It’s likely that many, perhaps even countless, guys find cats endearing, intriguing and attractive (platonically, of course, as I do), but they’re afraid to openly admit so, lest they be deemed something less than ‘a man’ for feeling/saying so about a cat.
They may fear that others might think: If these guys have to love a pet animal, why can’t they focus their strong adoration for a mammal species that’s more socially acceptable … like a dog?
After all, there's an article [that I know of] headlined “Keep Cats Out of Your Dating Profile, Ridiculous Study Suggests” [June 24, 2020, Toronto NOW], was self-explanatorily sub-headlined “Men were deemed less masculine and less attractive when they held up cats in their dating pics, according to researchers”.
Even today, it seems that a guy can be considered a wuss for holding his puss. I'm a cat person, for what it's worth, though I'm not much for the overly domesticated felines (i.e. the flat-faced fluffy Persian cats).
I recollect how, as a teen, I knew (and would emulate, or at least attempt to) a pair of the toughest guys around, both of whom cherished his pet cat, albeit privately.
Given the tough-guy environment of that place and time, however, no male would have dared openly express his cat enthusiasm to his large peer group, lest he seriously risk having his reputation unjustly permanently besmirched as ‘a wuss’.
There are many people out there who will still question the normality of a guy who likes cats — something that’s implied by first-season Seinfeld’s George Costanza, though he hardly constitutes a statistically accurate example of such.
In regards to her new boyfriend’s affection for his two cats, George says to Elaine Benes in a doubtful tone of voice while shaking his head: “Guys with cats … I don’t know.”
Great to see empathy on the table
It does seem to be missing these days, doesn't it?
It’s likely that many, perhaps even countless, guys find cats endearing, intriguing and attractive (platonically, of course, as I do), but they’re afraid to openly admit so, lest they be deemed something less than ‘a man’ for feeling/saying so about a cat.
They may fear that others might think: If these guys have to love a pet animal, why can’t they focus their strong adoration for a mammal species that’s more socially acceptable … like a dog?
After all, there's an article [that I know of] headlined “Keep Cats Out of Your Dating Profile, Ridiculous Study Suggests” [June 24, 2020, Toronto NOW], was self-explanatorily sub-headlined “Men were deemed less masculine and less attractive when they held up cats in their dating pics, according to researchers”.
Even today, it seems that a guy can be considered a wuss for holding his puss. I'm a cat person, for what it's worth, though I'm not much for the overly domesticated felines (i.e. the flat-faced fluffy Persian cats).
I recollect how, as a teen, I knew (and would emulate, or at least attempt to) a pair of the toughest guys around, both of whom cherished his pet cat, albeit privately.
Given the tough-guy environment of that place and time, however, no male would have dared openly express his cat enthusiasm to his large peer group, lest he seriously risk having his reputation unjustly permanently besmirched as ‘a wuss’.
There are many people out there who will still question the normality of a guy who likes cats — something that’s implied by first-season Seinfeld’s George Costanza, though he hardly constitutes a statistically accurate example of such.
In regards to her new boyfriend’s affection for his two cats, George says to Elaine Benes in a doubtful tone of voice while shaking his head: “Guys with cats … I don’t know.”