Know Your Female Feline Metaphors
| December 4th, 2009
So as you know, yesterday we found out that there’s a new kind of woman out there: the “cheetah,” a girl who dates guys slightly younger and/or hotter than herself, or possibly a date-rapist, or maybe just someone with low self-esteem, or maybe a cow giving the milk away for free. I’ve read the column several times, and still don’t quite get it. But anyway, cheetahs: they’re women who have sex.
Cheetahs, of course, are part of an increasingly ridiculously expansive meme in which women who have sex are given a cutesy feline equivalent. Are you an older woman who likes sex? Well, then you’re a cougar. A thirtysomething who likes college-aged boys? You’re a puma. Older than a cougar, but still daring to have sex? Spencer Morgan proposes “saber-toothed,” because you’re old. Get it? Get it? Nudge nudge, wink wink, say no more?
Anyhow, all these feline descriptions got me to thinking: there are an awful lot of different members of the family Felidae, and many of them have not yet been used as pejorative cognomens to describe women who dare to enjoy sex.
That ends today.
Yes, today I’m happy to share with you a guide to all the many known cat names for different types of women. Feel free to clip and save this post; it will save you a lot of time, and allow you to deal with women as the strange, inhuman, bestial creatures they are, rather than as fellow human beings.
Bay Cats - Women age 24 to 29 who enjoy sex, surfing, and dating men either age 18-27 or older than 29, but never, under any circumstances, 28-year-olds. 28-year-old guys totally suck.
Barn Cats - Red-haired women from rural areas whose stated love for you will never completely cure them of their secret desire to seduce an unwitting international superspy into turning traitor.
Bobcats - Women named Roberta who are very attracted to men who detest Latvian cuisine, yet find Lithuanian cuisine sublime.
Caracals - Women who dare to like sex, yet find cutesy feline nicknames to be patronizing, demeaning, and dehumanizing. Silly little things, aren’t they, fellas? It’s almost as if they think they have feelings and desires of their own! Ah, women are funny creatures.
Cat Powers - Talented but mercurial singer-songwriters.
Cat Stevenses - Since 1977 conversion, are known as “Yusuf Islams.”
Cats - Women aged 35 years, 11 months, 12 days to 41 years, 10 months, 28 days who are incredibly turned on by Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals. Except for Starlight Express, because, I mean, roller skates? Really?
Fisher Cats - Women over the age of 70 who enjoy threesomes with male gymnasts and/or models, but also secretly have a crush on the late Chris Farley.
Kittens - Creepy old men call ‘em “Jailbait,” creepy twentysomethings call ‘em “Lolis,” Humbert Humbert calls ‘em “Nymphets,” and John Derbyshire calls ‘em “A little long in the tooth.”
Lionesses - Women who go out and work hard while their lazy, no-good boyfriends stay home and play Wii all day. Wait — sorry, folks, that’s a negative stereotype about men. Obviously, please disregard this one.
Lynx - Women under the age of 27 who are between 5′10″ and 6′7″ and who enjoy dating men shorter than 5′8.
Ocelots - Women aged 23 years, 2 months through 23 years, 4 months, who like to date men who once played professional jai alai.
Panthers - Women age 19 to 23 who engage in serial monogamy with men whose hair is shoulder-length or shorter. Often (but not always) like food, breathing air, and drinking liquid beverages of some sort.
Servals - You may confuse these brunette, left-handed waitresses aged 37 to 42½ who enjoy one-night-stands with circus roustabouts with their closely-related sisters, the Oncillas, but unlike Oncillas, Servals find the prose of Dan Brown to be somewhat stilted.
Shorthairs - Would be the cutesy cat name given to lesbians, except those bitchez totally get annoyed when my bros and I ask if we can videotape them, so they don’t get a cute cat name, so there.
Siamese Cats - Asian chicks. Amirite, guys? Amirite?
Smilodons - Women who live outside of Schenectady, New York, who prefer to date men who live in their parents’ basements and blog in favor of conservative politics. Favorite aphrodisiac? Cheeto dust.
Tigers - Women who actually like sex. The dirty sluts.
Tiggers - The wonderful thing about Tiggers/Is Tiggers are wonderful things/Their tops are made out of rubber/Their bottoms are made out of springs/Also, they love to receive oral.
Vampyrictises - Women aged 14 to 49 who are totally on Team Edward. Or Team Jacob. Or Team Larry. (I haven’t actually read the books, and my daughter isn’t a tween yet; my knowledge of them comes from Burger King commercials.)
Wildcats - Ironically, wildcats are actually pretty calm most of the time, unless you get them started on how bad Two and a Half Men is. Do not get them started on how bad Two and a Half Men is. You will never hear the end of it. Trust me.
York Chocolate Cats - Actually applies to all women, because as we all know, all women love chocolate. And diamonds. And flowers. And whatever other little trinkets and baubles you can buy them to keep from having to actually talk to them.
So anyway, that’s the list as it stands today, although it could probably use expanding. I mean, there are always more cat names, and always more demeaning stereotypes that can be applied to women, so I’m sure we’ll come up with more. Until then, though, I hope this list allows you, the trend piece writer and misogynist (but I repeat myself) to write great columns for your local shoppers, explaining precisely why women suck. Because nothing proves women suck more than men stereotyping them.
December 4th, 2009 at 6:37 am
Ah, the fresh and bracing breeze of sarcasm. I love it. :)
This comment was written by attack_laurel.Report this comment to the moderators
December 4th, 2009 at 7:36 am
*golf clap*
This comment was written by Silenced is Foo.Report this comment to the moderators
December 4th, 2009 at 7:43 am
Oh, that’s gonna leave a mark on someone’s scratching post! *rim-shot** Outstanding!
