues in a way where both men and women can agree to call out the bad guys instead of just presenting the old “all men are potential rapists” when most are not. I’d prefer the guys who are not to stand up in solidarity with women against the ones who are, instead of being thrown under the bus with the few ones who are.
My husband calls in the middle of this and I told him I usually don’t see these sort of shit takes here and then I remember I’d been browsing ALL, for crying out loud. Go to see what fucking community it was… and it’s memes! My bad even commenting here probably, but complaining that memes don’t adequately capture the whole picture and may not be the best way to address the issue seems a little… I dunno but something - here in the literal meme community.
Y’all ain’t being thrown under the bus. My husband gets it. He is also an ally to women. But y’all ain’t there “standing up in solidarity with women” when we are being molested, raped, or murdered. These things happen to women ALL THE GODDAMNED TIME. You weren’t there in solidarity with me any of the times when I was actually harmed, but when I have something to say about how scary men can actually be, you are here to stand against me. Or at best, get me to think of your feelings instead of my own safety.
I would also prefer guys who are not rapists to stand up in solidarity with women against the rapists, instead of being thrown under the bus with the rest of the women that make men feel uncomfortable by reminding them of the things that actually happen in women’s lives.
The issue here is the way the message is delivered. We as a society need to bring attention to the issue of safety for women and sexual assault overall and try to find solutions for it. I think there are examples of great ways to do that (bring attention to it I mean, no clue how to fix it), one that comes to mind is the whole movement that I think was called #metoo or something along those lines? I think it brought a lot of attention to this and it allowed me personally to understand better the depth of the issue of safety for women. It made me more aware, it made me reconsider many things and made me want to be helpful.
Today there was another post around where it was asked of women “if all men disappear for 24 hours without consequences, what would you do in that time”. So many many answers were just “go party with my girlfriends and dress however I want and get hammered without feeling threatened” or something similar, and that post alone made the issue of safety for women so much clearer and stand out so perfectly than this meme, and more importantly the original question…
The problem is that this kind of discussion creates a barrier, it divides, it moves the discussion from the real issue, women’s safety, to a wrong topic, are men as dangerous as a bear. In itself it’s a question that promotes another type of sexism, it promotes fear, with the excuse of making a point and raising awareness. Instead of raising awareness it’s muddling the waters in reality which is not the way anyone will be feeling safer in any way.
The point is ABSOLUTELY the fucking bear. We KNOW you should be cautious around random men. That’s an obvious goddamn statement. The fact that you’d pick a bear is what’s sexist and insulting.
Have you ever even SEEN a wild bear?
I’ve never been shot in the head but I wouldn’t pick that over a strange person.
Be a useless coward if you want. Spend your time being scared of something that is more scared of you than most people are of it (not you, tho).
I live in Georgia. There’s bears here that ain’t scary, and I can say that about all of them (seeing as cocaine bear is dead). I can NOT say they same thing about all the men I could run into in the woods at night in Georgia.
But sure, tell me again how ackshually the thing I should really be scared of is bears… ooh, and how about tigers? They’re really scary, right?
Why, did you know that when they are really little, like just newborn, men can’t even walk or hold a gun? Did you also know that most men don’t ever murder their partners? Doesn’t that seem safe? Surely more women are harmed by bears (and probably tigers, too) than little old men!
First of all, that’s just black bears, the most cowardly of bears.
Second, it’s too damn hot in Georgia for a bear to maul someone.
Thirdly, if you encountered as many strange bears daily as you did strange men, you’d be eaten by now.
Have you ever been shot in the head? Probably not. Well, since you don’t have experience with it, you’re not afraid of it, right? So better a bullet to the head than a strange man in the woods. Bullet has never harmed me.
All the responses siding with the bear so far have been either sexist or stupid. I’m gonna put you with stupid.
I think you’re forgetting the part wear the bear doesn’t tie you to a tree and force feed you to use you. See the bear will mostly likely leave you alone. Or kill you.
On the other hand. A human male can do FAR worse things than simply kill the woman. Which I will say some men would just kill the woman. And to my understanding of the last 6000 years of recorded history… Men do in fact do worse things than the bear.
If I’d ever been shot in the head I can only assume it wasn’t a damn bear that did it. But sure. I should piss my pants at the sight of a wild animal. And pay no nevermind to the actually dangerous creature.
Like the bears ain’t scary around here, but we do see alligators often. Still less scary than a random man in the dark when you’re alone.
Why did you capitalize KNOW when referring to how dangerous men are? And mention how obvious it should be for one to be cautious around them? As if they’re some sort of wildly unpredictable animal (unlike a bear, a fairly predictable wild animal). And why do you seem to be on the one hand so fucking irritated that anyone else acknowledge that same fact and on the other so damned pissed that you had to point it out?
By the way, I do know a woman who was shot, in the god damned head. And she lived! You may be surprised to learn her husband wasn’t a bear.
Yeah I get the idea the meme is saying, but it lacks nuance at best, and is actually sexist at worst.
Yes, the question itself is subtle sexism.
It can be used for any other kind of polarization:
Patriotism: “We asked 100 French people if they’d rather encounter an Englishman or a bear”
Political: "We asked 100 republicans if they’d rather encounter a democrat or a bear. "
Ideological: “We asked 100 communists if they’d rather encounter a Nazi or a bear”.
Gaming “We asked 100 Fortnite players if they’d rather encounter a CoD player or a bear”
Etc.
The only purpose of the bear is to remove attention from whatever is presented as being opposite.
The Englishman and the bear is a trick question. I got no beef with the bear. If I pick the bear, I don’t get to fight the Englishman. And you never pass an opportunity to bouter de l’anglois. It’s a matter of personal pride.
Okay, but how often do Englishmen stalk or molest French people? How many Democrats have raped and killed a Republican?
