# Girls and Women Stepping on Bugs **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 20, 2010, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-and-women-stepping-on-bugs/557748 "2010-10-20T05:50:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2010, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-and-women-stepping-on-bugs/557748/1 "2010-10-20T05:50:05Z")
I think this is probably better suited for IMHO than GQ. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![TheChileanBlob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thechileanblob/32/435_2.png) [@TheChileanBlob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheChileanBlob)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2010, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-and-women-stepping-on-bugs/557748/2 "2010-10-20T08:07:05Z")
I am a girl or woman, and I go out of my way _not_ to step on bugs. Why kill something that never did anything to you? ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2010, 8:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-and-women-stepping-on-bugs/557748/3 "2010-10-20T08:24:26Z")
> [@RichmondGirl](#): > > The other day I was walking through the mall and I saw something I have seen before but nver had anyone to ask why they think this occures. I have seen bugs and insects before in busy areas where alot of people are walking. I have obverved when there is a live bug in their path alot of time people tend to avoid him laying there, even if the bug has been half squished but still alive. However, I have seen where a bug had been already squashed or at least was obvious dead and he turns into a foot/shoe magnet. I have observed men tend to ignore a bug crawling that is in their path, but let it be a girl or woman and even though there is no doubt he is dead, they will go out of their way or change their stride so that they can step on the already dead bug. I have seen and been watching this for years and would like to know why girls and women sometimes does this What a curious question. šŸ˜› ---
**Author:** ![lost4life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c4cdca/32.png) [@lost4life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lost4life)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2010, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-and-women-stepping-on-bugs/557748/4 "2010-10-20T13:09:42Z")
I thought this was going to be about one of those odd fetishes where women step on balloons and crush things with their heels. Surely there must be a site that specializes in women crushing bugs. Rule 34 I believe. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2010, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-and-women-stepping-on-bugs/557748/5 "2010-10-20T13:19:54Z")
> [@lost4life](#): > > I thought this was going to be about one of those odd fetishes where women step on balloons and crush things with their heels. Surely there must be a site that specializes in women crushing bugs. Rule 34 I believe. Hey, youā€™re a good guesser - this poster also resurrected a zombie thread from 2004 about weird fetishes, adding a post that her boyfriend likes watching thatā€¦ ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2010, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-and-women-stepping-on-bugs/557748/6 "2010-10-20T13:36:56Z")
I purposefully stepped on a tiny house centipede one early morning at the cafeā€™. To be real, I had let its mother go free the day before, but this day, I was in a killing mood. It was the worst day at work ever. I wrecked the eggs, burned myself bad, had the dropsies, got the frownies and it was a 10 shift. The next one gets swept with a broom and tossed outside. šŸ˜‰ ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2010, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-and-women-stepping-on-bugs/557748/7 "2010-10-20T13:59:37Z")
> [@lost4life](#): > > I thought this was going to be about one of those odd fetishes where women step on balloons and crush things with their heels. Surely there must be a site that specializes in women crushing bugs. Rule 34 I believe. Oh, definitely. There was one of those one-week moral panics over such ā€œcrush videosā€ some time ago. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2010, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-and-women-stepping-on-bugs/557748/8 "2010-10-20T14:04:43Z")
I go out of my way not to step on them because they scare me. ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2010, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-and-women-stepping-on-bugs/557748/9 "2010-10-20T16:22:46Z")
I have never seen anything like this. Most women I know avoid stepping on bugs, alive or dead, because they donā€™t want bug goo on their shoes. They also avoid stepping on spit and bird poo. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2010, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-and-women-stepping-on-bugs/557748/10 "2010-10-20T16:26:47Z")
> [@TheChileanBlob](#): > > I am a girl or woman, and I go out of my way _not_ to step on bugs. Why kill something that never did anything to you? Me too. I release spider back into the wild, too. ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2010, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-and-women-stepping-on-bugs/557748/11 "2010-10-20T20:12:48Z")
