Of the questions that perplex humanity some will go unanswered and plague us forever, while still others are mundane, yet persistent. What is the meaning of life? Where is Osama bin Laden? Why doesn’t McDonald’s sell hotdogs? How fast exactly do hotcakes sell? And who is more annoying cat people or dog people?
After a number of restaurant staff agree that I was a cat person I set out to explore our crazy cat lady stigma and found that as you may know, these arguments are particularly boring. Through no choice of your own, you have heard them far too many times. They crop up around a dinner table or at a cocktail party, and then the evening goes into a precipitous decline.
Cat people heap contempt on dog people for thinking a dog's devotion counts for much. A dog's love for its owner is, cat people say, is entirely instinctual and indiscriminate; you are not loved for yourself -- anyone else would do as well. However, this argument does not amuse me; I feel the real question at hand is what is the difference between cat and dog people? What makes Cat Ladies crazy and am I really a crazy cat lady? All signs point to yes but the crazy to cat ratio is about 99 to 1.
Both cats and dogs have brought us great joy in our culture; cats cradle, hotdogs, Garfield, Lassie, the expression ‘its raining cats and dogs’. When did everything start going downhill? It’s just a fact that cats are much easier to hate. In one study I found via Google (which may or may not be factual) it is said that “Fifteen percent of the adults questioned said they disliked cats a lot while the number who said they disliked dogs a lot was only two percent.” Personally I find it very easy to hate cats. They are mean, plain and simple! And why do they always look like they are plotting to kill you?
Someone, somewhere, summarized their results by saying, "There is a widely held cultural belief that the pet species -- dog or cat -- with which a person has the strongest affinity says something about the individual's personality. Just on the basis of the nature of dogs being more sociable than cats, one might expect that the personalities of dog lovers would also reflect higher sociability.”
In comparison cat people were generally about 12 percent more neurotic. It was also said that cat owners were one third more likely to live alone than dog owners and twice as likely to live in an apartment or flat. Being married, living in a house, and having children living in the home, are all factors that are more likely for dog owners than cat owners. A single woman was the most likely individual to have a cat!
So what makes a crazy cat lady and how do I avoid this? Even the Simpsons have a reoccurring Crazy Cat Lady with the appearance and behavior of a stereotypical mentally ill person. No one wants to end up like Eddie on Grey gardens. However, reflecting on it now apparently everyone thinks I am a cat lady. My grandmother always bought me Christmas ornaments of girls holding cats, I have been given a “crazy cat lady” action figure not once but twice, and now as I glance around my room I can see a birthday card from my Aunt with a cat wrapped In Mardi Gras beads; written inside “Ok, had to do the cat! Couldn’t resist” Perhaps its my neuroticism, or perhaps no one has faith that I can find a significant other that will put up with me. But whatever it is, cat lovers, I am afraid you cannot reclaim the term cat lady; I recommend you give up!
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