Recently I’ve been reading random things about perceptions of masculinity and femininity through the eyes of women. Thought this one was a bit funny when I read it. I have noticed often that when I tell people I prefer cats and have pet cats that I live alone with and frequently post pictures of that sometimes it just seems weird but they are not sure why. I’ve also have randomly heard men , and sometimes women, mention men with cats as opposed to dogs in a negative light.
Reading through this post, their concept of masculinity was funny. It’s amusing that most of the women perceived men posting with their cats as more feminine, and that femininity within men is often confused for homosexuality.
I’ve noticed the same thing with flowers. Often if you really like flowers, and talk about how pretty they are and ect… sometimes people will act as if it’s weird. Especially if they realize afterwards that you don’t know anything about cars and boats. Almost 50% of the time when I’m talking about flowers, a guy will follow up with they are more into cars or boats.
Real men don’t eat quiche, either. My favorite that my wife makes is a crustless spinach quiche made with Dubliner cheese (not so French , but it’s a delicious cheese!) in a regular 8" x 11" glass baking dish.
Pro tip: instead of “pretty” talk about their sculptural quality or something else specific like color or scent. But I can’t even imagine that coming up where I am. Gay men dominate garden design with women being their closest competition. I do know a straight couple who both had their own design/build business before they got together and still do. At their house the front yard is hers and the back garden is his to shape s they please. If my wife was more into making a garden than she is, that’s the way we would have to do it. Collaboration on creative ventures isn’t easy. We pick our battles. Though she has really taken an interest in the garden since the pandemic. She has even made a few weavings from the photos she takes there.
Oh and cats are fine for men. My younger brother has always had them. Now he has a dog too for the kids. People who travel a lot find them more practical and some admire their independence. Even my father-in-law was a cat guy, and they don’t come manlier than him.
Edited to fix obvious typos caused by old fat fingers trying to type on phone.
It comes up on and off where I live. Usually though it’s out of the landscape and comes up in places like Hobby Lobby or talking about cut flowers, rhinestones on silk and vases lol. If it makes someone uncomfortable and they express it then most likely I’ll go out of my way to make them feel awkward.
I just wanted to note that in Guerrero, owning a jaguar (which is technically a cat) is considered peak masculinity, and there are many jaguar sanctuaries to give homes to all the jaguars that have been confiscated from the cartel guys by the authorities.
Who doesn’t like flowers?
What’s weird are women who dye their hair. That’s as weird as painting real flower petals.
A car is machine with four wheels, an engine, something to sit on, and a window to keep dirt out of your eyes and bugs out of your teeth. A boat? Who has the time for a boat?
Where I live, a “crustless spinach quiche” is a poor man’s “scrambled eggs Florentine”.
One of the weirdest arguments I’ve personally ever heard from someone is that being vegan/vegetarian is a feminine thing and that men who are vegetarians/vegan should not speak against the meat industry or talk about animal rights but instead support the vegetarian/vegan women and let them fight against it.
Then though I don’t have a lot , my tattoos that have pink in them, I’m often told by guys that they would ever ever get a tattoo with pink in it.
I have several female acquaintances from the gym that likes to work out and are fairly toned. They have told me how often they feel mocked for having biceps or they have been excluded from conversations about bodybuilding. That one of them who does personal training has said how frustrating it is when a guy who is scrawnier than her with less definition gets picked over her by potential clients and she is certain its simply because she is a woman.
I follow a woman on Instagram to try to learn a bit more about exotic cars passively. Shes told personal stories also about being excluded from car clubs because she’s a woman.
When it comes to churches I have even heard the verse about women not wearing men’s clothing referring to pants. It’s crazy that there are some men who seriously believe women can only wear dresses or skirts. Those verses have always been weird to me because in my mind I envision ancient mesn wearing those robe things which resembles something closer to dressed now days than pants.
I prefer cats as well. Though I like dogs and I’m most likely getting a german shepherd puppy soon. But I’m also probably getting a pet rooster as well. Chickens can actually be house trained and shown affection by cuddling with you and will also hold your hand xd.
I’m definitely not big into vehicles either. I often guys that will be like “‘oh it’s a blah a blah and comes stock with blah blah balah”’and I have no clue. I also dont enjoy loud vehicles like so many men here do. I like sports but not watching them. I enjoy hanging out with others and tossing a ball or something while talking. But I can’t name even 5 professional athletes and maybe know like 8 teams. I definitely don’t know then positions and many here really don’t like that I am critical of tackle football because of the higher than normal brain injuries.
I have detested dogs most of my life. noisy… smelly… dirty… and other obnoxious behaviors
Though I understand they are much more useful than cats.
