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Why people say they have a "boy cat" or a "girl cat" but when the cat grows up, they don't call is a "man cat" or "woman cat"?

⁨127⁩ ⁨likes⁩

Submitted ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨wesker@lemmy.sdf.org⁩ to ⁨nostupidquestions@lemmy.world⁩

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  • SpicyTaint@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Because they are all fur babies. Always.

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  • aaaa@piefed.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    My cat was an "old man cat" for a while before he passed.

    Anyhow, a "man cat" just sounds like a cat who dresses up like a man and fights crime

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    • floo@retrolemmy.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      I believe you’re thinking of Catman

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      • Zachariah@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

        respect my authoritay

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    • I_Fart_Glitter@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      Yes, but Lady Cat and Gentleman Cat just sounds like cats being fancy. And cats are fancy.

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      • SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

        You haven’t met my chonker

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    • RaivoKulli@sopuli.xyz ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      Man cheetah

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    • Tollana1234567@lemmy.today ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      or a human/cat hybrid.

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  • undefined@lemmy.hogru.ch ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    I’ve read a lot about how dogs have evolved to hit some of the same triggers that human infants do. I’ve also read about how we tend to view pets as children in our minds. I imagine that that all plays a role in it.

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    • Dasus@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      We totally do.

      You can address a pet like you would politely address an adult, but only in a jokey way. Like “oh, and who’s this handsome gentleman/lady?”

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    • saltesc@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      I dunno. I view my dogs as companions. Yeah, they need me to look after.them like they’re children, but I need them to take care of me in the wilderness, protect the house, cheer me up, entertain guests, tow me on the longboard.

      There’s no association with them and a human child for me. If anything dog ownership has shifted my mentality into the symbiotic relationship of a pack. I think being stuck thinking of them as children would make for some very miserable times and bad behaviour from both the owner and the dog.

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      • undefined@lemmy.hogru.ch ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

        I agree, but I also think the studies are speaking more broadly and possibly on a subconscious level. I feel the same as you but at the same time I can acknowledge evolutionary traits they might have.

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  • Kolanaki@pawb.social ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    IMO:

    Boy/Girl cat implies gender.

    Man/Woman cat implies anthropomorphism.

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    • RoidingOldMan@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      Man animal you say? www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3OzAfcPb3A

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    • scarabic@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      Right but why is that your opinion of how those words work? Because the only strict differentiation between man/boy and woman/girl is age.

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  • Steve@startrek.website ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    You can call your cat anything you want, they still won’t come.

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    • Lembot_0004@discuss.online ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      Because their real name sounds like a food pouring into the bowl.

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    • Bazoogle@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      That’s when you break out the tuna can. Try to see them resist that shit

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  • vrighter@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    because they stay smol!

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  • DeathByBigSad@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Because kitties are forever babies 🤗

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  • tacosanonymous@mander.xyz ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    I can hold onto many feelings and ideas at once.

    My orange baby boy is an old man.

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    • Lembot_0004@discuss.online ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      Mama Trump, is it you?

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  • disco@lemdro.id [bot] ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    He’s just a lil guy

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  • FooBarrington@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    The only true man cat is Idris Elba in Cats

    Image

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    • ms_lane@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      Image

      “And that’s where you’re wrong, buddy. Damn I look good.”

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      • slazer2au@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

        Fishy fishy

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  • floo@retrolemmy.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Because pet owners tended to infantilize their pets.

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    • Bazoogle@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      Easy to do based on their small size, large eyes, big ears, and fluffy fur.

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  • TheDoozer@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Same reason I refer to my 14-year-old dachshund as a puppy.

    Because he’s my puppy.

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  • InvalidName2@lemmy.zip ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Generally speaking, the terms man and woman are reserved specifically for humans. I couldn’t tell you why, but I suppose it doesn’t really matter.

    For pets, the use of boy/girl probably does have a lot to do with how people tend to infantilize their companion animals.

    Additionally, the boy / girl terminology is often generalized to cover all animals, particularly when adults are interacting with children and by extension when children are interacting with each other. It’s not uncommon to have a child ask something like “is that a boy rabbit or a girl rabbit?” but it is a little unusual to hear an adult ask another adult that same question, unless it’s sort of tongue-in-cheek or maybe in the presence of kids.

