Living Single

Thanks for calling 20/20 out on their outrageous stereotyping of single people and of people who own 3 cats or more. I noticed in the comments section that the younger woman featured, Jenny, who got the worst of the singles stereotyping responded in the comments section, stating that she was not given the opportunity to speak for herself in the show and that she would be issuing a rebuttal. I really think it's important to keep calling the media out on their stereotyping and I'm glad you are here to do so, Bella. Keep up the good work. I predict that 10 to 20 years from now, people will be laughing at these kinds of shows the way we not laugh at some of the blatant sexist literature of the 1950s.

As an aside, for about 5 years of my life in the early 90s, I qualified for their definition of "crazy cat lady" as I owned three cats. I had one cat of my own and then my single friend died of breast cancer at the age of 41 and I adopted her lovely two 12 year old cats, who both lived to the ripe old age of 17. My single friend had many close friends around her, supporting her and helping her out, by the way and I was honored to be one of them and to be able to take in her cats. But according to Callan-Jones, that made me a "crazy cat lady". Single with three cats.

I didn't see the 20/20 segment, but first I'd like to thank Monica for taking in her friend's cats. I volunteer at my local animal shelter and the saddest animals we get are the ones whose people have died. They're so lost and needing to bond with someone. It's wonderful that those cats went to the home of someone they already loved. And I'm sorry for the loss of your friend, and I hope the knowledge that you were a good friend to her brings you comfort.
I'm often characterized as a crazy cat lady, insanely devoted to my cats. I just have one right now, plus his friends who come over and hang out--he's a giant tabby, and just this morning when we woke up snuggling together, I told him there's no one on earth I'd rather sleep with. Yes, I've been married and had flings--I've slept with humans. I prefer cats. My dedication to cats has led me to my local shelter, where I've made wonderful human friends--strong people who have answered the call to service and challenge me to rise to my better self. Tonight is our annual Volunteer Appreciation Night and I'm excited and honored to have dinner with so many truly high-quality people.
This is a sparsely populated, lower-income county, and when I lost my high-paying job, I was urged to move to other places where similar job opportunities existed. I chose to stay because my shelter community makes this place home. I'd rather pull double shifts as a barista than give up all this. Yep, I'm a single crazy cat lady, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Thanks for the thoughtful article debunking 20/20 about people who have cats.

Where people have dozens of cats or dogs in very unhealthy conditions.

But that's not the same as having a few pets.

Now that 20/20 got a nice public lashing about their harmful, stereo typing story about people who have cats, I'm expecting 20/20 to redeem themselves & will do a story about people who rescue cats and how the community can step up to help stop the 10 million animals that are put to death because they are homeless. This is a solvable problem!

the segment and the online article depicts ONLY women who are single; hoarders include both married and single people.

Appreciate everyone's comments

Thanks for the article Bella and the comments.

As one of the producers of the documentary, I feel we ought to have our say here too.

The point of the documentary - which is separate from the ABC 20/20 segment - is to look into the label of "cat lady".

The point of looking at single women - is exactly what we wanted to do. It's how a woman is slapped with the label without thought behind who she might be, how she got there, why she's chosen felines.

The film is, on a meta level, one that addresses these ladies' feeling of alienation and marginalisation in this society because they aren't the norm. Also how some of their lives are now completely subsumed into the care of their cats, at their own detriment.

This isn't a film about rescuing or hoarding or what to do with the cat population - even if it does provoke a lot of attention.

It's interesting how people react more to the health and welfare of the cats BUT NOT the health or welfare of the ladies - for whom there still is no support or help.

You know this to me is like racial profiling by police officers or "fat profiling" by doctors. Connecting stereotypes to something like this only makes everyone lose out. Hoarding is a serious mental illness, and to link it to being single and female really just dampens it and the people who truly have the problem will not get the help they need. Unsingle people or males will think that they can't be a hoarder because they're not single and/or female, single females who are hoarders will fear being pigeonholed if they seek help. People hoard things other than animals, but animal hoarding causes problems not only for the people involved but also the animals. To use something like this as nothing but fodder for poking fun at single women seems sickening to me.

What about grandmothers who collect those Precious Moments figurines? I'd like to see an in-depth expose on THOSE crazies.

What about grandmothers who collect those Precious Moments figurines? I'd like to see an in-depth expose on THOSE crazies.

Our animal rescue group spent most of last summer following around a group of so-called "cat ladies," that have a lot of heart. Their nonprofit, Charles River Alleycats is a legendary rescue group. Check out the video and see for yourself how a group of volunteers can pick up slack and make a difference by being kind to homeless animals:
http://sheltermeinc.org/story.php?id=64&feat_cat=14

More very unhealthy conditions. Monica Pignotti

http://img339.imageshack.us/i/7791696.jpg/

I think if you really wanted to address the issue of "what is a crazy cat lady" you might have bothered to do some research. One of the reason the tag sticks is because cats, while being useful creatures....have little value in our society. If they were collected something deemed more "valuable" it wouldn't be so "crazy." I've met people who were into reptiles or birds and they BRAGGED about the huge number of animals they had (50-80 wasn't too uncommon.) They may have been breeding the animals, but collection was a huge aspect of it. What about the current trend of toy dogs? Paris Hilton is supposedly a crazy pet person........why aren't you interviewing her? She keeps buying more pets for thousands of dollars? What about Nicolas Cage and his purchase of some King Cobras and his pet collection? What about Jay Leno and his CAR COLLECTION? These are just celebrity examples of what you can find easily in the general population. WHY do people have ANY OBSESSION?

