In a TikTok video published by Screenshot HQ in April this year, eight women were asked if they would prefer to be alone in the woods with a man or a bear. Seven out of those eight females chose the bear. When the video went viral, many other ladies continued the debate, saying that they, too, would choose the bear because men are more likely to commit sexual violence than bears. If that doesn’t tell you how scary the world appears to the female sex, I don’t know what will.
I thought that I had really seen and heard the worst of humanity when I read about David Fuller, who murdered two women and sexually assaulted over 100 corpses over an almost 35-year span; however, hearing the details surrounding the ongoing case of Gisèle Pelicot has definitely touched a raw nerve.
In case you haven’t been following the international news, Gisèle Pelicot is a 71-year-old woman who was raped and sexually abused in her own home while unconscious by her husband and 50 other men over a 10-year period. Her significant other of over 50 years was secretly drugging her and inviting other men into their home to play what he called fantasy games.
Pelicot could have chosen to have her case heard behind closed doors and remain anonymous but instead opted to have everything out in the open. Standing tall in an Avignon court and sharing her feelings, she reportedly stated, “It’s not for us to have shame—it’s for them.”
Meanwhile, one of the 50 accused said that he had no intention to rape Pelicot but was merely following her spouse’s instructions. Refusing to accept any responsibility for his deplorable actions, he addressed Pelicot and told her that it was not him she should be angry at but her husband. Her answer was to turn away from him.
Pelicot should have never had to endure all the horrors she unknowingly went through at the hands of her own spouse, and neither should anyone else. It is heartbreaking that in 2024, half the world’s population continues to have to look over their shoulder in every space they occupy, and it is horrendous that so many females continue to be forced to make their worlds smaller to “stay out of harm’s way”.
The worst part is that despite many campaigns and stories like Pelicot’s, a considerable portion of males remain unaware of what the world feels like to the opposite sex.
Here’s hoping that there comes a time when no one chooses the bear.
