{{Short description|Cultural archetype of a woman who owns many cats}}{{Other uses}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2023}} [[File:Gattara.jpg|thumb|upright 1.2|A woman feeding cats in [[Rome]]]]
A '''cat lady''' is a cultural [[archetype]] or [[stock character]], most often depicted as a middle-aged or elderly [[spinster]] or [[widow]], who has many [[cat]]s. The term may be [[pejorative]], or it may be affectionately embraced.
==Usage and association== [[File:An old lady is enraged when her cats disturb her stoking the Wellcome V0022915.jpg|thumb|''The old woman and her cats'', 1811 by [[Samuel Howitt]]]] Women who have cats have long been associated with the concept of [[spinster]]hood, [[widow]]hood or even [[witchcraft]]. In more recent decades, the concept of a cat lady has been associated with "romance-challenged (often career-oriented) women".<ref name=Forbes /> The term "cat lady" has also been used as a pejorative term towards women [[Childlessness|without children]], regardless of if they actually own cats.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-08-01 |title=Opinion {{!}} How JD Vance plans to punish childless Americans |url=https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/jd-vances-childless-cat-lady-comment-isnt-even-worst-rcna164288 |access-date=2024-08-03 |website=MSNBC.com |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |title=The Weird Intellectual Roots of J.D. Vance's Hatred for "Cat Ladies" |url=https://newrepublic.com/article/184475/jd-vance-hates-childless-cat-ladies |access-date=2024-08-03 |magazine=The New Republic |issn=0028-6583}}</ref>
Depending on context, the ordinarily pejorative word "crazy" may be prepended to "cat lady" to indicate either a [[pejorative]]<ref name="Forbes">{{cite web |url=https://www.forbes.com/2009/10/14/crazy-cat-lady-pets-stereotype-forbes-woman-time-felines.html |title= Crazy Cat Ladies |first=Kiri |last=Blakeley |date=15 October 2009 |work=Forbes}}</ref> or a humorous and affectionate label.<ref name="timesunion.com">{{cite web |url=http://blog.timesunion.com/mydogbandit/do-you-believe-in-the-crazy-cat-lady/2080/ |title=Do you believe in the Crazy Cat Lady? |first=Mark |last=Ramirez |date=5 August 2009 |work=TimesUnion.com |access-date=30 November 2011 |archive-date=3 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203013716/http://blog.timesunion.com/mydogbandit/do-you-believe-in-the-crazy-cat-lady/2080/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> Some writers, celebrities, and artists have challenged the gender-based "Crazy Cat Lady" stereotype, and embraced the term to mean an animal lover or rescuer who cares for one or multiple cats, and who is psychologically healthy.<ref>{{Cite web |url= https://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/gossip/beth-ostrosky-stern-crazy-cat-lady-article-1.2361539 |title=Beth Ostrosky Stern: I am a crazy cat lady... and I'm proud of it |first=Nicki |last=Gostin |website=NYDailyNews.com |date=15 September 2015}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url= https://www.mnn.com/family/pets/stories/its-time-to-smash-the-crazy-cat-lady-stereotype |title=It's time to smash the 'crazy cat lady' stereotype |website=MNN - Mother Nature Network}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url= https://abcnews.go.com/Lifestyle/photos/meet-men-proud-crazy-cat-ladies-29245631/image-29246901 |last=Williams |first=David |title=Meet the Men Proud to Be Crazy Cat Ladies |work=ABC News |access-date=12 November 2015}}</ref> Naftali Berrill, Ph.D., Director of the New York Center for [[Neuropsychology]] and Forensic Behavioral Science, told AOL Health, "These may be people who have a very hard time expressing themselves to other people. They may find the human need for affection is met most easily through a relationship with a pet." This devotion can sometimes signal mental or emotional issues such as depression.<ref name="huso">{{cite web |last=Huso |first=Deborah |date=November 2009 |title=Some Live Among Hundreds of Cats |url=http://www.aolhealth.com/condition-center/mental-health/cat-lady |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091119071209/http://www.aolhealth.com/condition-center/mental-health/cat-lady |archive-date=19 November 2009 |work=AOL Health}}</ref> A cat lady may also be an [[Animal hoarding|animal hoarder]] who keeps large numbers of cats without having the ability to properly house or care for them.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Davis |first1=Susan |last2=Flaherty (illus.) |first2=Jake |date=September 2002 |title=Prosecuting Animal Hoarders is like Herding Cats |url=http://www.tufts.edu/vet/hoarding/pubs/herdingcats.pdf |url-status=dead |journal=California Lawyer |pages=26, 28, 29, 67 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100529081942/http://www.tufts.edu/vet/hoarding/pubs/herdingcats.pdf |archive-date=29 May 2010 |access-date=26 June 2011}}</ref>
