On July 29th, 1566 in Chelmsford England, Agnes Waterhouse was hanged for witchcraft. She and Elizabeth Francis were among the first women in England to be executed for being “witches” in a long line of women later killed during the witch trials.
Although Waterhouse and Francis are said to have admitted to their crimes and the practice of witchcraft, we now know that many women were coerced or even tortured into giving confessions. While there’s no way to know for certain whether or not that’s what happened with these two women, it isn’t all that far fetched to assume it may have since the time of the witch trials were fueled by mass paranoia and prejudice, especially against women. At this time, it was dangerous for a woman to be single, let alone an older, single woman, and Waterhouse and Francis were both. They also just so happened to share a cat named Sathan.
Cats have gone in and out of popularity for centuries. Most notably remembered as the animal worshipped by ancient Egyptians—although that’s technically not true, but we’ll talk about that later—they were also highly regarded in other cultures. Today, they captivate audiences all over the world with their crazy antics and cute faces on social media.
While cat content has gone down since the “cat craze” of the early 2010s when it seemed you couldn’t go on any form of social media without seeing some sort of cute cat video or silly picture (remember grumpy cat?), they’re still part of popular social media content.
But when it comes to the age old dogs vs. cats debate, dogs still win. In an Associated Press-Petside.com poll from 2010, it was found that 74% of people like dogs while only 41% like cats. Although I couldn’t find more recent statistics, the pandemic also points to the preference of dogs over cats with dog adoptions increasing by 9 million, and cat adoptions increasing by 5 million during the pandemic. Whether or not dogs are actually “better” than cats or vice versa is irrelevant, but it does show the lasting affect of the cat’s once bad reputation.
Of course, it also doesn’t help that pop culture continually depicts them as devil worshipping companions and scary, soul-sucking monsters.
But cats weren’t always seen this way. In the article “How Cats Became Divine Symbols in Ancient Egypt” by Elizabeth Yuko, Julia Troche, professor and Egyptologist, explains the connection cats had to women and goddesses in ancient Egyptian culture.
“‘Sekhmet was a lioness goddess who was a warrior and protector deity who kept at bay the enemies of the sun god Ra (also spelled “Re”) and who also kept away illness and sickness,” Troche notes. “In this way, we can see that the ancient Egyptians thought of cats, more generally, as protectors, while at the same time they respected their ferocity.”
Cats in ancient Egypt were also seen as possessing another type of power: fertility. “They are often depicted sitting under women's chairs, implying a connection to women, and perhaps fertility more broadly…’”
In addition to Sekhmet, cats were also associated with the goddess Bastet, who was a very important ancient Egyptian deity. Because of this connection to their gods, cats and other animals were highly regarded in ancient Egyptian culture. However, ancient Egyptians didn’t believe animals were gods. They believed that their association with their gods was what made them sacred and that they were a sort of “vessel” that the gods could inhabit and act through on earth.
But ancient Egyptians weren’t the only ones to value cats. Many other cultures greatly appreciated them for their pest control abilities, and even incorporated them into their mythology, which is precisely why cats were demonized in the western world. When these myths were brought over to medieval Europe by traders, cats began to be seen as “evil” and “satanic”. In the article “Cats in the Middle Ages”, Joshua J. Mark explains that in the popular Greek myth depicting the birth of Heracles (aka Hercules), the association of
“…the cat with darkness, witchcraft, and the underworld, coupled with the Church's efforts at demonizing the values of earlier faiths, would have gone far to condemning the cat to a sub-par existence.
Further contributing to the cat's poor reputation was its association with the feminine, carried over from Egypt, and the poor light in which women in the early Middle Ages were viewed.”
Before their association with women and other cultures, cats were generally tolerated, and even appreciated in western Europe for killing rats and other pests. They weren’t as highly valued as they were in Egypt and Greece, but they were still welcomed into people’s homes.
But when the church began to associate them with the devil, the public turned on them. Cats were now disregarded and oftentimes even killed. No one wanted to own a cat because of their supposed “demonic” nature, and even if they did, they ran the risk of being labeled a witch. But the ones that were the most at risk were women, especially those of the lower class.
In stark contrast with Agnes Waterhouse and Elizabeth Francis, was a woman by the name of Lady Eleanor of Montfort who’s high social standing allowed her to keep a cat as a pet without worrying she might be accused of witchcraft.
Free of the burdens of the lower class, Lady Eleanor was also free to do as she pleased. No one dared accuse her of witchcraft because of her position of power. Although there’s something to be said of a woman—especially back then—that had so much power she had no need to fear others, I can’t decide if it’s empowering or sad.
Is it empowering to know that a woman in the middle ages had his kind of power? Or sad that this was the only way she was free?
But, even as the witch hysteria subsided and cats were popularized as household pets thanks, in part, to Queen Victoria, who’s adoption of two Blue Persian cats got others to adopt cats as well, the negative imagery of women and cats remained.
In the article “Claws out! Why pop culture clings to the crazy cat lady” from The Guardian, Lucy Jones mentions that
“In the 1900s, anti-suffragette propaganda used images of cats to portray women as silly, useless, catty and ridiculous in their attempt to enter political life.”
