Man or Bear in the Woods Question

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Featured Episode

About

Man or Bear in the Woods Question or Would You Rather Be Stuck in the Woods With a Man or a Bear? refers to a hypothetical question offering a choice between being stuck in the woods with a random man or a bear. Stemming from a viral TikTok by user @callmebkbk, the question was further promoted by a street interview video by @screenshothq in April 2024. With an apparent majority of women responding that they would choose a bear in the hypothetical situation, the question spawned viral reactions and debates on social media, with users arguing over the validity of both options and about gender relations.

Origins

On March 19th, 2024, TikTok^[1] user @callmebkbk posted a TikTok in which they responded to a comment by user @user2828263738 made on an earlier unknown video. The comment argued that seeing a man in the woods was less scary than seeing a bear, with @callmebkbk arguing some men could do worse things to a woman than a bear (shown below, left). The upload received over 2.3 million views and 340,700 likes in one month.

Later on March 19th, TikTok^[2] user @thottimami69420 posted a TikTok based on the question from that video, replying that she would pick a bear and explaining her reasoning (shown below, right). The video garnered over 4.2 million views and 1.1 million likes in one month.

You see, for man the question "Is there anything worse than death?" is debatable, but it's not debatable for women.

Spread

In late March 2024, more videos about the question went viral on TikTok. On March 22nd, 2024, TikTok^[3] user @jenniphur_ posted a reaction video that garnered over 5.5 million views and 1.1 million likes in one month (shown below, left). On March 23rd, TIkToker^[4] @jayden_gallagher posted a video that received over 44,800 likes in one month (shown below, right).

On April 10th, 2024, the TikTok^[5] account @screenshothq posted a street interview video in which several women were asked, "Would you rather be stuck in a forest with a man or a bear?" Out of eight women in the video, seven answered that they would pick a bear over a man. The video (shown below) garnered over 14 million views and 2 million likes in three weeks.

One hundred percent a bear, which is terrifying to say, but….

The upload was followed by more videos in which users answered the question and commented on it. For example, on April 11th, TikToker^[6] @luisitorio787 posted a reaction video that garnered over 335,000 views and 21,500 likes on the platform in three weeks (shown below, left). On April 15th, user @xolciamilcx posted^[7] a reaction video that received over 5.1 million views and 1.1 million likes in two weeks (shown below, right).

On April 12th, 2024, comedian Leslie Jones reposted the TikTok by @luisitorio787 on X,^[8] writing that she would choose the bear. The post garnered over 4,100 reposts and 18,000 likes in three weeks. Later that day, X user @keteneh quoted the post, commenting, "I’ll also choose the bear because at least everyone will believe you when you say you were attacked by a bear." The post (shown below, left) earned over 21,000 reposts and 122,000 likes in the same period.

The discourse achieved further virality on X^[9] / Twitter in late April 2024 as more users shared their opinions on the matter. For example, on April 27th, X^[10] user @SingingDogz made a post that received over 3,000 reposts and 35,000 likes in two days (shown below, right).

The discourse was followed by media coverage, including articles and opinion pieces by ScaryMommy^[11] on April 19th, Inews^[12] on April 23rd, and Today^[13] on April 27th, 2024.