A bear or a man
The hypothetical question has sparked an ongoing online debate about why the vast majority say they would feel more comfortable choosing a bear.
If you were alone in the woods, would you rather encounter a bear or a man?
The poem below is beautifully written and interpreted by Len Pennie. She is an absolutely fiery and talented poet who writes and posts content that she likes. My kind of gal!
She has published an absolute gem of a book. Go check it out: “Poyms”
Bear
Bear with me, my darling
as we look again at the current
hot topic that’s frustrating men
A Bear or a man, a predicament
and the reply to the men has been sparking
such pandemonium among those who just don’t get it
it’s our consequence to Bear in choosing
and yet, think of the Bear’s future
he made some mistakes
Bear the brunt of decisions the animal takes
Bear in mind what she wore when it ripped off her arm
Bearing responsibility for her own charm
She just led the beast on
that is her cross to Bear
it’s her fault she’s embroiled in a Grizzly affair
as if the two options are opposites Polar
Both might end in pain
but the Bear won’t console her
and tell her he loves her
She’s overreacting
Society won’t blame a girl for attracting
the ire of an animal instinct-reliant
will praise her for fighting back strong and defiant
will not protest her blame just to drown out her cries
avoid jail time with convenient Bear-faced white lies
won’t say she deserves it or simply not care
men will believe women got hurt by the Bear
They will listen and learn
“Not all Bears” won’t be said
They won’t laugh through our tears as we’re mourning our dead
Imagine a world with all men on our side
against Bears who would hurt us
not mock or deride
legitimate fear We must Bear all our lives
as we learn of our mothers friends sisters and wives
Bearing witness to men who won’t listen or care
it ain’t hard to see why we might just grin and Bear it
The rage we Bear
Back to the online trend that has created a cutthroat war between men and women, especially for the men who get triggered as to why women would prefer to encounter a bear in the woods than a man.
Each verse hits deep within the rage that women have to Bear, generation after generation. Weaved within our cells, we are born with unburned anger that gets passed on from mother to daughter on an endless cycle.
And as each verse cuts deep and rubs salt on an unhealed wound, there is nothing left for us women but to feel it.
Because how can it be any different? How can it hurt any less when a 13-year-old with orange-neon sportswear gets catcalled with the nastiest words she has heard in her whole life by a 20-year-old man?
It wasn’t her clothes or her underdeveloped body that caused it. No, it was a war between children because her classmate couldn’t Bear that a girl was smarter, stronger, and a leader in his class. It was petty revenge, where cousins and other strong and bigger men were called in to help an insecure 13-year-old boy.
And while she was mocked and derided for a legitimate fear, she must Bear all her life with no comfort from her mother. “They were just words, dear, mindless catcalling as long as they didn’t touch. Forget them!”
How could the girl forget those words, mother dear? Words cut deep and deeper still when the rage boils your blood at the unfairness of it. But it took me years to understand and see why:
“as we learn of our mothers friends sisters and wives
Bearing witness to men who won’t listen or care
it ain’t hard to see why we might just grin and Bear it.”
Not all bears
It’s hard to face the truth, especially when a whole gender feels threatened by a truth that hurts. Even more so, when even men are asked that question, they contemplate and hesitate.
“If your daughter was in the woods alone, who would you prefer there was in the woods? A bear or a man?”
And while a man, understanding the struggle only when their daughter is put hypothetically in a mess of this kind, stays there and contemplates the simple yet poignant question — only then do they understand the gravity of their character and their instinct of who they truly are at their core.
“Society won’t blame a girl for attracting
the ire of an animal instinct-reliant”
And yet, the victim blaming won’t end. Women will continue to answer and say that a Bear is a better choice. The lesser evil.
There is no debate, and there is no hesitance when the question is asked differently: “If your daughter was in the woods alone, who would you prefer there was in the woods? A bear or a woman?”
A woman, of course.
Because even as the 13-year-old girl walks home ashamed of herself, with words that will hunt her for a lifetime to come and that will make her fear intimacy from a man, would have preferred being hunted and killed by a bear. At least she would have died with an inocent mind and without ‘shame,’ a heavy burden in her heart. At least men will believe the girl got hurt by the Bear.