This comment was written by Gidget Commando.Report this comment to the moderators
December 4th, 2009 at 7:49 am
Except Yorkie bars are not for girls. Says so right there on the wrapper.
I’m proud of my small role in the existence of this post.
This comment was written by Hershele Ostropoler.Report this comment to the moderators
December 4th, 2009 at 7:50 am
I demand that ligers be included. They’re pretty much my favorite animal.
Anyway. I’ve enjoyed this series of posts, Jeff.
This comment was written by plunky.Report this comment to the moderators
December 4th, 2009 at 8:40 am
Here’s another for the snark pile:
Bearcats: Women who are, tragically, attracted only to large hairy gay men.
This comment was written by Genevieve.Report this comment to the moderators
December 4th, 2009 at 8:48 am
Hmm… you could probably mix in some transphobia or cocktease-misogyny in there with various animals that include the term “cat” in their name while not actually being cats. Meercats, tasmanian tigers…
I think I’m over-thinking this.
This comment was written by Silenced is Foo.Report this comment to the moderators
December 4th, 2009 at 9:01 am
“Bobcats” are actually women who only like sex with men named Robert.
Tragically, bobcats are nearly extinct in the wild.
This comment was written by Robert.Report this comment to the moderators
December 4th, 2009 at 9:38 am
Wait, aren’t pumas and cougars actually the same species? They’re also mountain lions. But when they’re women they’re different?
Aaah, the stilted logic of paternalistic knicknaming.
This comment was written by leah.Report this comment to the moderators
December 4th, 2009 at 10:25 am
With the cougar, cheetah, and puma metaphor, the patriarchy seems to be expressing a certain kind of outrage: “These pussies are not completely domesticated! How dare they!” (How does one try to claim control over something without getting too close to it? Name and classify.)
This comment was written by Adrian.Report this comment to the moderators
December 4th, 2009 at 12:00 pm
Actually, at least in college, I remember bar-hopping dudes having more respect for cougars than for sexually-liberated women their own age. I think it has to do with the idea that cougars are “predators” in the same way that most guys cruising for sex are - they see themselves as the active one, while the targets are passive. The idea that a player is a guy who overcomes a challenge, while a slut is a woman who has indiscriminate tastes… the cougar has more in common with the player than the slut.
It all comes from the nasty little worldview of pursuit and prey that they live in, but I don’t think it was about slut-shaming… more about uneasiness at the role-reversal.
But yeah, once conservative pundits start talking about the subject? Definitely slut-shaming.
This comment was written by Silenced is Foo.Report this comment to the moderators
December 4th, 2009 at 12:24 pm
I laughed a lot. Thanks, Jeff!
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December 4th, 2009 at 4:33 pm
Satire: you’re getting it right.
This comment was written by Jasie VanGesen.Report this comment to the moderators
December 4th, 2009 at 5:05 pm
FTW!
This comment was written by Comrade PhysioProf.Report this comment to the moderators
December 4th, 2009 at 9:07 pm
Manx cats: women who fell in love with Jeff Fecke on the internet today.
This comment was written by word problem.Report this comment to the moderators
December 4th, 2009 at 9:22 pm
I can has irony?
This comment was written by Doug S..Report this comment to the moderators
December 4th, 2009 at 11:15 pm
You definitely need to find a way to include Ragdolls.
This comment was written by Max.Report this comment to the moderators
December 5th, 2009 at 9:00 am
Nice work, Jeff.
I’m not a blogger, and haven’t spent much time learning the intricacies of image searching. So I’m kinda wondering how you discovered that first image on your posting there. I’m imaging you go to Google Image or something, check the Anime/Manga box, click the Maid/PilgrimWoman box, click the CatFeatures box, and under the Hair Ornaments menu you click JigsawPuzzle, and then hit the Search button. And then it’s just a matter of sorting through all the results.
Is that pretty much how it works? Otherwise, that first image kinda screams out for some kind of explanation.
This comment was written by nobody.really.Report this comment to the moderators
December 5th, 2009 at 11:23 am
nobody.really, the girl is Wikipe-tan, a semi-official mascot of Wikipedia. The image at the top appears among numerous others here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Wikipe-tan
It just goes to show, there’s no topic that the Internet won’t attempt to personify with an anime girl (which, eh, I’m basically okay with), and furthermore there’s no anime girl that the Internet won’t attempt to turn into a sexy anime girl (which I’m less okay with).
This comment was written by DSimon.Report this comment to the moderators
December 5th, 2009 at 1:03 pm
EU votes to allow US to monitor all its citizens’ bank transactions
http://joshfulton.blogspot.com/2009/12/post-libson-treaty-eu-votes-to-allow-us.html
This comment was written by Josh Fulton.Report this comment to the moderators
December 5th, 2009 at 2:31 pm
This is fantastic–I love it!
This comment was written by demeter.Report this comment to the moderators
December 5th, 2009 at 6:48 pm
Comrade PhysioProf–
This comment was written by Genevieve.Thank you!
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December 5th, 2009 at 10:22 pm
Is this an open thread? Because there was two hours of new Dollhouse episodes on Friday. Any thoughts? (I haven’t watched them yet, but I’m going to, real soon now.)
This comment was written by Doug S..Report this comment to the moderators
December 6th, 2009 at 3:41 am
LOLspeak: UR DOIN IT RONG!
shud b “satire - UR DOIN IT RITE!”
LOLcats = women with crushes on men who satirise silly cat metaphors. *swoons*
This comment was written by sanabituranima.Report this comment to the moderators
December 6th, 2009 at 4:38 pm
[...] should ever be good enough, and probably my favorite blog post of all on this topic – Know Your Female Feline Metaphors – now THIS is more like [...]
This comment was written by Interesting posts, weekend of 12/6/09 « Feminists with Female Sexual Dysfunction.Report this comment to the moderators