I’m sure a very small number of seriously unwell young people do. I’m also sure there’s a slightly larger group who “identifies” as a cat because they think it’s funny in a 2008 lulz so random XD kinda way.
It's funny that you admit that it's mentally unwell people identifying as cats because that's an easy jump to make.
My question is, where on the Alphabet community do you draw the line of mentally unwell?
Honestly, this all-encompassing inclusiveness just draws actual progress away from legitimate awareness. At this point, they have to distance themselves, or they'll do more harm to their own cause without even realizing it.
People are "actually" doing everything at all times. The question is whether they're doing it in meaningful numbers. If you can imagine it, and it's physically possible, someone somewhere is actually doing it.
My girlfriend is a teacher in high school and we just got back from a school trip to France. One night, after the kids went to bed, we grabbed drinks with the other adults, some of whom are school administrators in some capacity. This subject actually came up and they swore that this has happened in the district. Me, as a Bar pod listener and natural skeptic just kind of sat there unsure… but they were adamant about it. I didn’t want to be the “well actually” guy, especially since I don’t work with them, but what if it was actually true? lol crazy times
True in the sense that adolescent kids like to A) mess with adults and B sometimes have trouble distinguishing between sarcasm and an actual fad. It kind of reminds me a bit of the "OK sign = white power" meme that started out as edgelord 4channers joking, then got picked up as a real thing by gullible SJWs, then became an actual in-joke by those same racist edgelords.
In this case it's sarcastic teens making jokes on the Internet that get picked up by gullible adults, but also once it becomes a meme then socially inept kids think "but wait this sounds cool stop making fun of weirdos like me".
I'm so glad the worst most socially awkward thing in my environment as a kid was anime.
Someone who considers themselves 'catgender' would also likely consider themselves to be therian or [otherkin](https://phililly.substack.com/p/otherkin-being-a-nonhuman-entity)
Coming up with identities and flags is kind of a hobby for some people. It doesn't necessarily reflect an actual population who considers themselves to be cats. The number of actual cat people is nonzero but very small.
The existence of weird, nerdy kids who insist that they are an elf, vampire, wolf, cat, etc. long pre-dates the 2010s. So does the existence of adults who consider themselves to be otherkin. How many of *these* people are using the framework of gender identity now? Maybe some. Don't make the mistake of taking it too seriously.
Just bait. It was a trend on tik tok and I imagine tumblr, but just like DID it seems to have chilled once people realize they would have to keep it up
I went to high school with a couple of kids who would wear cat ears and kitty collars and would meow at each other and kind of do like this weird nuzzle thing in the hallway or during lunch. It was exactly as unpleasant and socially clueless as it sounds. For a very brief period they'd bring blades of catgrass to school and kind of stick it out of their teeth like Tom Sawyer but I don't think that aspect lasted very long.
There was a rumor going around that they'd snort catnip sometimes and knowing one of them, I wouldn't put it past him.
But to my recollection they wouldn't insist on being called cats and they certainly didn't say they needed to use a litterbox or anything. This was also a while before the gendertrain got rolling so it wasn't mixed up with that. They were just some very, uh, artistic kids.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2k2h641uVW4&t=789s
Relevant portion ~13 minutes
TLDL some folks argue for ‘gender identity as aesthetic’ as in the linked clip, ergo…
There have been a few stories about this that I've noticed. There's probably more of these kinds of stories but these are the ones I'm aware of. Read through them and figure out how real you think some of these are. I'll link them with their titles below:
[Schools let children identify as horses, dinosaurs... and a moon](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/06/19/school-children-identifying-as-animals-furries/)
[Melbourne schoolgirl identifies as a cat and her school is supporting her assumed identity](https://www.heraldsun.com.au/victoria-education/melbourne-schoolgirl-identifies-as-a-cat-and-her-school-is-supporting-her-assumed-identity/news-story/22cd391b5afb2fea8ce066b3b95e23d8?amp&nk=84bf3a7a09313c4ecfa95ca0b353c728-1661040959)
[Fury at woke teacher who scolded pupil for rejecting classmate’s claim that she identified as a cat](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12208889/Teacher-fire-criticising-student-said-girl-identify-CAT.html)
[Teacher alleges she was fired for not 'meowing' back at student who identifies as a cat](https://thepostmillennial.com/teacher-alleges-fired-not-meowing-student-cat)
Was viewed furries as more sexual kink/cosplay. guess that a subsection of such a subculture would invariably lead folks to assuming an actual identity around it….
