The biggest spider I’ve ever seen is somewhere in my laundry basket

[Pinkitydrinkity]

Omg help. What do I do!

I feel like I have to choice but to empty everything into the washing machine and accept the consequences of ruining my light pants.

I misread this as "I'm now trapped under a glass." 😂

Then don’t post in AIBU 🤷🏻‍♀️

You get the truth here.

It’s not cute to squeeeee at spiders.

💯 agree

Yeah I get the sentiment but everyone has things they don’t like. I just cannot abide moths and spiders but much anything else I’m fine with.

In any case, I dealt with spidey. I live on my own in a flat with by a mortgage supporter by my salary and a deposit I saved for. More of a win for feminism than being able to get rid of a fucking spider, no?

I almost never separate my washing by colour, unless you are washing something new it’s not usually necessary, most dyes are colourfast nowadays, so I would just put everything in together.

It may be pathetic and tedious but there is a reason it’s a fear. I get panic attacks and this is a horrendous time of year for me - I would love to be able to just deal with it but I can’t and I’ve tried several things including hypnotherapy as it does have a debilitating impact on my life.

My whites can end up looking funky if I don't separate.

Why did I just read that as ‘I’m now trapped under a glass’ 😂😂

How tedious.

Why are you assuming that OP is a woman?

I know plenty of men who hate spiders too.

But this has nothing to do with all the giggly 'tee hee spiders' threads being started.

I'm not assuming, I've read other posts from her?

I am a feminist who is afraid of spiders and those two things aren’t contradictory! I don’t think it’s cute and I also know men who are afraid - it’s just a fact. Two things have helped me:

1. I leave the long legged spindly ones alone. They don’t scare me very much and I’ve read having them round the house deters the bigger nastier looking ones.
2. I have a spider catcher. I bought it on Amazon. It’s a long wand thing that you use to pick up spiders and put them outside without having to get close to them.

Thanks for that explaination. Taken on board.

However, as a general reaction to your post, it's not just women that are scared of spiders.

Op they are sneaky feckers.

Im waging war in some. presently. False widows though.
They don't scare me as much as the v large ones but I know the give v nasty bites. Also they reproduce and colonise extremely quickly.

You can't do that! The spider will gallop up your boots and jump inside!

To those pouring scorn on OP…

I am a committed feminist and I have a genuine and quite debilitating fear of spiders. I have nightmares about spiders and it is genuinely a problem for me if I find one in my home. Does my fear of spiders mean I don’t believe in equal rights for women? No. HTH.

Fairly conclusive evidence that OP is female.

Poor spidey though. He / she fought so hard to find safety😥

Why do people have to kill them...i live alone and am frightened of them but i can manage to put a glass over them and release into my garden.

THIS is the tiresome and laughable thing. This posturing attitude that it's somehow admirably hardcore to gang up in a little group and be slightly rude about totally random things to strangers on the internet who have no idea who you are....

The fact that women remain second class citizens globally is squarely the fault of the men who oppress and abuse them. Not, as suggested here, the fault of a few women lightheartedly admitting to a common place phobia on a forum primarily designed for women to chat lightheartedly about everyday stuff, share problems and advice, etc. That really isn't what's causing it!

👏👏👏

I'm am feminist and also scared of spiders. It's possible to be both. I can deal absolutely fine with snakes and wasps, both of which turn my DH into a "wreck".

Well said @Ilovelurchers 👏👏👏

Agreed. My husband absolutely hates wasps but I don’t mind removing them. I just have an irrational fear of spiders.

I don’t kill them though. I usually get someone else to deal with them…

Someone upthread said she is afraid of them but puts a glass over them… Pathetic as it may be, I am too afraid to get that close and I imagine most people with a severe phobia are too. So I take that sort of comment with a pinch of salt.

I think some posters (not just you) aren't getting the point. It's not being scared of spiders that makes women on MN look silly.

It's the endless 'Tee hee/haa haaa/burn the house' giggly threads that do it.

Really not something grown men tend to do, whether they're scared or not.

Exactly, @Ilovelurchers, fully agreed.

And let’s not mock women who are open about their fears and sharing camaraderie with each other about them. Instead let’s pity those men who still believe it’s not macho to admit to being afraid of something and therefore have no one to talk to about the things that frighten them.