It Is Friday the 13th and Cats Are on the Loose

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PSYCHIATRIC VIEWS ON THE DAILY NEWS

Today is Friday the 13th, a day of some superstition because of the fear of the number 13 and perhaps the history that Friday was “hangman’s day” once upon a time in Europe. There is also a superstitious fear of black cats. Such superstitions seem to be attempts to reduce uncertainly and danger.

This date seems to be another reason to think that this must be the season of the cat. Not forgetting “Cats,” the long-standing popular musical theatre piece, we are currently hearing about them in so many places.

Cats in Politics

“Cat lady” is a term, usually a pejorative one, about women who decide to be childless and have cats instead. As covered in the BBC News on July 29, 2024, article “‘He likes family’: Trump defends running mate’s cat lady,” JD Vance in 2021 said that Vice-President Kamala Harris and other Democrats were “a bunch of childless ladies miserable in their own lives.”¹ Presidential nominee Donald Trump defended him.

In the debate on Tuesday night, Trump erroneously spoke of Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio “eating the cats . . . they’re eating the pets of the people that live there.”

Cat in the Hat

One of the most favorite books written by Dr. Seuss was titled The Cat in the Hat. He wanted to write a more entertaining educational primer for children. In the story, a boy and his sister were in their home alone, staring out the window on a rainy day. Then the Cat in the Hat arrived, an anthropomorphic cat dressed in a red bowtie and a red and white-striped top hat. I personally have one that I wear on occasion! He tries to entertain the children and pet fish, but ends up making a mess. He goes out and returns with a machine that cleans everything up, so it ends up being like an aborted revolt against authority.

The book and story have been applied to politics many times, including the messy impasse over immigration reform.

Cat Ladies?

As I was writing this column, my daughter serendipitously forwarded me a statement from the singer Linda Ronstadt written on September 11, 2024. In a P.S. to JD Vance, she wrote²:

“I raised two adopted children in Tucson as a single mom. They are both grown and living in their own houses. I live with a cat. Am I half a childless cat lady because I’m unmarried and didn’t give birth to my kids? Call me what you want, but this cat lady will be voting proudly in November for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz.”

After the debate, Taylor Swift came out as a cat lady holding a cat and casting her support for the other cat lady, Kamala Harris.

The Independence of Cats

Cats are often much more independent than dogs as pets. We had several of them over the years.

We in psychiatry often try to help our patients become more independent as they recover from their mental disruptions. Freedom of the mind is an antidote to cultish thinking.³

In our Presidential race, it is being said that independent voters may be the ones who will decide who wins the election. Will it be the party of so-called cat ladies or the party of those who disparage them?

Dr Moffic is an award-winning psychiatrist who specialized in the cultural and ethical aspects of psychiatry and is now in retirement and retirement as a private pro bono community psychiatrist. A prolific writer and speaker, he has done a weekday column titled “Psychiatric Views on the Daily News” and a weekly video, “Psychiatry & Society,” since the COVID-19 pandemic emerged. He was chosen to receive the 2024 Abraham Halpern Humanitarian Award from the American Association for Social Psychiatry. Previously, he received the Administrative Award in 2016 from the American Psychiatric Association, the one-time designation of being a Hero of Public Psychiatry from the Speaker of the Assembly of the APA in 2002, and the Exemplary Psychiatrist Award from the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill in 1991. He is an advocate and activist for mental health issues related to climate instability, physician burnout, and xenophobia. He is now editing the final book in a 4-volume series on religions and psychiatry for Springer: Islamophobia, anti-Semitism, Christianity, and now The Eastern Religions, and Spirituality. He serves on the Editorial Board of Psychiatric Times.

References

1. Baker G. 'He likes family': Trump defends running mate's cat lady slur. BBC News. July 29, 2024. Accessed September 13, 2024. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/crg50ven1qeo

2. Ronstadt L. A Statement From Linda Ronstadt. Instagram. September 11, 2024. Accessed September 13, 2024. https://www.instagram.com/p/C_zE5anv8UO/?img_index=1

3. Hassan S. The Cult of Trump. The Free Press; 2020.