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
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"?
Submitted 5 weeks ago by wesker@lemmy.sdf.org to nostupidquestions@lemmy.world
Comments
aaaa@piefed.world 5 weeks ago
floo@retrolemmy.com 5 weeks ago
I believe you’re thinking of Catman
Zachariah@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
respect my authoritay
I_Fart_Glitter@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
Yes, but Lady Cat and Gentleman Cat just sounds like cats being fancy. And cats are fancy.
RaivoKulli@sopuli.xyz 5 weeks ago
Man cheetah
Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 5 weeks ago
or a human/cat hybrid.
undefined@lemmy.hogru.ch 5 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.
Dasus@lemmy.world 5 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?”
saltesc@lemmy.world 5 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.
undefined@lemmy.hogru.ch 5 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.
Kolanaki@pawb.social 5 weeks ago
IMO:
Boy/Girl cat implies gender.
Man/Woman cat implies anthropomorphism.
RoidingOldMan@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
Man animal you say? www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3OzAfcPb3A
scarabic@lemmy.world 5 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.
Steve@startrek.website 5 weeks ago
You can call your cat anything you want, they still won’t come.
Lembot_0004@discuss.online 5 weeks ago
Because their real name sounds like a food pouring into the bowl.
Bazoogle@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
That’s when you break out the tuna can. Try to see them resist that shit
vrighter@discuss.tchncs.de 5 weeks ago
because they stay smol!
DeathByBigSad@sh.itjust.works 5 weeks ago
Because kitties are forever babies 🤗
tacosanonymous@mander.xyz 5 weeks ago
I can hold onto many feelings and ideas at once.
My orange baby boy is an old man.
Lembot_0004@discuss.online 5 weeks ago
Mama Trump, is it you?
disco@lemdro.id [bot] 5 weeks ago
He’s just a lil guy
FooBarrington@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
ms_lane@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
floo@retrolemmy.com 5 weeks ago
Because pet owners tended to infantilize their pets.
Bazoogle@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
Easy to do based on their small size, large eyes, big ears, and fluffy fur.
TheDoozer@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
Same reason I refer to my 14-year-old dachshund as a puppy.
Because he’s my puppy.
InvalidName2@lemmy.zip 5 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.
spankmonkey@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
I do call my doggo ‘old man’, but never just called him a man.
Revan343@lemmy.ca 5 weeks ago
Adults would generally use actual adjectives, ‘male/female cat’ instead of ‘man/woman/boy/girl cat’
LibertyLizard@slrpnk.net 5 weeks ago
Cat smol.
ski11erboi@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
Boy and girl cats grow up??
Bishma@discuss.tchncs.de 5 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).
BussyGyatt@feddit.org 5 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.
Bishma@discuss.tchncs.de 5 weeks ago
That’s true for dog, not for cats. It’s also immaterial since we’re talking about present attitudes toward pets.
DeathByBigSad@sh.itjust.works 5 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… 😍🐈
exasperation@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 weeks ago
Not a lot of cats grow to be 18 years old.
Onomatopoeia@lemmy.cafe 5 weeks ago
They do? Who does this? I’d say ask them.
I use the terms “male” and “female”.
Afflictedlife@lemmy.ml 5 weeks ago
My cats are gentlemen and ladies
SkyezOpen@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
I only have one lady. The rest I call terrible names.
Afflictedlife@lemmy.ml 5 weeks ago
Oh I call them like 100 terrible names as well but they are still nobles without rank or title
Venus_Ziegenfalle@feddit.org 5 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.
otp@sh.itjust.works 5 weeks ago
Because they get neutered/spayed
Doublenut@lemmy.zip 5 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.
TriflingToad@sh.itjust.works 5 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 5She’s about 7-8 now and still looks just as adorable as when I got her!!
NotASharkInAManSuit@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
I have a little man cat, he’s my little guy.
RickyRigatoni@retrolemmy.com 5 weeks ago
When you’re 50 years old and start dating someone do you call them your wo/manfriend?
wesker@lemmy.sdf.org 5 weeks ago
She’s not my special lady, she’s my fucking lady friend.
normalexit@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
Probably the same reason my six year old dog is still my puppy. She is just a baby after all.
418_im_a_teapot@sh.itjust.works 5 weeks ago
I have a dead cat. 🤷♂️
BleatingZombie@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
How long have you had it?
418_im_a_teapot@sh.itjust.works 5 weeks ago
I inherited it from my grandfather 12 years ago.
Canconda@lemmy.ca 5 weeks ago
nostupidanswers? cuz there are no man cats or woman cats. That’s some weird chimera shiz.
scarabic@lemmy.world 5 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.”
GraniteM@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
Speak for yourself. I’ve got two brother cats and I refer to both of them as little kitty cat mans.
SpicyTaint@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
Because they are all fur babies. Always.