By using the image of the cat, the suffragettes were not only made to look ridiculous, it also solidified this idea that the only women who wanted the right to vote were the sad, lonely cat ladies. So even though women who owned cats were no longer accused of witchcraft and executed, they were demonized in another way; one that ostracized and demeaned them in order to “keep them in their place”.
But this association of women with cats, especially suffragettes, is interesting because most people, when asked to describe cats or explain why they don’t like them, always mention their independence. They don’t like that they mostly keep to themselves and do their own thing. They perceive this as meanness, and thus regard cats as rude, mean creatures that can’t and won’t love you in the same way as dogs. And that’s partly true.
There are mean cats. Just as there are mean dogs, and mean birds, and so on. But, in the end, it usually comes down to the owner. As we’ve all probably heard before: there are no bad pets, only bad owners. A cat’s defensiveness might stem from past abuse or anxiety around meeting new people, but the idea that a cat can’t love in the same way as a dog is absurd. They shouldn’t be expected to love in the same way as a completely different species, and the urge to disregard them when they don’t speaks to the same fears and insecurities as those behind the anti-suffragette propaganda.
However, as time went on, women reclaimed the “crazy cat lady” trope. We’ve begun to see it as no more than a silly cliché with feminists using it as a way to exercise power over a narrative that once held power over us. It’s no longer seen as a bad thing to be a “crazy cat lady”, in fact, it’s supposed to be empowering.
I’ve, personally, labeled myself as a “crazy cat lady”. I’m currently the owner of an orange cat named Pickles and have had cats all my life. I even got cat scratch fever when I was about two-years-old because I wouldn’t stop holding our cats, who were just kittens at the time.
But, when called a “crazy cat lady”, I’ve merely laughed and accepted the label. It didn’t hurt me, so why should I care? In fact, I thought it was cool. Is it not powerful to associate yourself with women who were feared for challenging social norms? Or is it sad that obtaining power is the only way to feel free?
Nowadays, celebrities can post about their cats, or pose in pictures with them and we’ll say “They’re de-stigmatizing the ‘crazy cat lady’ trope!” or “They’re challenging what it means to be a ‘cat lady’!”. In fact, one of the most well-known examples of the “celebrity cat lady” is Taylor Swift. Fans love that she’s obsessed with her cats, and some even want cats because of her—much like the people of the Victorian era. They see her with her three cats—Meredith, Olivia Benson, and Benjamin Button—and the glamorous life she lives with them, and realize how silly the “crazy cat lady” label is. Look at Taylor Swift! She’s single and owns three cats! If she can do it, so can I!
Of course, this is a good thing. Celebrities should use their high status to challenge gender roles/stereotypes, but that doesn’t mean its original meaning, all the history and harm it caused is suddenly gone. Actually, our ability to accept a “crazy cat lady” in the form of a glamorous celebrity says more about what we deem acceptable rather than a growth away from the “crazy cat lady” stereotype.
As a self-proclaimed “crazy cat lady”, I’ve often wondered if the continued use of this label does more harm than good, given its history. I know it was a long time ago and it’s now mostly used as a cliché played up for laughs in media, but there is a sense of privilege that comes with being able to laugh off and accept this label. I, personally, come from a privileged background. As a white appearing woman, who comes from a middle class home and has never dealt with serious mental health issues, I have nothing to lose when it comes to being labeled a “crazy cat lady”, and neither do celebrities.
It’s good that we’re challenging this stereotype. That we create new images of women. Women CEOs; famous women; women doctors; women as political figures. Maybe they all have cats. Maybe they don’t. There is no predetermined rule that women only have cats, just as there’s no rule that men only have dogs. That would be silly. But by only accepting these kinds of women, we are assigning them with a higher value than other women. As if our status, our career, our wealth are the only things that make us valuable. Because it’s now somehow bad to not want to have it all. And until we are able to accept the non-glamorized image of a woman who chooses not to seek fame, wealth, and power, and instead follow her own happiness, whatever that may mean, we can never truly be free. Cats or no cats.
Comments, Thoughts, Feelings
Do you have any cats? If so, what are their names?
Are you a pet owner? I have 1 cat and 2 dogs :)
Had you ever heard of Agnes Waterhouse or Elizabeth Francis before this? I hadn’t and found their story really interesting. I highly suggest giving it a read at this link.
All other thoughts and comments are welcome <3
I want to really quickly acknowledge that I was unable to fully explore the mental health side of the “crazy cat lady” stereotype, but would like to suggest giving these articles a read: The Guardian’s “Claws out! Why pop culture clings to the crazy cat lady”, which discusses the disorder of hoarding, specifically in women, and the ASPCA’s “Animal Hoarding”, which goes over animal hoarding more broadly as well as additional links on how to identify it and how to help.
I didn't know the crazy cat lady trope was dated all the way to the witch trials in the 17th century. This was such an interesting read!
After reading this it made me think of the evolution of Cat Women as a character in comic and the movies. Check out Wiki for summary. Plus the weird movie Cat People from the 80s.