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    • spankmonkey@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      I do call my doggo ‘old man’, but never just called him a man.

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    • Revan343@lemmy.ca ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      Adults would generally use actual adjectives, ‘male/female cat’ instead of ‘man/woman/boy/girl cat’

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  • LibertyLizard@slrpnk.net ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Cat smol.

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  • ski11erboi@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Boy and girl cats grow up??

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  • Bishma@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Human/animal bonding is added because their faces retain neotenic features that remind us of babies.. So many are inclined to relate to them like children.

    From that article:

    Accumulating behavioral and neurophysiological studies support the idea of infantile (cute) faces as highly biologically relevant stimuli rapidly and unconsciously capturing attention and eliciting positive/affectionate behaviors, including willingness to care. It has been hypothesized that the presence of infantile physical and behavioral features in companion (or pet) animals (i.e., dogs and cats) might form the basis of our attraction to these species.

    It has been hypothesized that both behavioral and physical infantile features present in companion animals might form the basis of our attraction to these animals and may bear some part of the responsibility for our motivational drive to pet-keeping and pet-caretaking (Archer, 1997).

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    • BussyGyatt@feddit.org ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      I think this might be a case of cart-before-horse. It seems obvious to me that domesticated animals have these traits because they were selected for by our ancestors, not the other way around.

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      • Bishma@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

        That’s true for dog, not for cats. It’s also immaterial since we’re talking about present attitudes toward pets.

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    • DeathByBigSad@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      That’s weird because babies are ugly. Cats, on the other hand, are just so… hey wait a minute, my cat stole my heart 💘😼

      This spell, so potent… 😍🐈

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  • exasperation@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Not a lot of cats grow to be 18 years old.

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  • Onomatopoeia@lemmy.cafe ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    They do? Who does this? I’d say ask them.

    I use the terms “male” and “female”.

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  • Afflictedlife@lemmy.ml ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    My cats are gentlemen and ladies

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    • SkyezOpen@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      I only have one lady. The rest I call terrible names.

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      • Afflictedlife@lemmy.ml ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

        Oh I call them like 100 terrible names as well but they are still nobles without rank or title

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  • Venus_Ziegenfalle@feddit.org ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Define “grow up”. Their personality changes with age but they remain fixated on their care giver(s) similar to children for as long as you let them.

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  • otp@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Because they get neutered/spayed

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  • Doublenut@lemmy.zip ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    One of my cats is a man cat. We always call him a man unless it Big Bubba Boi for the alliteration. The other cat is a demon.

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  • TriflingToad@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    my cat always acts like she’s a year old and is pretty small for a cat (we assume she’s the runt)
    when we got her the pound said 2 years old (info from previous owner) but when we took her to the vet we got told that she’s actually about 5

    She’s about 7-8 now and still looks just as adorable as when I got her!!

    Image

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  • NotASharkInAManSuit@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    I have a little man cat, he’s my little guy.

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  • RickyRigatoni@retrolemmy.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    When you’re 50 years old and start dating someone do you call them your wo/manfriend?

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    • wesker@lemmy.sdf.org ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      She’s not my special lady, she’s my fucking lady friend.

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  • normalexit@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Probably the same reason my six year old dog is still my puppy. She is just a baby after all.

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  • 418_im_a_teapot@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    I have a dead cat. 🤷‍♂️

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    • BleatingZombie@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      How long have you had it?

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      • 418_im_a_teapot@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

        I inherited it from my grandfather 12 years ago.

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  • Canconda@lemmy.ca ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    nostupidanswers? cuz there are no man cats or woman cats. That’s some weird chimera shiz.

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  • scarabic@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    I think for most people the answer is that pets are not considered peers. They have gender but we will never consider them on a level with human adults - maybe on a level with human babies or young children. We love and prize them, but we don’t give them equal rights and respect. Just like with children.

    It probably doesn’t help that we also spay/neuter them at birth, which not only prevents them from ever becoming repressive viable adults, but also affects their hormones permanently.

    FWIW I personally have two human kids and I refer to our German shepherd as the 3rd grownup in the house. I do say “good boy” but I also say “hey man” and call him “old man.”

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  • GraniteM@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Speak for yourself. I’ve got two brother cats and I refer to both of them as little kitty cat mans.

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