Jayda Poller Week 1: Is Preference Problematic?

Today, August 29th, I was discussing the difficulty that I was having in coming up with a topic for this blog post among my friends. That was when my friend, whom we will refer to as her favorite fruit, “strawberry”, spoke up. Strawberry, in a joking manner, suggested that I write about whether I like cats or dogs more. This is what started my thought process, and led me to think about whether I was a dog person or a cat person, but why pick between the two choices? 

Generally, when someone says they are a dog person, the ladder's thoughts automatically assume that the person has a variety of traits. These traits tend to include being agreeable, energetic, and overall more extroverted. On the contrary, cat people are stereotyped as being more lonely, standoffish, and introverted. I asked an outside source what she thought of when I mentioned dog people. She said that she thinks they are “loyal and adventurous people”. When asked about her first thoughts when I mentioned cat people, that same source said that the first thought that described them was “lonely, bitter old hags who are crazy and are going to die alone in their apartment full of cats”, which is slightly harsh, but it exemplifies how different the perceptions of dog people and cat people can be.

Returning to the question originally asked, why pick between the two choices? Speaking from personal experience, whenever someone asks me if I am a dog person or a cat person, I usually do not know how to respond. Cats are my favorite animal, but I also love dogs. If I say that I am a dog person, people do not care. However, if I say that I am a cat person, I am usually responded to with “ew, why?” People are so quick to separate others into groups solely based on something as small as preferring one animal over another. The assumptions made are unfair, and when left unchecked, can lead to biased and discriminatory behavior against the ladder.