I don’t want to write this blog post, because: a) I’m tired,
OMFG, what was I thinking when I decided FRIDAY would be a good day to write a
regular blog post? Past Me was about as sharp as a marble sometimes; and b) I’m
now pissed off after spending the past 45 minutes doing research, which in this
case amounts to reading generalization after generalization about how dog
people are friendly, extraverted, and conscientious, while cat people are cold,
aloof, and introverted, and dog people should never,
ever marry cat people because we are so deeply,
horribly, and fundamentally flawed.
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| I don't want your smelly dog in my house anyway. *pout* |
According
to research performed at Carroll University in Waukesha, WI, dog and cat
owners do tend to have differences in personality. In a survey of 600 college
students, the researchers found that dog lovers are “more energetic,”
extraverted, and more likely to follow the rules. Cat lovers, on the other
hand, are non-conformists who tend to introversion, sensitivity, and open-mindedness.
Cat lovers are, somewhat perplexingly, both more neurotic and more open to new
experiences – adventures, art, new ideas, etc. Cat lovers are also smarter,
BECAUSE OF COURSE WE ARE.
Carroll University researcher Denise Guastello believes that
extraverted people may decide they prefer dogs because they believe that dogs’
supposed personality traits make them an ideal pet for an active, extraverted
person, while introverted or shy people may choose cats for themselves for a
similar reason. The study also suggests that dog and cat people want different
things out of their pets – dog people say they want “companionship” from their
dogs, while cat people claim to want “affection” from their cats. That’s all
well and good, but if you want companionship, cats are the reason why bathroom
doors have locks.
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| I took this picture while I was writing this. |
One sociologist has a different theory about cat people and
dog people – and it’s one I like, because I’m a feminist killjoy. Lisa Wade
PhD, writing
for the blog Sociological Images at The Society Pages, asserts that the cat
person/dog person debate is really a discussion about one’s perceived
masculinity – or lack thereof. She writes,
After all, don’t we stereotype women as cat people and men as dog
people? And don’t we think men with cats are a little femmy, or, at minimum,
sweeter than most…even, maybe, gay? And don’t we imagine that chicks with dogs
are a little less girly than most, a little more rough and tumble? The cat
person/dog person dichotomy is gendered.
Dr. Wade goes on to point out that, while dogs are considered
a “manly” pet, this is only true if the dogs in question fulfill an arbitrary
size requirement. A large dog is a “real” man’s perfect companion; it is loyal,
dependent, obedient, and perhaps crucially, doesn’t talk back. A small dog, on
the other hand, emasculates its male owner more and more with each high-pitched
yap. I would take this a step further and venture to suggest that the breed is
important as well; I recently got into an argument with some man somewhere (I
can’t remember who or where) about whether or not a standard poodle makes an
appropriate “man pet.” Apparently it doesn’t, because despite the fact that standard
poodles are huge and also a
hunting breed, the word “poodle” alone is enough to make a red-blooded man’s
balls just shrivel up and drop right off. Even so, Dr. Wade points out that cat
owners are considered “less cool” than dog owners and “no one ever fears ending
up a ‘crazy dog lady,’” although that might have at least as much to do with
the lowered
risk of toxoplasmosis as with the gendering of pet preferences. In any
case, one thing is clear: men who love cats (and small dogs) need feminism,
too.
