Cats, dogs and green grapes

I was recently in a polite professional company where conversation touched upon pets. Several people at the table readily stated that they HATED cats. Some of these people actually live in a household with one or cats (as do 34% Americans), and yet they still publicly share this dislike. In general, I noticed that people are NOT ASHAMED to say that they hate cats. But I think that a person who would dare to say that he or she hated dogs would be universally disapproved of in the US. Why is that?

I came up with an explanation which works for me. Here is an analogy: many Americans are similarly not ashamed to say that they hate the French (but not Latinos, for example). See, we feel that the French act like they are superior to us, they definitely are not infatuated with us, they do not care to learn our language, they make fun of our lack of refinement, style, grace. They have their history, palaces, fashion, flair, Paris - something we could never get. We fear we will never be good enough for them, and as a face saving strategy we hate them in return. This is a case of green grapes logic. Hating somebody superior comes as a way of getting even with them, as an act of defiance. By hating cats we recognize their superiority, and we admit our insecurity and secret desire to be loved by them which we are afraid is not to be.

There is a joke which illustrates the difference between cats and dogs which goes like this. A dog looks at its master and thinks: "He feeds me, he takes care of me, he loves me. He must be God." The cat thinks: "He feeds me, he takes care of me, he loves me. I must be God."

Personally, I am a cat person, and although I do not hate dogs, I rarely find them attractive, or adorable, so I am generally indifferent to them. I do not have respect for dogs as subservient creatures. A master can be nice to it, or rude to it, but it would still be loyal to its master. A dog has a soul of a slave whose loyalty can be taken for granted. A cat is a proud and independently minded creature whose affection you have to win anew every day. But how flattered I feel when one of my cats chooses to rub against my leg, or come sit in my lap and share the music of its purring with me!

So next time you say that you hate cats think that you may be betraying your own insecurity and inferiority complex.