The New York Times, in an article that looks at the increase of single men owning cats (Sorry, Fido, It’s Just a Guy Thing), seems amazed that straight single men can own and actually care about their cats.
Mr. Fulrath is one of a growing number of single — and yes, heterosexual — men who seem to be coming out of the cat closet and unabashedly embracing their feline side. To that end, they are posting photographs and videos of their little buddies on YouTube and on Web sites like menandcats.com, and Twittering about them to anyone who will listen.
They quote some random blogger:
“Single men and cats are like a burger and broccoli. Separately they are okay, but together it just seems off.”
I was not aware that there was even this stereotype.
And further, it features this notion about the “evolution” of men:
Stacy Mantle, the founder of Petsweekly.com, a magazine for pet lovers, said that men are becoming more “cat literate” because they themselves are evolving.
“It’s the unevolved members of the species who tend toward abuse of cats — and oftentimes, women and children,” said Ms. Mantle, who owns 18 cats.
Also….
“They make the best boyfriends because they’re totally cool with staying home and watching a movie,” said Elizabeth Daza, 28, a video producer in Manhattan, who dated a cat-owning man for eight years. “Straight men with cats seem to be really secure and stable. They don’t need to be running around the park and proving their masculinity like the dog guys.”
That might not be about proving their masculinity, but the fact that you have to take dogs outside to walk them! Seriously, if there was anything meaningful in this article I wouldn’t have found it so offensive, but for a serious newspaper like the New York Times to be making these claims based on anecdotal evidence is ridiculous, both to straight and gay men (I guess according to this article that homosexual men don’t own dogs?).
The article hints at some other possible reasons, such as cats can be left alone on short trips and are good city pets, for the increase in cat ownership, but again and again it refers to this notion that it is not masculine to own and care for a cat. I think maybe the author is the only one who is really surprised by this discovery…
Animal Pets Dogs Cats Birds
I just realized something. A few days ago, I heard a conversation on the radio about sexual identity and cat ownership. Perhaps it is because they read this article and brought it up. But anyway, I became incredibly annoyed because one of the females on this radio show kept saying how “gay” and “homo” it was for a single man to own a cat. I ended up changing the station because I was so annoyed by the entire conversation.
I am not sure how owning a certain pet can determine your taste in sexual partners. What if you own a horse, or perhaps a bird or even an iguana, what is your sexual preference then? So stupid.