Feminists made their bed, now they have to lie in it alone with their cats. October 2, 2007 Jill That’s just one of several responses to the New York Times article about how women are less happy than men. As it turns out, though, the happiness gap is total bunk. Whoops. Thanks to Raquel for the link.
I don’t sleep with cats, but only because I’m allergic. If he could get on the bed, I’d happily sleep with my basset. Occassionally the husband will hoist him on there and the three of us (or even the five of us if the boys join in) all snuggle up happily and watch a movie.
Heh. My favourite response to the totally invasive “Do you have a boyfriend?/Why don’t you have a boyfriend?” question is a deadpan, “Even better – I’ve got a cat and a vibrator.” And while the response is largely tongue-in-cheek, there’s a kernel of truth to it; I get more emotional fulfillment from the former, and more sexual satisfaction from the latter, than I ever did from my last boyfriend on either scale. And without all the cheating and drama! Bonus! 😉
Two odd quotes from that article caught my eye. Both seem to be unsubstantiated opinions of the author, rather than having anything to do with the studies: I imagine that the new American dustiness affects women’s happiness more than men’s. Because women are clean-freaks and men are slobs? I don’t have a single female friend (or actually, a friend of either gender) who has ever mentioned dissatisfaction with the dust in their lives. The only person I’ve ever known to do any dusting is my husband, and that’s just because he’s odd. As life has generally gotten better over the last generation — less crime, longer-living grandparents and much cooler gadgets — male high school seniors have gotten happier. Interesting list of improvements in “life.” Why should any of these things affect male teenagers disproportionately to female teenagers? I can use stereotypes to make exactly the opposite argument: less crime = less fear of being raped = more going out and having fun (except that somehow that doesn’t actually happen). Girls are stereotyped as being closer to their families, so the grandparent thing should affect them more. And cooler gadgets – the big change has been the ubiquitous cell phone, which should please those gabby girls. No, this list makes no sense whatsoever, and is certainly a narrow look at societal changes over the last generation or so.
First of all, I love my bed, and my cat, and having my cat sleep at the foot of my bed every night, thank you very much. And this: Duh, we get Halo, and you get periods. Hah! Sucker! I get both. Halfway through Halo 3 on Heroic with all but one skull! Wort!
I just want to point out that being halfway through Halo 3 on Heroic is actually my third play through. I’ve beaten the game more than once.
Out of curiosity, what’s the origin of the idea that loving cats is associated with lonely women? Have always wondered about this as I only started to hear about this association regularly after college when I started working. Never found a coherently sensible answer when I asked co-workers/friends, searched library databases, or googled the internet.
exholt, it’s an extension of the fear of witches. Lonely old woman with cat= scary with with a familiar. As if my cat ever does anything I bid her!
Rachel, Thank you for the explanation. Odd how that did not register until you’ve mentioned it. Though the association should have occurred to me, I’ve always associated cats with happiness as I’ve often gotten along well with them and many classmates of both genders kept one or more cats as household pets. That’s what I get for not paying too much attention to the history associated with old Western fears of witchcraft and associated superstitions.
I don’t sleep with cats, but only because I’m allergic I’m pretty sure you’ve slept with my cats, furry little sluts that they all are. I think that makes you a felo-adulteress. If he could get on the bed, I’d happily sleep with my basset. Occassionally the husband will hoist him on there and the three of us (or even the five of us if the boys join in) all snuggle up happily and watch a movie Basset needs stairs. I can’t imagine why your husband hasn’t gotten onto that, unless it’s from some weird wish to sleep on an expanse of bed equal to his actual length and breadth. I imagine a basset is even worse than a cat for ratio of actual size to bed-footprint.
Dr. Confused has never had a friend complain about the dust in their lives? Well, let me be the first! (Not that I’m your friend, because I don’t actually know you, but you know.) I’m allergic to the stuff and I HATES it. Of course, fits of terrible sneezing, scratchy throat, and itchy, watery eyes every time I do anything that might stir up dust – e.g. cleaning – is a pretty good excuse to leave that particular activity to my BF. *grin*
Oh, and I’m allergic to cats too (tragically, since I love the little buggers), so I guess I have to settle for sleeping with the BF. 🙂
As an aside about cats…I once worked with someone who was convinced that cats were actively evil – not merely the self-involved creatures we all know and love – and were deviously plotting to kill infants in their sleep. Yes, the ancient “stealing breath” myth still lives. This person was deadly serious about it, and was an advocate of wholesale feline euthanasia. I’ve also noted a lot of people have “kill cats” bumperstickers, but I have yet to see one which says “murder all dogs.” Something about cats evokes some serious paranoiac delusions in a segment of the population… I mean, I don’t like dogs, but I’m not out there telling everyone that they’re vile drool-factories, pawns of International Communism, and should be deported to Bolivia.
I imagine a basset is even worse than a cat for ratio of actual size to bed-footprint. HA! Our now-late 8-pound tortoiseshell was of the opinion that since there were three of us in the bed, she should get a full one-third as her right, and she enforced it with claws. We were at least allowed to sleep on “her” bed — our other kitty wasn’t allowed on at all if she was up there.
Tannenburg, I’m convinced that the stealing breath thing comes from cats’ desire to get RIGHT UP IN YOUR FACE because “are you awake yet, mom? how about now? ….now?” slash making sure you’re still breathing. I mean, my cat’s a nut, but I could easily see him getting in a baby’s face to make sure it was breathing, because ‘omg, you don’t catnap! is you dead?!”
Cats can’t be as easily controlled as dogs. They are very independent little souls, they let you know if you’ve pissed them off, they don’t always come at your beck and call, and It makes some people very, very irritated. 😛 Personally, I find many dogs to be way too needy/dependent. I still like them; I just find some aspects of their behavior don’t work well with my personality. And you CANNOT leave a dog alone in the house over the weekend with lots of water, lots of food, and a litterbox. It just doesn’t work very well…. 🙂
What a wonderful topic… cats. I do miss mine. But she was verrrry old when she left us. Now I have a Jack. Adopted from a friend who could not keep her. She was raised by cats. You should see her jump on the furniture, fall off, stop and have a lick like nothing happened. Pure cat. Oh yeah, of course she sleeps with me.