Ok. I am a female with two female cats, but even I was insulted by the all pink display of grooming tools at Petsmart today. Clippers, files, brushes- all pink. In fact if I was in the market for such a thing as a nail clipper I had not option but to GET pink. Not just pink, but light "It's a girl" baby pink, with soft graphic packaging. Surely these manufacturers don't beleive that only girls buy cats? Or are they simply implying that only girls, young girls into the color pink, care about the general maintenance of their kitties?
I know cats are typically thought of as a girl pet. Perhaps it is because kittens are so "cute and cuddly" and so their adorable faces are plastered all over grade school girls folders and notebooks and posters and t-shirts... And there is that whole "old lady with 50 cats" bit, and a witch can't ride her broom without a tabby behind...
But I have news for those who have been sold on this imaging.
Men like cats. I know of lots of men who are cat men. Don't believe me? Youtube the Engineers and Cats guy. My husband is even particular to cats (though he is an engineer...).
Further more, even if only women bought cats, not all cats are girls. Not that Tom will likely know the difference or social connotations of that pink collar and rhinestones slung around his neck...
And even further more. Not all girls like pink.
Though to be fair, not all men are offended by pink.
Maybe it is I who is being closed minded and rash. Perhaps this pink monopoly on cat grooming is simply signifying the acceptance of pink as a mainstream color. It has finally become neutral. We as a society, or at least those of us who love pets, have broken years of gender stereotyping and have risen above the rest of the color coding sheep! Yes indeed. This is a new frontier! This is a break through in color profiling!
Though let me just say...
I doubt it.
I know cats are typically thought of as a girl pet. Perhaps it is because kittens are so "cute and cuddly" and so their adorable faces are plastered all over grade school girls folders and notebooks and posters and t-shirts... And there is that whole "old lady with 50 cats" bit, and a witch can't ride her broom without a tabby behind...
But I have news for those who have been sold on this imaging.
Men like cats. I know of lots of men who are cat men. Don't believe me? Youtube the Engineers and Cats guy. My husband is even particular to cats (though he is an engineer...).
Further more, even if only women bought cats, not all cats are girls. Not that Tom will likely know the difference or social connotations of that pink collar and rhinestones slung around his neck...
And even further more. Not all girls like pink.
Though to be fair, not all men are offended by pink.
Maybe it is I who is being closed minded and rash. Perhaps this pink monopoly on cat grooming is simply signifying the acceptance of pink as a mainstream color. It has finally become neutral. We as a society, or at least those of us who love pets, have broken years of gender stereotyping and have risen above the rest of the color coding sheep! Yes indeed. This is a new frontier! This is a break through in color profiling!
Though let me just say...
I doubt it.
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