{{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 cats. 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 spinsterhood, widowhood 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 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 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> 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. 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 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