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Women are so closely associated with cats that even our genitalia share a slang name with the lithe furry beasts. In darker times, cats were believed to be the animal forms of witches. Today, the myth of the single spinster living with 27 cats is still a mocked stereotype. While feminists know better, whenever we joke about becoming the "crazy cat lady," there is often an underlying concern that one day, that's exactly what we'll become. (Elaine Vigneault, tongue firmly tucked in cheek, titled a post about a woman who had 136 cats in a three room apartment, "I Wonder if She's a Feminist Too.")"
My friend Count Mockula, who has a cat and is pregnant, reminded me that people project social anxieties and women's issues onto cats all the time. Myths about cats sucking the breath out of children or killing babies out of jealousy persist to this day, although that is a funny thing to believe about an animal derided for being "haughty" and "indifferent." (Why would a cat care any more than any other animal if a baby is in the house?) Is it the same as blaming doting mothers for "suffocating" their children or working mothers for being neglectful of their children's needs?
Given the sociological background ascribed to felines, is it any wonder that single men who share their lives with cats are often regarded with suspicion? Cats are not manly. What kind of guy would want a kitty hanging around his bachelor pad? Unlike dogs, cats are not chick magnets – you can't walk you cat (for the most part) to get women's attention. While I know several men who owned cats when they were single, usually people assumed that they acquired them through girlfriends.
Even though dogs are "man's best friend," they are more gender neutral. If a single woman enjoys the presence of a dog, it is as understandable as a guy's love of the friendly and protective beast. Plus, dogs do double duty as loyal companions and guardians. It makes sense that a single woman would want a dog just in case someone breaks into her home.
In "researching" the link between pets and gender, I came across an interesting theory cited at ChildFree Hardcore that blames feminism for substituting pets for children:
When people don't have kids, they tend to focus their time on things like weird hobbies and pets. And then they become huge weirdos. I think you're supposed to like, not love, pets. I think you're supposed to enjoy, not love, certain hobbies. But when you have too much time for you, that's what winds up happening…I 'm talking about grown men and women who could conceive, but choose not to because they want to spend more hours working, more hours hanging out with with their friends, more time cuddling with their pets, etc.
I think this is an off-shoot of feminism, to be honest. I think feminism hasn't really taught women to celebrate and rejoice in their womanhood, instead imploring them to celebrate and rejoice in behaviors they have co-opted from men.
This post doesn't actually specify that these pets are cats, but other anti-feminist blogs were very clear that women were replacing babies with kittens.
Suzanne also blogs about the other type of pussy at Campaign for Unshaved Snatch (CUSS) & Other Rants and lives with a 13 lb. rabbit because she is allergic to cats
