It’s an intriguing quandary. Would you, a single woman, rather be left alone in the woods with a man you don’t know or a wild bear? Social media has been afire with this question in recent months. Surely you would pick the human, right? Well, that hasn’t been the case. A hell of a lot of women have been eager to admit that they’d choose the bear. Statistically speaking, it makes sense. Women are far more likely to be hurt by the man than the beast. According to Femicide Census, “men’s violence against women is a leading cause of premature death for women globally.” The bear will probably leave you alone as long as you stay out of their turf. The guy? Who wants to take that risk?
Many women have had fun with this hypothetical, mocking outraged men’s responses and sharing some of the cuter bears in pop culture, from Baloo in Disney’s The Jungle Book to the ursine hunk of Pamela Ribon’s comic My Boyfriend is a Bear. They’re not considered especially romantic figures (unless you count your Valentine’s Day teddies), but their primal appeal in the vast realms of nature is no mystery. Nearly 50 years ago, however, one very nervy Canadian author decided to explore the liminal space between humans and the wild with a bear at its center. And yes, a woman does f**k that bear.
Appropriately titled Bear, this novel by Marian Engel, published in 1976, was described by The Canadian Encyclopedia as “the most controversial novel ever written in Canada.” It’s not hard to see why. Again, a woman has sex with a bear, but there is far more going on between the covers than just that. Set in the Northeast of Ontario, the novel follows Lou, a dissatisfied young archivist who moves to the area to work on documenting the house of one of its residents, the late Colonel Cary. She hopes to find some peace in the countryside, far away from her drab life and desk job in Toronto. Lurking on the land around the Colonel’s house is a bear, the unofficial mascot of the region who the Colonel treated as a pet. Soon, she begins to approach the bear, moving closer and closer until they are one. This bear is her solace, or so she hopes.
Let’s get to the juicy stuff first. This bear, “not a handsome beast” according to Lou, enthralls her. At first, she is a mere voyeur to this creature, a wild animal chained to the ground who has become a mundanity to the locals. Then she defecates in front of him, a sign that she’s ready to work on his terms. Then the bear visits her in her home. They swim together, with him “playfully” tossing her around in the waters of the lake. It doesn’t seem all that shocking when, one night, they cuddle up in front of the fireplace and the bear begins to perform cunnilingus on Lou. “Eat me, bear,” she declares.
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