I think you hit on something that is a pretty big part of the problem: Men taking it personally. As far as I know, no specific man is mentioned, but a lot seem to insert themselves into the situation.
I try to do my best in life to be a good person, to be a good man, but I completely get why a woman would be worried about being in the middle of nowhere with a strange man, even if that man was me, because they don’t know what that person is capable of.
THIS is EXACTLY the point of the meme. If you understand this, and are a man, you stfu and nod along, or support the women talking about it as a good ally should. The men who don’t understand this are the reply-guys trying to explain how all the women are unreasonable and this is discrimination against men and blah blah blah
Oh so if someone says ‘black people are dangerous thugs, I’d rather encounter a bear than a removed’, it’s all good, a black person shouldn’t take it personally? After all, no specific black person is mentioned. Come on, just be a good ally, stfu and nod.
I am willing to bet many, many people wouldn’t be ok with that, and rightfully so. I know I would not.
That is, at least to me, is both a bit of a strawman and an invalid comparison.
First: The statement “black people are” implies it applies to all of them, or at least the average person, whereas the sentiment that I usually see isn’t that all men are dangerous but rather that some are and it’s difficult, if not impossible, to know which are beforehand.
Second: Men have not been marginalized, discriminated, and systematically oppressed for centuries. People of color have been, at the very least in the west and the countries they’ve colonized.
There’s an additional point to be made here that I feel is relevant: Ethnicity does not inherently infer a large difference in physical characteristics the same way biological sex does. I don’t imagine the strength of an average person varies as much depending on ethnicity as it does depending on biological sex. The average man is much physically stronger than the average woman, in a physical confrontation she’d be at a distinct disadvantage.
Sorry to ping you again, but I want to run a few other things at you, as I find people with the ability to doublethink without blinking absolutely fascinating.
Let’s say, okay, ‘men’ is vague enough that a single individual man should not feel insulted when someone says they’re so bad they would rather get mauled by a bear, because… Reasons idk.
Is ‘women’ vague enough so that it’s just as fine to say, idk, some stereotypical bullshit like ‘women are weak, dumb, and therefore belong in the kitchen’? Should an individual woman not be annoyed after hearing this? Is it not sexist?
Let me know when you want to have a conversation instead of arguing in bad faith. Aside from that I suggest you learn how to be less angry about things on the internet, it’ll make you happier.
FWIW I disliked the answer too, it’s feels pretty insulting, but then it struck me. I go camping deep in the back country. When I go, sometimes I carry a gun.
The gun isn’t for bears or mountain lions, but for the off chance I’d run into a person with bad intentions 10 miles out on a remote trail, 30 miles from the nearest po-dunk town. They’d probably just be another hiker, but maybe not. The point is I’d rather run into a wild animal in the woods than a person I don’t know with unknown intentions.
Like, I understand why some people might answer that way. And as a dude, it makes me sad that it’s such an apparently omnipresent societal problem these days.
I think you hit on something that is a pretty big part of the problem: Men taking it personally. As far as I know, no specific man is mentioned, but a lot seem to insert themselves into the situation.
I try to do my best in life to be a good person, to be a good man, but I completely get why a woman would be worried about being in the middle of nowhere with a strange man, even if that man was me, because they don’t know what that person is capable of.
THIS is EXACTLY the point of the meme. If you understand this, and are a man, you stfu and nod along, or support the women talking about it as a good ally should. The men who don’t understand this are the reply-guys trying to explain how all the women are unreasonable and this is discrimination against men and blah blah blah
It’s pretty insane just how many men can’t wrap their heads around something this simple. Goes to show how deep the patriarchy programming goes.
Oh so if someone says ‘black people are dangerous thugs, I’d rather encounter a bear than a removed’, it’s all good, a black person shouldn’t take it personally? After all, no specific black person is mentioned. Come on, just be a good ally, stfu and nod.
I am willing to bet many, many people wouldn’t be ok with that, and rightfully so. I know I would not.
The automatic moderation is kind of funny here lmao
That is, at least to me, is both a bit of a strawman and an invalid comparison.
First: The statement “black people are” implies it applies to all of them, or at least the average person, whereas the sentiment that I usually see isn’t that all men are dangerous but rather that some are and it’s difficult, if not impossible, to know which are beforehand.
Second: Men have not been marginalized, discriminated, and systematically oppressed for centuries. People of color have been, at the very least in the west and the countries they’ve colonized.
There’s an additional point to be made here that I feel is relevant: Ethnicity does not inherently infer a large difference in physical characteristics the same way biological sex does. I don’t imagine the strength of an average person varies as much depending on ethnicity as it does depending on biological sex. The average man is much physically stronger than the average woman, in a physical confrontation she’d be at a distinct disadvantage.
“black people” applies to all black people, but “men” doesn’t apply to all men?
That’s honestly an interesting way of thinking.
I’m not sure if you’re trolling or not but “black people are dangerous thugs” is very clearly a racist generalizing statement.
Sorry to ping you again, but I want to run a few other things at you, as I find people with the ability to doublethink without blinking absolutely fascinating.
Let’s say, okay, ‘men’ is vague enough that a single individual man should not feel insulted when someone says they’re so bad they would rather get mauled by a bear, because… Reasons idk.
Is ‘women’ vague enough so that it’s just as fine to say, idk, some stereotypical bullshit like ‘women are weak, dumb, and therefore belong in the kitchen’? Should an individual woman not be annoyed after hearing this? Is it not sexist?
What if it was stereotypes targeting idk, LGBT people, Christians, Muslims, liberals, right wingers, etc?
How do you determine whether a group is sufficiently generic that they are not allowed to be annoyed at stereotypes targeting them?
Let me know when you want to have a conversation instead of arguing in bad faith. Aside from that I suggest you learn how to be less angry about things on the internet, it’ll make you happier.
I’m not angry, I am curious. This whole man or bear thing has been an absolute blast for me.
It’s a shame you refuse to answer though. That makes me sad. Why are you uncomfortable with this question?
Bullshit, you’re JAQ’ing off.
FWIW I disliked the answer too, it’s feels pretty insulting, but then it struck me. I go camping deep in the back country. When I go, sometimes I carry a gun.
The gun isn’t for bears or mountain lions, but for the off chance I’d run into a person with bad intentions 10 miles out on a remote trail, 30 miles from the nearest po-dunk town. They’d probably just be another hiker, but maybe not. The point is I’d rather run into a wild animal in the woods than a person I don’t know with unknown intentions.
I never claimed the opposite.
Like, I understand why some people might answer that way. And as a dude, it makes me sad that it’s such an apparently omnipresent societal problem these days.