Now the one re: communists and Nazis is actually close to being on point.
The point isn’t the bear, it’s the actual (like in the actual lives they’ve lived) dangerous and scary entity to the person being asked the question. I have been molested, I have been raped, I have never been scared of a damn bear.
How many bears have killed people?? The point is the bear you fool.
I do understand that take. I just don’t think this meme is doing anyone a favour by polarizing genders.
I think it’s more important to present the issues in a way where both men and women can agree to call out the bad guys instead of just presenting the old “all men are potential rapists” when most are not. I’d prefer the guys who are not to stand up in solidarity with women against the ones who are, instead of being thrown under the bus with the few ones who are.
My husband calls in the middle of this and I told him I usually don’t see these sort of shit takes here and then I remember I’d been browsing ALL, for crying out loud. Go to see what fucking community it was… and it’s memes! My bad even commenting here probably, but complaining that memes don’t adequately capture the whole picture and may not be the best way to address the issue seems a little… I dunno but something - here in the literal meme community.
Y’all ain’t being thrown under the bus. My husband gets it. He is also an ally to women. But y’all ain’t there “standing up in solidarity with women” when we are being molested, raped, or murdered. These things happen to women ALL THE GODDAMNED TIME. You weren’t there in solidarity with me any of the times when I was actually harmed, but when I have something to say about how scary men can actually be, you are here to stand against me. Or at best, get me to think of your feelings instead of my own safety.
I would also prefer guys who are not rapists to stand up in solidarity with women against the rapists, instead of being thrown under the bus with the rest of the women that make men feel uncomfortable by reminding them of the things that actually happen in women’s lives.
#NotAllMen
#ButWeDontKnowWhichOnes
The issue here is the way the message is delivered. We as a society need to bring attention to the issue of safety for women and sexual assault overall and try to find solutions for it. I think there are examples of great ways to do that (bring attention to it I mean, no clue how to fix it), one that comes to mind is the whole movement that I think was called #metoo or something along those lines? I think it brought a lot of attention to this and it allowed me personally to understand better the depth of the issue of safety for women. It made me more aware, it made me reconsider many things and made me want to be helpful.
Today there was another post around where it was asked of women “if all men disappear for 24 hours without consequences, what would you do in that time”. So many many answers were just “go party with my girlfriends and dress however I want and get hammered without feeling threatened” or something similar, and that post alone made the issue of safety for women so much clearer and stand out so perfectly than this meme, and more importantly the original question…
The problem is that this kind of discussion creates a barrier, it divides, it moves the discussion from the real issue, women’s safety, to a wrong topic, are men as dangerous as a bear. In itself it’s a question that promotes another type of sexism, it promotes fear, with the excuse of making a point and raising awareness. Instead of raising awareness it’s muddling the waters in reality which is not the way anyone will be feeling safer in any way.
It doesn’t sounds like you get the point to me. You’re leaving out the part the men also kill women too. At an alarming rate in many countries.
The point is ABSOLUTELY the fucking bear. We KNOW you should be cautious around random men. That’s an obvious goddamn statement. The fact that you’d pick a bear is what’s sexist and insulting.
Have you ever even SEEN a wild bear?
I’ve never been shot in the head but I wouldn’t pick that over a strange person.
So fucking stupid.
Be a useless coward if you want. Spend your time being scared of something that is more scared of you than most people are of it (not you, tho).
I live in Georgia. There’s bears here that ain’t scary, and I can say that about all of them (seeing as cocaine bear is dead). I can NOT say they same thing about all the men I could run into in the woods at night in Georgia.
But sure, tell me again how ackshually the thing I should really be scared of is bears… ooh, and how about tigers? They’re really scary, right?
Why, did you know that when they are really little, like just newborn, men can’t even walk or hold a gun? Did you also know that most men don’t ever murder their partners? Doesn’t that seem safe? Surely more women are harmed by bears (and probably tigers, too) than little old men!
First of all, that’s just black bears, the most cowardly of bears.
Second, it’s too damn hot in Georgia for a bear to maul someone.
Thirdly, if you encountered as many strange bears daily as you did strange men, you’d be eaten by now.
Have you ever been shot in the head? Probably not. Well, since you don’t have experience with it, you’re not afraid of it, right? So better a bullet to the head than a strange man in the woods. Bullet has never harmed me.
All the responses siding with the bear so far have been either sexist or stupid. I’m gonna put you with stupid.
I think you’re forgetting the part wear the bear doesn’t tie you to a tree and force feed you to use you. See the bear will mostly likely leave you alone. Or kill you.
On the other hand. A human male can do FAR worse things than simply kill the woman. Which I will say some men would just kill the woman. And to my understanding of the last 6000 years of recorded history… Men do in fact do worse things than the bear.
Here’s a statue dedicated to it!
So will the man, that’s the whole fucking point.
You’re taking worst case scenario with the man vs best case scenario with the bear.
If I’d ever been shot in the head I can only assume it wasn’t a damn bear that did it. But sure. I should piss my pants at the sight of a wild animal. And pay no nevermind to the actually dangerous creature.
Like the bears ain’t scary around here, but we do see alligators often. Still less scary than a random man in the dark when you’re alone.
That’s not true and wildly unhealthy for you to believe. Not least of all because you might get your leg ripped into by a gator.
Why did you capitalize KNOW when referring to how dangerous men are? And mention how obvious it should be for one to be cautious around them? As if they’re some sort of wildly unpredictable animal (unlike a bear, a fairly predictable wild animal). And why do you seem to be on the one hand so fucking irritated that anyone else acknowledge that same fact and on the other so damned pissed that you had to point it out?
By the way, I do know a woman who was shot, in the god damned head. And she lived! You may be surprised to learn her husband wasn’t a bear.