Another issue you might have bothered to do include is the well known fact that how people interact with animals is a reflection of how they interact with other human beings......so yes, maybe some of those women identify with those cats. But isn't that a hallmark of human behavior? What's so freakin' insightful? And if you're looking for unconditional love and control, you'd have better luck with a dog.

I think the issue with the women in the "documentary" runs deeper than the cats....the cats are just a symptom and to generalize and reinforce an ignorant, archaic stereotype is both bad journalism and irresponsible to many social issue including mental illness AND the pet overpopulation problem. You might have just picked three lonely, neurotic individuals out of the American public from any walk of life with ANY OBSESSION. And to pick single women is just plain sexist and offensive (again, I'm married, but I find it despicable that in this day and age, a spinster image is being perpetuated)....again, you could have plucked three lonely people from the male gender just as easily with ANY OBSESSION. It's just stupid, transparent, offensive sensationalism. In addition, your condescending portrayal of these women as comical, pathetic whack jobs certainly does nothing to garner sympathy from the audience.

Look, THERE ARE issues with some individuals that get into animal rescue for the wrong reason or hoard. Just like there are individuals that do foster care for children for all the wrong reasons.....but this wasn't even addressed in any sort of logical way.
Your comment here about it being "interesting" about how people "defend the welfare of the animals and not the women" is just lame again, and again just comes across as ignorant, as your subtext is obviously "people who connect more with animals," BS. Maybe instead, it's because your portrayal of the women was so offensive and exploitative, the audience is reluctant to offer psychological advice "Jerry Springer," style and make generalized statements about their very obviously complex, individual cases. Maybe it was just a lame, unfocused, badly done story.

Is it crazy that the majority of the American public actually PREFERS felines over canines? In fact, what's crazier....adopting an alley cat that will probably live a nice long life with pretty easy care or spending thousands of dollars on an inbred, mentally and physically challenged animal like the purebred dogs that are so common today? Maybe, just maybe, some individuals actually just LIKE CATS?! They are wonderful creatures, just miniatures of the big cats you see on nature shows....even the most "plain" tabby you see in an alley is a little version of a tiger.....it may surprise YOU, but throughout history, many have expressed their admiration and awe for these wonderful creatures.

The power of reaching a large portion of the American public was just wasted....what about the actual pet population problem? Again, they way animals are treated is a reflection of how we treat each other, so isn't it bothersome that so many animals die each day in shelters? Considering issues like the economy, our health care system or where many of our disposable elderly end up, is it that surprising? What about doing a story on animal collectors that really effect more people like the exotic pet trade that is allowed to rape wildlife and has been responsible for introducing varies invasive species into our ecosystems? There are many interesting aspects to the relationships we as human beings form with the other beings on this planet.....this story was awash with bad cliches from lazy journalism. It just sucked.

I just saw the segment on 20/20 tonight and cringed. Once again single + female + cats = nutjob. There was a crazy cat lady in Clockwork Orange and one in the Simpsons. How far we've come since the witch trials of the middle ages where women and cats were burned for the crime of just existing. (Perhaps not so far considering how much violence is still directed towards women and cats.)

I personally think cats are the ideal companion for women. We are always expected to look after dependent others (partners, children, elderly parents) whereas cats are quite self-contained and independent. Perhaps therein lies the rub - how dare we look after these ungrateful, aloof creatures when we should really be running around after a family 24/7?

You ever heard the term "crazy dog guy", "crazy cat guy" "crazy dog lady"??? anyone?...anyone?!?!? exactly... It's a stereotype for a reason. You're all up in arms about being lumped in the "crazy cat lady" category, almost in denial that these people exist. They weren't targeting cat owners on a whole...They were targeting women and the relationship between their love for cats, and their introverted loneliness. 20/20 was spot on in their definition, and interview group of "crazy cat ladies"... So get over yourselves, and go buy another cat...I know you want to.

You ever heard the term "crazy dog guy", "crazy cat guy" "crazy dog lady"??? anyone?...anyone?!?!? exactly... It's a stereotype for a reason. You're all up in arms about being lumped in the "crazy cat lady" category, almost in denial that these people exist. They weren't targeting cat owners on a whole...They were targeting women and the relationship between their love for cats, and their introverted loneliness. 20/20 was spot on in their definition, and interview group of "crazy cat ladies"... So get over yourselves, and go buy another cat...I know you want to.

You ever heard the term "crazy dog guy", "crazy cat guy" "crazy dog lady"??? anyone?...anyone?!?!? exactly... It's a stereotype for a reason. You're all up in arms about being lumped in the "crazy cat lady" category, almost in denial that these people exist. They weren't targeting cat owners on a whole...They were targeting women and the relationship between their love for cats, and their introverted loneliness. 20/20 was spot on in their definition, and interview group of "crazy cat ladies"... So get over yourselves, and go buy another cat...I know you want to.