==''Toxoplasma gondii''== Some studies indicate a link between the parasite ''[[Toxoplasma gondii]]'', which sexually reproduces exclusively in cats, and numerous psychiatric conditions, including [[obsessive compulsive disorder]] (OCD) and [[schizophrenia]],<ref name="The Atlantic">{{cite magazine |url= https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2012/03/how-your-cat-is-making-you-crazy/308873/ |title=How Your Cat Is Making You Crazy |first=Kathleen |last=McAuliffe |date=6 February 2012 |magazine=The Atlantic |access-date=3 June 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130603010600/http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2012/03/how-your-cat-is-making-you-crazy/308873/ |archive-date=3 June 2013}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Webster |first1=Joanne P. |last2=Kaushik |first2=Maya |last3=Bristow |first3=Greg C. |last4=McConkey |first4=Glenn A. |date=1 January 2013 |title=Toxoplasma gondii infection, from predation to schizophrenia: Can animal behaviour help us understand human behaviour? |journal=The Journal of Experimental Biology |volume=216 |issue=1 |pages=99–112 |doi=10.1242/jeb.074716 |issn=0022-0949 |pmc=3515034 |pmid=23225872}}</ref> whereas other studies have shown that ''T. gondii'' is not a causative factor in later psychoses.<ref>{{Cite web |url= https://www.cnn.com/2017/02/21/health/cat-ownership-mental-health-study/index.html |title=Cat ownership not linked to mental health problems, study says |first=Johanzynn |last=Gatewood |website=CNN |date=22 February 2017}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |title=Curiosity killed the cat: No evidence of an association between cat ownership and psychotic symptoms at ages 13 and 18 years in a UK general population cohort |first1=F. |last1=Solmi |first2=J. F. |last2=Hayes|first3=G. |last3=Lewis |first4=J. B. |last4=Kirkbride |date=31 July 2017 |journal=Psychological Medicine |volume=47 |issue=9 |pages=1659–1667 |doi=10.1017/S0033291717000125 |pmid=28222824 |pmc=5939988}}</ref> The [[compulsive hoarding]] of cats, a symptom of obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), has been associated with "crazy cat ladies".<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/when-more-isnt-enough/201106/animal-hoarding-is-there-such-thing-the-crazy-cat-lady |title=When More Isn't Enough |first1=D.J. |last1=Moran |first2=Jennifer L. |last2=Patterson |work=Psychology Today |date=16 June 2011}}</ref> [[Toxoplasmosis#Society and culture|Crazy cat-lady syndrome]] is a term coined by news organizations to describe scientific findings that link ''Toxoplasma gondii'' to several [[mental disorders]] and behavioral problems.<ref name="The Atlantic" /><ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/09/magazine/09_10_catcoat.html |title='Cat Lady' Conundrum |first=Rebecca |last=Skloot |newspaper=The New York Times |date=9 December 2007 |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170118000720/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/09/magazine/09_10_catcoat.html |archive-date=18 January 2017}}</ref>
==Notable examples== * [[Edith Ewing Bouvier]] and her daughter [[Edith Bouvier Beale]] had many cats living with them in their decrepit home [[Grey Gardens (estate)|Grey Gardens]]. Reportedly, some 30 cats lived in the house by the time [[Little Edie]] sold it in 1979.<ref>{{cite magazine |url= http://www.wmagazine.com/w/blogs/editorsblog/2009/04/08/sally-quinn.html |first1=Sally |last1=Quinn |first2=Diane |last2=Solway |title=Weditor's Blog: Sally Quinn on Life in Grey Gardens |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110606155829/http://www.wmagazine.com/w/blogs/editorsblog/2009/04/08/sally-quinn.html |archive-date=6 June 2011 |magazine=[[W magazine]] |date=8 April 2009}}</ref> * Bertha Rand was [[Winnipeg]]'s notorious Cat Lady, who for years battled her neighbours and [[Town hall#Language|city hall]] to save her dozens of cats; even years after her death, she still holds a place in Canadian popular culture.<ref>[https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/from-the-cbc-archives-winnipeg-s-cat-lady-bertha-rand-1.3265086 From the CBC archives: Winnipeg's cat lady Bertha Rand]</ref> The [[Venetian Snares]] song ''For Bertha Rand'', from the 2001 album ''Songs About My Cats'', pays homage to her, and [[Maureen Hunter]]'s play ''The Queen of Queen Street'' is based on Rand's life.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.signature-editions.com/index.php/books/single_title/the_queen_of_queen_street |title=The Queen of Queen Street |work=Signature Editions |access-date=25 February 2015}}</ref> * In a 2021 interview on ''[[Fox & Friends]]'', then-senator, future 2024 Republican vice presidential candidate, and future vice president [[JD Vance]] called the leadership of the country "a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives", and explicitly mentioned [[Kamala Harris]], [[Pete Buttigieg]] and [[Alexandria Ocasio Cortez]].<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gPGxB2FqEc |title=JD Vance strikes nerve with media for latest stance on family |date=2021-07-29 |last=Fox News |access-date=2026-02-10 |via=YouTube}}</ref> He later received some negative reaction for the comment.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |title=JD Vance slammed for 'childless cat ladies' comment |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/jd-vance-slammed-childless-cat-ladies-comment/story?id=112272258 |date=25 July 2024 |access-date=2025-03-04 |website=ABC News |language=en}}</ref> * Celebrity [[Taylor Swift]] has referred to herself as a cat lady on multiple occasions. In an [[Instagram]] post endorsing Democratic presidential candidate [[Kamala Harris]] in the [[2024 United States presidential election]], Swift signed the post off referring to herself as "Childless Cat Lady" in reference to Vance's comment.<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c89w4110n89o.amp |title= Taylor Swift endorses Harris in post signed 'Childless Cat Lady' |date=11 September 2024 |work=BBC News}} </ref>
==See also== * [[Cat people and dog people]] * [[Pet humanization]] * [[Think Think and Ah Tsai]]
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== {{commonscatinline}}
{{Stock characters}}
[[Category:Cats]] [[Category:Stereotypes of women]] [[Category:Feminism and society]] [[Category:Pejorative terms for women]] [[Category:Female stock characters]] [[Category:Cats in popular culture]]