The aspect of gender related fears is interesting. I am sure we can all remember girls not liking or being afraid of insects and other things as children. Also, I am willing to bet we can remember girls who liked insects and were not afraid of them. When I think of the girls that liked insects and reptiles I remember them having a lot of the same childhood experiences as myself. For example, my sister. She would hang out with me and my friends and therefore was not the typical girl. Lucky her and the rest of the girls that were allowed or encouraged to play like boys.
It is amazing how far removed a lot of people are from the environment. Not just physically, but mentally. They are told or tell themselves that "out there" is a place that is best left alone. The insects, herps and other species might as well be blood sucking aliens. People want nothing to do with them, because they do not understand them. Therefore, they fear them. Such a shame.
I wonder about why snakes are most often the most feared. Does it have to do with the Bible? The snake tricked Eve into eating the apple. The evilness of the snake is definitely reinforced in movies and other media. Snakes are evil creatures that live on this Earth to slither into your clothes and kill you. What a bad rap.
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I really don't get the snake thing either. I'm ok with them, but my sister, who had many of the same experiences I did growing up on a small farm bordered by forest, AND has actually spent more time in remote wilderness than most people I know, is TERRIFIED of snakes. No other animal seems to bother her, and she never had a bad experience with one as far as I know. Maybe it's just innate for some people? And as you pointed out, Hollywood (or even Discovery Channel for that matter) has not helped any.
ReplyDeleteWhat's interesting to me about the snake/eve story has more to do with an ancient culture writing a story that depicts the snake as the antagonist. Even in pre-bronze-age culture, snakes were "evil".
ReplyDeleteI'm sure some of these fears had to do with deaths by snakes (just like some people fear sharks / jellyfish / man-o-war / black widows) but it seems as though the fear of poisonous snakes has given all of them a pejorative connotation.
It reminds me of when people went out and slaughtered sting rays after Steve Irwin was killed by one.