deleted. Poster beat me to it. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2010, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-and-women-stepping-on-bugs/557748/12 "2010-10-20T22:20:48Z")
Just a hint. If you stomp a cockroach, and you see little red dots on your sole, wipe them off before you go home. Those are eggs. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2010, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-and-women-stepping-on-bugs/557748/13 "2010-10-20T23:41:20Z")
This is why I will never touch bugs. ---
**Author:** ![Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brown_eyed_girl/32/3574_2.png) [@Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brown_Eyed_Girl)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-and-women-stepping-on-bugs/557748/14 "2010-10-22T17:19:17Z")
I never go near cockroaches, alive or dead, if I can help it. When I do find myself in their (alive or dead) presence, I freak out and call for help. Spiders are left alone to eliminate flying bugs that donā€™t belong in my house, unless they are especially bitey or dangerous. Other harmless bugs that donā€™t belong in my house get relocated back to the wilds, assuming they serve no useful purpose for being in my house. Ants, and destructive bugs, are eliminated immediately and whatever attracted them is cleaned up and/or fixed. Out in the wilds, ticks and fleas are also dealt with harshly. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-and-women-stepping-on-bugs/557748/15 "2010-10-22T17:22:24Z")
**Brown Eyed Girl** , oh that is so me only Iā€™m getting better. I went to college in NYC and whenever Iā€™d see a bug, Iā€™d cry out for suitemates or anyone around. I remember seeing one and phoning a roommate to come home. Since living alone, Iā€™ve gotten better. Iā€™ve moved on from calling for help to spraying the bug and asking someone to dispose of the body to managing to get the dead body into a dustpan with a broom (which takes about fifteen to twenty minutes since I freak out even when I have to remotely touch the bugā€™s body). ---
**Author:** ![Tethered\_Kite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a5b964/32.png) [@Tethered\_Kite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tethered_Kite)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-and-women-stepping-on-bugs/557748/16 "2010-10-22T17:35:20Z")
Mercy killing? That would be the only time I would kill something - if it were beyond repair. ---
**Author:** ![Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brown_eyed_girl/32/3574_2.png) [@Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brown_Eyed_Girl)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-and-women-stepping-on-bugs/557748/17 "2010-10-22T17:36:08Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > **Brown Eyed Girl** , oh that is so me only Iā€™m getting better. I went to college in NYC and whenever Iā€™d see a bug, Iā€™d cry out for suitemates or anyone around. I remember seeing one and phoning a roommate to come home. > > Since living alone, Iā€™ve gotten better. Iā€™ve moved on from calling for help to spraying the bug and asking someone to dispose of the body to managing to get the dead body into a dustpan with a broom (which takes about fifteen to twenty minutes since I freak out even when I have to remotely touch the bugā€™s body). This should freak you out then: I once awoke to see a very large centipede crawling under my pillow. Damn thing had bitten me several times on my arm between my wrist and shoulder, which put it at least within inches of my face at one point. You better believe we beat that thing into a fine paste with a fireplace shovel after jumping out of bed at atomic speed. Another time I awoke to my toddler son holding a dead cockroach just under my nose while I had been napping. I wish I didnā€™t know that dead cockroaches smell just ghastly. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-and-women-stepping-on-bugs/557748/18 "2010-10-22T17:38:09Z")
You have no idea how much youā€™ve set me back in terms of conquering my phobia, do you? šŸ˜ƒ ---
**Author:** ![Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brown_eyed_girl/32/3574_2.png) [@Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brown_Eyed_Girl)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-and-women-stepping-on-bugs/557748/19 "2010-10-22T17:46:55Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > You have no idea how much youā€™ve set me back in terms of conquering my phobia, do you? šŸ˜ƒ Well, I was hoping it would do the opposite. You see, I survived ā€“ albeit somewhat traumatized. And so would you! šŸ™‚ ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-and-women-stepping-on-bugs/557748/20 "2010-10-22T19:42:08Z")
I came down the stairs at the rec center the other day to find a huge brown spider on the floor. I didnā€™t want to step on it because I didnā€™t want to get the bottom of my shoe all gooky then track spider guts across the white floor. I TOTALLY thought about going to the front desk and asking the guy who works there to go take care of the spider (there were other people working, it wouldnā€™t have caused a disturbance) but I thought twice and decided not to be such a sissy about it. I just hope to Og that the spider doesnā€™t come to thank me while Iā€™m lifting weights. _shudder_ [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-and-women-stepping-on-bugs/557748.md?page=2)