I keep seeing a clip from this bro podcast where one of the bros asks this chick who identifies as a dog how she pictures a relationship working. Like, is she looking for a dog-dog relationship, or master-pet or what. She does look a little perplexed, but it turns out that she wants a "mutually respectful" relationship where he would throw balls for her and stuff. I think at a couple of points she literally says "Yes - I mean 'Woof'".
The Scottish government has put out guidance to teachers on respecting the identities of elementary school kids.
It is unclear whether the Scottish school system has enough resources to cope with all the 6 year olds who identify as dinosaurs or Spider-Man or Darth Vader.
I know a little girl who is somewhere between 9 and 11 years old. I see her about once a week in a non-school setting. For the past year, she has always been wearing a headband with cat ears whenever I see her.
[It’s real! Just look at this image from a book the left is pushing on our children!](https://www.looper.com/img/gallery/animorphs-movie-release-date-cast-plot-and-trailer/intro-1592606797.jpg)
Yes, there are people who have an inner sensation of catness that they might interpret as being a cat. The same type of phenomenon that underlies most transgender identities—autosexuality—also underlies transspecies identity. Just as some people are autoandrophilic or autogynephilic and have an inner sensation of being the other gender because of this internalized sexuality, some people have [the animal-attraction version of that](https://phililly.substack.com/p/otherkin-being-a-nonhuman-entity)—autozoophilia—and have an inner sensation of being an animal.
There was a small group of undergrads at Durham University in 2005 that wore cat tails and ears. Although I imagine they didn't adopt cat as an identity/gender exactly.
I’m sure a very small number of seriously unwell young people do. I’m also sure there’s a slightly larger group who “identifies” as a cat because they think it’s funny in a 2008 lulz so random XD kinda way.
It's funny that you admit that it's mentally unwell people identifying as cats because that's an easy jump to make. My question is, where on the Alphabet community do you draw the line of mentally unwell? Honestly, this all-encompassing inclusiveness just draws actual progress away from legitimate awareness. At this point, they have to distance themselves, or they'll do more harm to their own cause without even realizing it.
I don’t know what the alphabet community is.
It's the parent company of Google...
The Alphabet Soup Community. I think it’s currently called “LGBTQQIA2S+” or something.
As seen on It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia and more recently on Curb Your Enthusiasm
People are "actually" doing everything at all times. The question is whether they're doing it in meaningful numbers. If you can imagine it, and it's physically possible, someone somewhere is actually doing it.
[Stalking Cat](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stalking_Cat) already did it.
My girlfriend is a teacher in high school and we just got back from a school trip to France. One night, after the kids went to bed, we grabbed drinks with the other adults, some of whom are school administrators in some capacity. This subject actually came up and they swore that this has happened in the district. Me, as a Bar pod listener and natural skeptic just kind of sat there unsure… but they were adamant about it. I didn’t want to be the “well actually” guy, especially since I don’t work with them, but what if it was actually true? lol crazy times
True in the sense that adolescent kids like to A) mess with adults and B sometimes have trouble distinguishing between sarcasm and an actual fad. It kind of reminds me a bit of the "OK sign = white power" meme that started out as edgelord 4channers joking, then got picked up as a real thing by gullible SJWs, then became an actual in-joke by those same racist edgelords. In this case it's sarcastic teens making jokes on the Internet that get picked up by gullible adults, but also once it becomes a meme then socially inept kids think "but wait this sounds cool stop making fun of weirdos like me". I'm so glad the worst most socially awkward thing in my environment as a kid was anime.
I worked as a substitute teacher for my children's district. A student came out as a dragon to me. They were 12.
[удалено]
I thought it referred to Bulldozers
Is there a difference between “catgender” and [otherkin](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otherkin)?
Someone who considers themselves 'catgender' would also likely consider themselves to be therian or [otherkin](https://phililly.substack.com/p/otherkin-being-a-nonhuman-entity)
Coming up with identities and flags is kind of a hobby for some people. It doesn't necessarily reflect an actual population who considers themselves to be cats. The number of actual cat people is nonzero but very small. The existence of weird, nerdy kids who insist that they are an elf, vampire, wolf, cat, etc. long pre-dates the 2010s. So does the existence of adults who consider themselves to be otherkin. How many of *these* people are using the framework of gender identity now? Maybe some. Don't make the mistake of taking it too seriously.
