Arachnophobia?

Question

Why are women afraid of or spooked by spiders?
Is it a feminine thing or are there men in fear of them too?
(I'm speaking of the common spiders found in the UK)

Answer 1

What women are afraid of spiders-I am not! If I see one in the house I cup them in my hands and gentle put them outside. They are really fascinating to look at too. What could they possibly be afraid of? They don't string, not poisonous, etc. Maybe it is learned behaviour? All my family are wildlife fans.

Answer 2

Yes, I've witnessed many times spiders are creepy and scary creatures. I don't mind about cockroach or snakes or bugs or more so other creepy crawling creatures except spiders.
I mean, I am a guy who fears spiders a lot. If it's only small and not even bigger than 1 cm I could squeeze it with my fingertips. But sometimes I saw bigger spider which is so black as death, hairy and as big as a baby palm (3.8 inch length - 3.16 inch wide) and I really cannot identify what type of spider it is.
I know spiders stay the the top level of food chain for insect world. And the world need spiders or else the world will be like a mountain of pesky and unhealthy insects everywhere. But still they are so disgusting.

Answer 3

Many people, both women and men are Arachnophobic. It's a very common fear. Some people who have a milder case are only scared of large spiders like trantulas or only poisonus ones like Black Widows and Brown Recluse or Hobo spiders. More serious cases are such that even the mention of spiders will send the arachnophob through the roof.
As far as women's fears, some of this is trained by society as women are taught or expected from childhood to be afraid of, or creeped out by "creepy crawlies" such as spiders, snakes, toads and worms. This is placed on them by society, and from what some of my female associates say these "phobias" are also a good excuse to cuddle and let men be heros by killing or disposing of the offending creepy crawler in a world where opportunities for heroism are few and far between.

Answer 4

I'm totally freaked out by spiders but I relate it to an incident when I was young and suffered spider bites around one of my eyes resulting in my eye being swollen shut for a few days. Guess that was what I deserved for torturing Daddy Long Legs when I was a kid. I have, however, met plenty of guys scared of spiders as well.

Answer 5

I don't mind snakes, rats cockroaches but I don't like spiders at all, I don't freak out about them (only if they touch me) I wont sleep if there is one in the room - I have heard they come up to your mouth at night and drink from your mouth and if you wake up with a sore throat it's a sign that you swallowed a spider - ugh!!!(I did chew one once when I was little I thought it was a piece of black cotton, I can still remember the taste)

Answer 6

My sister was petrified of spiders until the day she found out her 2 year old was even more petrified - there was no one else around to deal with it so she had to.

I can get rid of spiders easily enough, but its like washing up, if someone will do it for me - then I let them - even if that means looking like I am scared.

Answer 7

Arachnids are the one thing I fear most in life.
Because they are so small and it's so hard to tell whether they're dangerous or not.
If there's a spider I KNOW isn't poisonous, then I'll pick it up in my hand and set it outside. But any doubt at all and I will FREAK THE HELL OUT and squash it!

Answer 8

I'm forever catching spiders in my bath and releasing them elsewhere in the house. I used to have a big one (called Eric) in the shed that I kept on feeding flies to, to build him up.

Answer 9

I know men who paralyse when they see spiders. I'm afraid of them too.

Answer 10

i know more more men afraid of spiders than women (im not afraid of them ) unless they span the size of a tin can.