I used to like cats growing up, though not so much any more. And now I have to take care of my mother’s cat (more than I like) now that she is bedridden. The cat used to draw blood from me quite frequently, though now she is much friendlier since I am the one to provide the food.
BTW… I recently investigated where they came from.
Both have been around us for about 130,000 years, long before the practice of domesticating animals. But while dogs have adapted and been bred to so many different varieties from a single species of gray wolf 130,000 years ago. Cats remain pretty much identical to a species of African wild cat. Both have embraced the advantages of associating with us. But while we became the family/pack for this wolf which was always a pack animal. Cats simply found that we attracted rodents with our garbage and provided a better hunting ground as well as a supplemental source of food.
Watched this absurd clip on youtube about the black footed cat, a smaller species of cat in Africa. Never could understand why the clip was claiming this cat was so deadly, despite its cuteness.
I definitely view dogs differently. They can be kept clean easily and are good pets. I prefer cats because they are smaller and don’t require as much activity. I don’t have to take my cats out for hikes or to use the restroom. But dogs you do.
I have a cat currently that is aggressive. She came from abusive background and the place i adopted her from let me know she’s been returned twice for biting. She definitely drew a lot of blood as well. It’s taken 2-3 hours 5-6 days a week for about a month to get her to where I can pet her. But I can’t pick her up yet for more than a second or two. But soon. Within a few weeks I imagine she will join me and my other cat, Uhyre, watching horror films.
The Common Descent Podcast has one on cats.
One of my favorite horror podcasts is focused on a cat. “ The Lost Cat” by AP Clarke.
Now I am wondering where I got the 130,000 years ago for cats and dogs from. Everything I look at now is giving a much more recent origin for them… 40,000 ya for dogs and 7,500 BC for cats. Found it – recent genetic study challenging the established dogma for dogs at least. Perhaps one of the difficulties is that the crossbreeding with wild wolves has made the two groups harder to distinguish genetically.
What about cats? No help from genetics there since there is no genetic divergence there to measure. I wonder if cat lovers put out a similar claim just to compete with the findings for dogs. LOL
Well don’t they find evidence of dog and cat bones together with human bones? Only from about 10,000 years ago it seems.
Cats are nice pets when they are inside. They become problems when they roam outside.
I have nothing against cats as pets but I don’t like the common way of keeping cats, letting the pets roam freely in the nature. Pet cats kill literally billions of birds every year and also other small animals. For some endangered species, cat predation may be the critical final blow that drives the species to extinction.
Some claim that their cat don’t hunt when outside but cats are predators, hunting is in their genes. When pet cats kill birds and other wildlife, it’s not the fault of the cat. The owner is responsible for the damage his/her cat does. Try tell this to enthusiastic cat lowers and you may note that cat people are not necessarily peace-lowing creatures.
Truth is not always pleasant but I have a bad habit of telling it anyway.
It’s true through. I have people tell me constantly that i should let my cats outside. Even had someone trying to sell me cat doors. I believe all cats should be kept indoors and only outside when you are outside. I take my cats outside about an hour a day when I am there with them. Not only to protect themselves but also to protect native fauna. For my house though that I’ll be building in the next few years most likely I will do cat enclosure that includes climbing planks, play areas and walkways. I plan on the walkways leaving the house in a few places and going through the gardens and along the fence and having 1 or 2 play areas that are like 10x10 and 10 feet high. They will be made of wood, wire mesh and with a screen layer. I’m doing that so that while the cats will always be technically indoors they will also be able to move throughout the gardens outside and kept safe.
But you are right that people who keep their cats outside are contributing to biodiversity decline. Australia was a good example of how bad they can be. Many places , like the local cat coalitions near me are doing catch, fix and release. That way at least outside strays can’t keep having kittens. Which is another big problem with many cat owners. They don’t stay up to date on vaccines for their cats, or getting them fixed.!
I wonder where the whole stereotype of crazy old cat lady came from. If there is this weird gender biased view of cat ownership, then I wonder what resulted in it. Did more women own cats then men? I wonder what would have been the reasoning behind “‘women own cats and men own dogs”.
I wonder if cats use to be kept mostly inside, and because historically in america there seems to have been this trope of “housewives” who was supposed to basically stay home and so indoor cats and housewives became an stereotype that somehow bled into crazy cat lady.
That’s a nice way to give cats more space. I have seen an outdoor extension of a house made of wire mesh. Cats could move in or out as they wished. The cats were purebred champions (Maine coon) and the wire mesh was placed as much to protect the cats than to protect birds. The owner of the cats was a birdwatcher, so protecting birds was natural for him.
, but it’s a delicious cheese!) in a regular 8" x 11" glass baking dish.