We’re Loving Our Pets, But Not Each Other
Millennials are struggling, people are starving… yet we have doggie bjorns
Nothing symbolizes the crises of our times quite like the doggie björn. Modeled on the Swedish front-facing over-the-shoulder baby carriers, the doggie björn is how doting pet owners with disposable income transport their fur babies in comfort and style. In its Instagrammable marriage of pet-owner consumerism with the psychosocial substitution of a pet for a child, the doggie björn puts the ironies of modern intimacy on full display. The pets of the “haves” live better than the children of the “have-nots,” while everyone senses something amiss in our intimate lives. Pets are the family we can afford—both financially and emotionally—amid our collective crises of inequality and intimacy. How did we get here?
Pets essentially made the internet. Pet memes and clips went viral before going viral was a thing. Pet content (as well as porn) pulled audiences online, and adorable animals remain a widely popular internet genre. The advent of social media amplified the likability of pets and transformed particularly photogenic ones into veritable Instagram celebrities. Pet ownership has become an important dimension of identity and has even been incorporated into fashion trends. Single people use pets as date bait and a criterion of…
