Loaded for Bear

On the bear vs. man debate and the failures of feminism

Would you rather be alone in the woods with a man or a bear? was a question that recently went viral on TikTok after many women answered “bear.” When pressed, some offered talking points about male violence, rape, and everyday sexism. They said men don’t have the lived experience to understand why a woman would rather be alone in the woods with a wild animal than with a member of her own species. To be fair, there is a sort of half-truth to this. In the United States, 14.8% of women have been raped and 81% experience some form of sexual harassment in their lifetime. But ladies, we already had this conversation. It was called MeToo and it gained the overwhelming support of the nation despite operating as a lynch mob with no presumption of innocence and despite the fact that up to 10% of sexual assault allegations are false.

Honestly, who convinced MeToo plaintiffs that they didn’t hold the burden of proof? Are they the same counselors who convinced these bear plaintiffs they had a case? I chose the bear because the bear sees me as a human being. I chose the bear because I won’t have to see the bear at family reunions. This is a form of idiot confession. And while it may seem like just another silly online debate, it reveals something sinister about Western society and the way in which feminism has turned to rot. In my recent essay for

Konstantin Kisin

, “How Marxism Subverted America,” or the video format if you prefer, I detail the history of how Marxist philosophy has overtaken many of our most cherished institutions, including our media outlets and universities. But Marxism has also engulfed whole ideologies, none more so than feminism.

As an undergraduate, I took every gender studies and feminist course available. My grandmother and mother had raised me in the feminist faith, you could say, but theirs was a decidedly different breed of feminism. What we often talk about as a coherent movement is actually a series of individual movements known as “waves.” First-wave feminism began in the late 19th century and fought to secure the right to attend school, work outside the home, and vote. This is why I say that every decent person ought to be a feminist, because that’s how low the bar is set, or how far we’ve come. Do you think women should have the right to vote? Do you think women should have the right to attend school? Congratulations, you’re a first-wave feminist. This was the feminism of my grandmother.

Second-wave feminism began with the invention of the Pill in 1960 and the publication in 1963 of Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique, which explored the unspoken ennui of the American housewife. While the battlefields of the first wave had been the office, the classroom, and the polling booth, the second wave turned its attention on the home, focusing on reproductive rights, domestic violence, and marital rape. This was the feminism of my mother. But by the time I had entered university, the cracks were beginning to show. Feminism had always included the voices of black women such as Sojourner Truth, Frances E.W. Harper, and Ida B. Wells-Barnett, but in the wake of the civil rights movement, black feminists began to emphasize their skin color and make increased use of Marxist racial analysis.