It is truly amazing to me how few people understand even the elementary aspects of risk management.

A known danger is easier to manage than an unknown one.

Bears are dangerous, but largely predictable. They usually don’t go after humans at all (and indeed usually go the other direction). And if they seem angry, there’s simple things you can do (it rhymes with “back away slowly” because identical rhymes are still rhymes) that will defuse the situation almost immediately.

Men are for the most part decent human beings. Most men you meet will not be monsters. The problem is that there’s really no way to distinguish the monsters from the decent men until it’s way too late. And extricating yourself from an interaction with a strange man in the forest is not as straightforward as it is for a bear. Backing away slowly might work, or it might trigger that silicon chip inside their brain and slip it to “overload” and make them get angry that you don’t trust them. And the penalty for making a bad choice is serious bodily harm as the good outcome. There are worse ones after that.

So just from straightforward risk assessment it’s better to meet a bear in the woods than a strange man. Because a bear is more predictable and easier to manage.