David Williams is a photographer who noticed there's a stereotype that "dogs are for boys" and "cats are for girls". Williams, who has tons of male cat owner friends, set out to prove the stereotype wrong— and the results are these amazing photos from his best-selling photography book.
There’s a stereotype amongst pet owners that cats are “feminine” creatures. In the grand scheme of things, men are thought to be dog lovers, while females gravitate towards cats. Is there any truth to this statement, though?
Cat behaviorist Jackson Galaxy from the popular series My Cat From Hell discussed the topic with Esquire.
“Dogs are masculine, in that they are task-oriented,” he explained. “They are action-oriented. You tell them to do something, and we have trained them, over time, to do it.”
“Plus, what makes them appealing to men is they do what you tell them, for the most part. They can be conquered, again, for the most part.”
Cats, however? Cats are different. And Galaxy estimates that out of the thousands of cat owners he’s helped during his 15-year-career, roughly 90% of them have been women.
“Cats are elusive,” Jackson said. “Females, I have found, embrace mystery more than men do. They’re okay with not having the answers to everything in the world.”
Now, not to say I don’t believe Jackson, but I feel like there’s more to the explanation than “females like mystery”. That doesn’t quite cut it for me.
After doing a bit more research, I discovered that the differences between cat and dog people don’t actually lie in their gender identity, but more so in their personality itself.
According to Psychology Today, cat people score lower on extraversion, but higher on intelligence and intellectual curiosity. Additionally, people who got dogs were more likely to be seeking companionship, whereas cat owners were more likely to be looking for affection. Oddly, liberals also tend to prefer cats while conservatives prefer dogs— but who knows what to make of that one, really.
Most recently, photographer David Williams released a photography book that turned the “cats are for girls” theories right on its head. In the best-selling book Men With Cats: Intimate Portraits Of Feline Friendship, David has compiled tons of intimate photos of men posing with their beloved cats.
In an interview with iHaveCat, David explains, “I began to realize that a lot of my male friends were cat owners— and not just because their girlfriends, wives or female roommates had them.”
“I found it very interesting that so many of these ‘masculine’ men were obsessed with cats and id not subscribe to the ‘cats are for girls/dogs are for boys’ stereotype.”
David’s initial observation has since sparked an award-winning photo series that has taken the internet (and cat lovers everywhere) by storm. Here are a few of our favorites!
