Why are some women so terrified of harmless creatures? (mom, girls, relationship)

[dave nz]

We only have one dangerous spider where I live. Yet when any harmless spider, or other harmless creature, shows itself I have had romantic interests behave like world war 3 is breaking out.

I actually find it rather amusing, funny rather than anything problematic. I'm sure there are women on here who behave the same and can help me understand it better.

[Auntie77]

I'm not afraid of them, I just quietly lift up my shoe and end their lives.

No need for drama.

[kat247]

My ex is terrified of spiders. He's a guy and would scream like a girl. I had to kill them. Even these little white house spiders. It was really sad. It annoyed me beyond belief!! It wasn't funny or cute after 10 years.

[findly185]

I work on a team of 6 women 23-35 years of age.

I capture/kill any and all insects that appear in our office (we are on the ground level near woods). So no, not all women are this way. Some (like me) have to do the disposing.

[Checkered24]

This may be more of a psychology forum thread than a Relationship forum thread.

There is a theory (controversial) that the human fear of spiders is an evolutionary instinct because some spiders do pose a threat.

Beyond that, they tend to look creepy, and I think a lot of human reaction to things like spiders may be a little bit learned too.

[dave nz]

Originally Posted by Checkered24

This may be more of a psychology forum thread than a Relationship forum thread.

There is a theory (controversial) that the human fear of spiders is an evolutionary instinct because some spiders do pose a threat.

Beyond that, they tend to look creepy, and I think a lot of human reaction to things like spiders may be a little bit learned too.

I wasn't refering to just spiders. My experience with the OP refers to all of the following :

moths, non-venomous snakes (ok I can understand this one more), secators, slaters.

Interestingly, the same reaction isn't given to flies.

[hooplaman]

I hate all spiders and bugs, kill them all with fire!

[relationshippro]

Most fear of mice and spiders is a taught fear. Their mothers scream when they see one so they scream. The more a mother carries on the more fear there is. Boys have less fear because they have been given the job of defending women and girls. So even those that have that fear overcome it so they are considered manly. Therefore we know women can also overcome the fear if they are only given adequate motivation. And the knowledge that spiders and mice are not harmful. Wanting to get rid of spiders and mice from our houses because they carry disease or leave cobwebs is different than this screaming fear.

[timberline742]

Some of it is learned, some of instinctive. I deal with it a lot as I work some in snake conservation.

Of course, then there is the myth of the spider bites when people are sleeping that never seems to really die out.

[jillabean]

Okay, want to hear something funny?

I am not afraid of spiders. I actually let them live in my house figuring they might catch an annoying mosquito of moth (most here are harmless too). House centipedes creep me out a little, but I also leave them alone (since they don't bite and also eat unwanted pest insects). I am not really afraid of mice either... my mom was. She was terrified of the dead ones in the traps when I was a kid (grew up in a rural area and whenever fields were plowed, mice scattered and often got into nearby houses). If dad wasn't home, I cleaned out the traps. She's still afraid of dead mice for some reason. The weirdest one to most people is that I am also a scuba diver and I love sharks and shark dives. They are also mostly harmless if you leave them alone and very beautiful. But that seems to be one of the biggest "fears" nondivers have about diving... sharks.

But you want to talk about "harmless" creatures I am afraid of... Rabbits! I won't go running away screaming, but I also will not hold, touch or pet the little buggers. The reason being, when I was a kid, I was bitten by one--a neighbors pet that I was feeding. I was just putting it's food in it's cage and it hopped over and latched on to my finger and gnawed on it... really gnawed. It wouldn't let go and I swear it was trying to bite though the bone! Took forever to stop the bleeding and my finger hurt a lot for a long time. Had a bit of fear of them ever since. I like to think I have a good reason though.