Two things before we dive into a fun animal-related discussion:
1. With 38.1 percent of the votes, the winning book for the December Book Club is The Violets of March. Discussion will take place on January 4. Happy reading!
2. Lunch was simply leftovers from last night’s meatloaf dinner plus an apple. It was highly unattractive, so I’ll spare you the pictures and instead throw puppy pictures your way.
Assuming Animal Genders
On my brisk walk with Sadie this morning, I stopped to chat with a nice man in our neighborhood.
He was all about Sadie, saying the following:
- “He sure has a lot of energy!”
- “What breed is he?”
- “He’s a handsome guy, isn’t he?”
Now allow me to show you some gender clues…
Sadie was wearing a pink harness.
I was walking her with a pink leash…
…with a pink poop bag purse attached to it.
She was wearing a pink heart argyle sweater to fend off the cold. (Vizslas don’t have an undercoat and get cold very easily.)
And yet she was automatically a he to this man.
People often assume Sadie is a boy, which really doesn’t bother me at all. Honestly, I get it.
(Anyone remember the ladybug from A Bug’s Life that was a male? Hilarious.)
Sadie is a vizsla which, in my opinion, is a rather masculine-looking breed. Vizslas are lean, muscular hunting dogs and people often think Sadie is some kind of a hound or a Rhodesian Ridgeback.
I’ve talked to some of my friends who have dogs that are commonly incorrectly referred as a “he” or a “she” by strangers and we have three theories about the assumption of animal genders:
- They’re based on someone’s previous experience with a certain animal. (Example: An owner of a female dog automatically refers to all other dogs as “she.”)
- They’re based solely on gender stereotypes of dogs. (Example: Fluffy, little dogs are female and large, beefy dogs are male. Believe it or not, there are male Malteses and female Rottweilers out there!)
- They’re based on famous movie or television animals that share the breed. (Example: All St. Bernards are automatically male because of Beethoven or all King Charles Cavalier Spaniels are female because of Charlotte’s dog Elizabeth Taylor from Sex and the City.)
I also know this gender assumption happens to parents who have had their baby incorrectly referred to as a “he” or a “she.” It always makes me so curious about what causes people to assume a baby or an animal is a certain gender without knowing for certain.
Questions of the Afternoon
- Do you typically refer to certain animals as a “he” or a “she?”
- What do you think influences whether you call an animal a “he” or a “she” without knowing their gender for certain?
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I assumed my kitten was a “he” the first month of HER life until i took her to the vet and was shockingly corrected… oliver became olive
Just want to add my 2 cents here… my dog is a masculine looking breed, but a girl. When I’m walking her regardless of her pink collar, leash, and sweater, people call her a boy. But when my fiance walks her, this happens less. Our theory is that people assume since I AM a woman that I deck her out in all pink regardless of the dog’s sex. 🙂
Maybe he was color blind and just assumed with an argyle sweater (instead of something with a flowery type pattern) that Sadie was a he????
Lol that is too funny! My mom has animal gender issues – when we had a girl cat, all animals were “she”. Now she has a boy cat, and constantly refers to my 2 girl cats as he. How is he – Peach & Lucy. Lucy?? HE?? lol
After two years and numerous dog sitting favors my mom still calls our dog, named Priya, “he.” It drives me crazy. She always had male dogs growing up so her brain automatically thinks dog=male and cat=female.
I’m totally guilty of the first theory you and your friends came to! We have two girl dogs and I say “she” to all others without even thinking about it. It just comes out 🙂 I’m pretty sure even if a dog had a boyish color leash or “outfit” I would still say “she” repeatedly and then correct my self afterwards each time 😉 You think I would get it but it’s ingrained because of our girls! Trying to be more aware of it and work on that! BTW, Sadie’s quotes today made me laugh out loud! We have a Vizsla too and they definitely have similar faces and mannerisms…love them!
Since I always get somewhat frustrated when people call my dog, Mocha, a “he”, whenever I pet a dog on the street I always am like “awwww aren’t you a fabulous dog, are you a boy or a girl?” which the owner always seems to appreciate and then that way I don’t assume incorrectly. Plus, it’s a great way to learn new dog names, which I love.
Funnily enough, when my cousin was born, her mom decided to get her ears pierced when she was only 2 years old because people wouldn’t stop confusing her for a boy! Even if she told them her name or she was wearing something with her name on it (Taylor), she would still get mistaken for one, because that name can go either way.
Don’t know why, but instinctively, I think of ALL dogs as male, and ALL cats as female. We’ve had both cats and dogs of both sexes, so don’t know why this proclivity…
i’m having a hard time finding a copy of violets of march. library copies are all reserved, and barnes and noble only had one in, and we couldn’t find it. heh heh. i could order online and should get it in a few days. other than amazon, anyone find a good deal??
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“I should’ve shown him my 6 nipples.” LOL!!!!!
I used to gender assume until I got my doggy, now I just ask first 🙂