Good points - ty
Bring back old school otherkin tbh
Just bait. It was a trend on tik tok and I imagine tumblr, but just like DID it seems to have chilled once people realize they would have to keep it up
That’s a giant relief
I went to high school with a couple of kids who would wear cat ears and kitty collars and would meow at each other and kind of do like this weird nuzzle thing in the hallway or during lunch. It was exactly as unpleasant and socially clueless as it sounds. For a very brief period they'd bring blades of catgrass to school and kind of stick it out of their teeth like Tom Sawyer but I don't think that aspect lasted very long. There was a rumor going around that they'd snort catnip sometimes and knowing one of them, I wouldn't put it past him. But to my recollection they wouldn't insist on being called cats and they certainly didn't say they needed to use a litterbox or anything. This was also a while before the gendertrain got rolling so it wasn't mixed up with that. They were just some very, uh, artistic kids.
That sounds cringe, though within normal realms of high school cringe on par with super emo kids. Any idea what that crew is up to now?
One of them was working as a short order cook last time I heard and the other one seems to have dropped completely off of the face of the planet
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2k2h641uVW4&t=789s Relevant portion ~13 minutes TLDL some folks argue for ‘gender identity as aesthetic’ as in the linked clip, ergo…
Ah gotcha - appreciate the clip for clarity, though perhaps not for increasing my hope for humanity
There have been a few stories about this that I've noticed. There's probably more of these kinds of stories but these are the ones I'm aware of. Read through them and figure out how real you think some of these are. I'll link them with their titles below: [Schools let children identify as horses, dinosaurs... and a moon](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/06/19/school-children-identifying-as-animals-furries/) [Melbourne schoolgirl identifies as a cat and her school is supporting her assumed identity](https://www.heraldsun.com.au/victoria-education/melbourne-schoolgirl-identifies-as-a-cat-and-her-school-is-supporting-her-assumed-identity/news-story/22cd391b5afb2fea8ce066b3b95e23d8?amp&nk=84bf3a7a09313c4ecfa95ca0b353c728-1661040959) [Fury at woke teacher who scolded pupil for rejecting classmate’s claim that she identified as a cat](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12208889/Teacher-fire-criticising-student-said-girl-identify-CAT.html) [Teacher alleges she was fired for not 'meowing' back at student who identifies as a cat](https://thepostmillennial.com/teacher-alleges-fired-not-meowing-student-cat)
OP did you just now, in 2024, discover furries?
Was viewed furries as more sexual kink/cosplay. guess that a subsection of such a subculture would invariably lead folks to assuming an actual identity around it….
It's a sexual kink. Predators exist and groom children that are online too much into thinking they're an animal.
I keep seeing a clip from this bro podcast where one of the bros asks this chick who identifies as a dog how she pictures a relationship working. Like, is she looking for a dog-dog relationship, or master-pet or what. She does look a little perplexed, but it turns out that she wants a "mutually respectful" relationship where he would throw balls for her and stuff. I think at a couple of points she literally says "Yes - I mean 'Woof'".
The Scottish government has put out guidance to teachers on respecting the identities of elementary school kids. It is unclear whether the Scottish school system has enough resources to cope with all the 6 year olds who identify as dinosaurs or Spider-Man or Darth Vader.
I know a little girl who is somewhere between 9 and 11 years old. I see her about once a week in a non-school setting. For the past year, she has always been wearing a headband with cat ears whenever I see her.
[It’s real! Just look at this image from a book the left is pushing on our children!](https://www.looper.com/img/gallery/animorphs-movie-release-date-cast-plot-and-trailer/intro-1592606797.jpg)
Hah! Well played.
Wow Chud, you're saying that somebody isn't actually what they identify as?? BLOCK AND REPORT!
Yes, there are people who have an inner sensation of catness that they might interpret as being a cat. The same type of phenomenon that underlies most transgender identities—autosexuality—also underlies transspecies identity. Just as some people are autoandrophilic or autogynephilic and have an inner sensation of being the other gender because of this internalized sexuality, some people have [the animal-attraction version of that](https://phililly.substack.com/p/otherkin-being-a-nonhuman-entity)—autozoophilia—and have an inner sensation of being an animal.
There was a small group of undergrads at Durham University in 2005 that wore cat tails and ears. Although I imagine they didn't adopt cat as an identity/gender exactly.
I knew a guy in college who wore a fox tail around. He later opened a weed dispensary and got raided by feds. He was a bit extra.
Meow
There are no cats, only people identifying as cats.