The historic roots of insulting certain women as being “cat ladies,” or better yet, crazy and/or childless cat ladies, go back to at least ancient Egypt and perhaps even before then—when the first feline bonded with a woman and a man negatively commented on that, or worse.
Cats are theorized to have had their unique relationship with humans starting around 12,000 years ago (probably much earlier), and it was only 332 years ago when the Salem Witch Trials occurred, resulting in the deaths of at least 25 people. At the time, both “witches” (including some men) and black cats were persecuted and killed together. The prejudice against black cats could lead to still more volumes of discussion here.
For now, photographer Margot Duane of The POUNCE! Project suggests reading these articles to learn more about the age-old sexist trope:
NPR: https://n.pr/4eMLZzW
KQED: https://bit.ly/3BMOCTT
Felix (pet insurance company): https://bit.ly/4eNxD2q
CNN: https://cnn.it/3U9vYM6
Published on October 17, 2024
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