If i had a choice between meeting up with a random dude or a bear in the woods, I, too, would choose the bear. I wouldn't have to think about this. It isn't because I'm special or altruistic: I had my own experiences as a kid, and then in my young adulthood I never had a close relationship with a woman, romantic or platonic, who hadn't dealt personally with sexual violence. No altruism here: Just self-protection. The bear gets my vote.

I was hoping that rape culture was taking a bit of a ding, but then Kamala happened, and I was proven wrong. When I wrote about how that election reflected male rape culture, I had to "delete" several comments from men (using the "hide comment" functionality). I don't normally need to do that. I blocked them, too, so I don't know who they are anymore. Many of them were "not all men" comments who went on to rant about how men are being picked on.

Kamala lost the male vote 55% to 43%, according to CNN's exit poll. The numbers speak for themselves.

Even though the problem you describe is prevalent in all countries, at least in some countries, including our neighbor to the south, they'll choose a female head of state. So the U.S. is absolutely among the worst countries for this. The rape bros chose a serial rapist to once again soil the Oval Office.

What's worse, we have an emerging bro culture spreading among our young men.

We can't ask women to fix everything. We men need to have longer discussions with our sons, and make these kids understand that Joe Rogan, Barstool Sports, Elon Musk, Andrew Tate (FFS), and the many other bro chest thumpers are not men to look up to.

Rape culture cuts across both biological genders. Any man who looked at the Diddy video where he's having a little "chat" with Justin Bieber who didn't feel gross and wiggly inside should be first on the list for a good long class on rape culture. Any boy who grew up "cute" knew exactly what the fuck was going on. But Diddy almost got away with everything he did, and the culture that gave rise to him is alive and well.

So on behalf of all men who give a shit, please accept my apologies for our enabling behavior. As for those who don't give a shit, well, I am not sure what to do about them. Put 'em in a cage with a bear, I guess.