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“Cat Ladies” Have Long Been a Symbol of Independence and Even Power
No wonder they terrify and consternate patriarchal men
In the United States, as of the past few years, more men own cats than women do, but the trope of the “crazy cat lady” still lives on anyhow. It was recently invoked by Vice Presidential candidate, JD Vance who opined in an interview that women without biological children were “cat ladies” with “no stake in America.”
Note: This was actually said in a 2021 interview, not recently.
What’s funny is that Vance meant it as a passing dig at Democratic leaders. But what he got instead was a galvanizing movement of women (and others) who latched onto this comment and haven’t paid the slightest attention to anything that he’s said since.
They’ve pointed out that many important and beloved American women don’t have children, such as Dolly Parton, Oprah Winfrey, and Jennifer Anniston. Some simply didn’t want them, and some were not able to conceive, and women all over America today are affirming how that is nobody else’s business. A woman’s worth does not hinge on her status as a mother.
There has also been a slew of memes and T-shirts co-opting this identity and claiming it as a positive — including pointing out that childless women with cats vote.
A brief history
Trying to shame women who don’t have children and who also like cats is actually not a new practice. In fact, it’s centuries old, harkening back to a time when the Christian church was trying to discredit goddesses associated with cats, and later burning everyday women (and cats) who, like their cats, were too independent for patriarchal tastes.
There’s the Chinese goddess, Li Shou, and the Egyptian half-woman, half-cat goddess, Bastet. This perfect harmony between femininity and felines was worshipped for many years which makes me question, why did this suddenly change and why did female/feline companionship become a sign of mental instability?
The answer to those questions isn’t difficult to…
