I don’t know whether lesbian women like cats more than other women. I have to declare that from the outset although the autostraddle.com website has published the results of some surveys which you can see on a chart on this page and which indicates that LGBTQ+ women and non-binary people in the US are slightly more predisposed towards adopting a cat compared to all US households. You can see that in the bar chart on the left-hand side of the image.
However, the chart does not differentiate between lesbians and bisexuals or transgender people and therefore it doesn’t tell you whether lesbians per se like cats more than the average.
This is supported by the author of a respected website (whyevolutionistrue.wordpress.com) on evolution in which he or she discusses why lesbians supposedly like cats. The author comes to the conclusion that he is unsure. In his article he quotes the writings of Krista Burton, a lesbian, published on the New York Times’ website. Burton says that she doesn’t like cats and she’s going to have to live a solitary life because lesbians normally like cats.
Burton recounts numerous dates in which other women have shown her pictures of cats which leads her to believe that she cannot have a successful partnership with these women.
Burton writes:
“Do you know who mostly owns cats? Women. Queers. Not all women, and not all queers, obviously, but go on, I dare you — try being queer and hating cats and looking online for dates. So many queers on Tinder or Her or OkCupid are obsessed with their cats. Sometimes they will post pictures of their cats as their only profile picture. The picture they want to show to prospective lovers as representative of who they are? A tabby wrapped in a blanket.”
Burton believes that lesbians (who she refers to as ‘queers’) like cats more than the average because they are masochists and are not receiving back what they give to their cat and they do this because they are conditioned to “love and perform labour for creatures that don’t necessarily love us back, care about our needs and may even wish us ill”.
I have to disagree with her assessment. It is a bit negative and extreme. On the basis that LGBT women prefer cats more than the average it may simply be because women of this type are more independent than average because they have to be. They have to be more resourceful because until recently, and even today, there are considered outsiders. They look upon the cat as a soulmate, an animal with a similar spirit and mentality. Domestic cats are often referred to as being independent-minded. They have this insouciance which perhaps appeals to lesbian women as they too have to be defiant. Those are my instinctive thoughts. They may well be completely wrong and if so I would appreciate the thoughts of those who read this page in a comment.
Of course women in general prefer cats to dogs for various reasons. One reason is that non-lesbian with cats are also often single and independent-minded. And women sometimes relate to cats as if they were babies. In fact breeeders sometimes bred cats to look like babies.
If LBGT women go a step further in the liking of domestic cats it is perhaps because of their recognition of the outsider-nature of the domestic cat.
I disagree with the basic premise of this article. Instead of lesbian, queer, or gender states, etc., perhaps we should consider those that are comfortable with their gender preference or identity and their sexuality. A comfortable person is more likely to show love to other humans and to be open to sharing that love with other species. I am not talking about any aberrations I sexual behavior.
People comfortable with themselves are likely to accept others as they are. I can’t make my cats be human any more than I can be a cat.
This article suggests that we stereotype people. Cultural history does play a role in behavior, but we shouldn’t perpetuate those ideas. Peer pressure is useful in teaching appropriate behaviors, but should not be used to mold everyone into automatons. To insist that a gay person likes cats is putting pressure on people to like cats even if they don’t.
Thanks Anne. I think that in general humankind is not advanced enough to not stereotype people as you suggest. I agree that all gender types are normal and should be fully accepted and not stereotyped. It should not be a discussion point but it still is. In general, humans are not ready for that sort of open, enlightened thinking.