For anybody who doesn’t know me, I love animals. I love animals so much that I’m pursuing a career that will allow me to work with them every day for the rest of my life (I don’t know what that career is exactly, so don’t ask). Ever since I was little, I have absolutely adored cats. I obsessed over shows like Sagwa, the Chinese Siamese Cat and I’ve watched The Aristocats more times in my life than would be possible to count. And out of the wonderful population of felines in this world, my two cats make me happier than anything.
With that being said, not a day goes by without a crazy cat lady joke being thrown my way. Before I even get into why this bothers me, I want to make it clear that I understand it’s a good natured joke that shouldn’t be taken too personally. This also isn’t some passive aggressive way of lashing out at all of my friends and family who make said jokes. I joke about it myself all the time too because, hey, I have a sense of humor.
The term “crazy cat lady” has a bit of a negative connotation. To me, it’s somebody that could never find love and turns into some crotchety old woman that fills the empty space in her heart with cats who have no choice but to love her because she takes care of them and feeds them. I like to think that I’m not the type of person that will grow old destined to be alone (and if anybody thinks that, I don’t want to know). People that love dogs don’t get any grief for their preferred pet. It just kinda sucks being tossed into a stereotype simply because cats have taken up space in my heart for most of my life.
Even though I love cats as much as I do, you won’t find many cat-themed items in my belongings. Cat phone cases, shirts, socks (okay I have those), or just anything that screams “I HEART CATS” honestly just weirds me out.
Cat merch is just a little overdone, in my opinion, but that could be because of how against the stigma around being a crazy cat lady I am. Also, being the animal freak that I am, I love cats for the wonderful beings that they are. Cheap cartoonish drawings of them just don’t do them justice. I don’t think I even had that many cats in my collection of stuffed animals as a child. Instead I had posters of kittens plastered on my bedroom walls (as well as many other animals because I love them all too). My grandma has even finds the cutest kitten cards she could when she sends out cards for my birthday and holidays, which has not gone unappreciated.
Again, I’m a good natured person and have accepted the fact that I am the cat lady in most groups of people. And I guess that I am but, just like with many other things in our world, the stigma sucks. I love cats for what they are and don’t feel like I should be given grief for any of it. But of course, none of that is going to stop me because I care about my cats more than anybody’s opinion anyways.
**Disclaimer: This was most definitely written with one of my cats curled up next to me because I’m home for Thanksgiving and will absolutely be spending the next week cuddling her.
