This might seem random, but on some forums I frequent someone asked if people can be mombies without kids, and I would agree that people can definitely be mombies (think zombie single-mindedness) to their pets. And I tend to find that behavior annoying, regardless of where the behavior originates (from children or pets or maybe even a job).

B and I are a one cat household. I am pretty sure we are the only people we know who only have one cat. All of our friends (if they have pets at all) started with one cat, and then went to two for some reason. I don't think anyone has dogs yet. I don't know if this is because no one likes dogs or if they're the next evolutionary step in pet ownership after cats.

What's weird, though, is that when we visit B's family in Michigan (or when they come out here), the conversation somehow turns towards Zhoul. And how pretty she is. And how funny she is. And oh, isn't it sweet that she won't let anyone except me and B touch her? It means she really trusts us. And shouldn't her parents give her some more attention? And if Zhoul follows me around and meows at me, B's mom will say, "But Mommy (fill in blank here)." And on and on and on about the freakin' cat. By the way, I totally hate being referred to as my cat's "mommy" or as her "parents"--I realize a lot of people love this--but it bugs me. I don't know why exactly it bugs me, but I have it narrowed down to two reasons: 1) I feel like it's a fundamental misunderstanding of Zhoul and her personality. If we are anything to her, we are merely her squaws (does the word "squaw" have a plural form?) and 2) Calling us "parents" always feels like passive aggressive nagging about having children. Until her first grandchild was born last year, my mother-in-law used to say that she referred to her children's cats as her "grandkitties" because they're all she had (and then she'd give me a pointed look--at the time she'd make those comments, I was only 22, 23 and 24 years old (yes, she made the comment on more than one occasion)!

When I'm on the phone with my sister-in-law, it always goes back to the cats. It's as if we have nothing else to talk about because we made different life choices--but cats... cats we have in common!

Does anyone ask me about teaching? No. (And my mother-in-law was a teacher for 35 years, so we'd have something to talk about other than the cat--I have to steer the conversation to this instead.)
Does anyone ask me about my literary research? No.
Does anyone ask me about the novels I'm working on? No.

It always goes back to the cats.

And if you're wondering where I got "squaw" from, I got it from Peter Pan.



I really love YouTube. But after re-watching this clip, I find this song supremely offensive. I realize it's "just a kid's movie" and I might be reading too much into it, but ideas about Stuart Hall's inferential racism can't help but pop into my head.

Labels: cat, inferential racism, mombie, peter pan, squaw, stuart hall

( 1comments )

at May 26, 2007 1:57 AM  Princess Blogonoke said...

I always thought it was weird when people say kitties or dog are their "children." Pet parents are silly. I don't think my sister is a "pet parent" but I never actually asked her about it.

Anyway, just for the record, if Stink Pants and I were allowed to have pets, we'd have a dog. We can't though because 1) I'm allergic to cats (although that allergy seems to be going to zero as the number of cat owners I know approaches infinity) and 2) if we have pets of any kind, our landlady will have a cow of epic proportions.