Dulcé Sloan Explains Why Women Choose the Bear on Trevor Noah
Comedian Dulcé Sloan went on Trevor Noah to tackle a question that’s greatly divided the internet: in a forest, should women choose to be alone with a man or a bear? Sloan explained why women choose the bear almost all the time.
Trevor Noah asked Sloan about the contentious topic, and she also chose the bear over the man. She says, “A bear is not inherently dangerous unless it’s hungry.”
“Could it be that men struggle with hearing that answer because, as men, we don’t see ourselves as a monolith?” Noah followed up on the initial question with his own thoughts. It’s a fair assumption from Noah, as not all men pose a threat to women.
But Sloan replied, “No, men struggle with hearing that answer because they don’t want to think they’re the bad guy… Women are told to take self-defense classes, don’t dress provocatively, don’t be a whore, carry a knife, carry a pepper spray… So, you’re telling me to do all of these things so that I’m not assaulted or attacked.”
Essentially, women are expected to protect themselves from violence that may be inflicted on them by men. This alone could pass as a reason behind why women choose the bear.
Sloan continues, “But then if I get assaulted or attacked, you don’t believe me… If I’m being attacked, somebody’s doing it. We’re not telling the attackers not to attack, we’re telling the victim not to get attacked.” She further elaborated that men would reflexively respond that they won’t commit these abuses. They’re also not likely to suspect their male friends of being abusive or violent towards women either.
Elaborating generalizations with Trevor Noah
“A kicked dog will holler,” Sloan said, citing an old saying she used to hear growing up. “If I didn’t kick you, you’re fine. But if you felt like you got kicked, then you’re somebody who has been harassing and terrorizing women.”
“Let’s say somebody says, ‘I don’t like white people because white people are racist.’ There’s a lot of white people who’d respond to that, going, ‘Why would you say that? I’m not racist,'” Noah clarified that there will still be racists who say the same thing. But he explains that if a collective is spoken to, there will still be responses from that collective.
Sloan clarified that she’s not speaking to a collective, but rather, men who bring harm to women. She also brought back the nuance of the issue, highlighting that the discussion happens in a theoretical forest.
Noah responds, “Any statements of protest, provocation—any statement that’s meant to elicit something from people is often blunt and provocative. That’s not the place for nuance in a way.” He brings up the example of Black Lives Matter, and then the conversation became diluted to “All Lives Matter.” The movement started as a protest against police brutality and racism—this isn’t to say that other lives don’t matter. But for that specific movement, Black people were protesting the systemic violence inflicted upon them.
The statistics are tired, and women just want to be safe
Tying it all back to the man vs. bear discussion, women are choosing what they deem would be safer. And yet, the reactions from many men have been telling. Not only are many unable to accept the answer, but some would even proceed to call women names for choosing a bear over them.
In real life, if a woman asked a man they trusted to accompany them into the woods that’s known to have bears—and the man betrays her, would it be so easy for society to believe that he caused her harm? Or would they only believe her when her body is found?
These are extremes, and yet cases where women have been killed by the men they love and trust exist. The World Health Organization findings indicate that one in three women worldwide has been subject to physical or sexual violence by a partner or non-partner in their lifetime. They also indicate that most of the violence is by women’s intimate partners.
Understand why women choose the bear, yet instead, many choose to chug down whatever the manosphere gets men drunk on. More effort could be spent by men by disproving the notion by with compassion instead of screaming at women over the internet.
(featured image: The Daily Show with Trevor Noah))
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