"EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque)" wrote:

Christina Websell wrote:

Yes, cats have no idea what their name might mean. Would you call
either of your girls something like "Big Tits" or the C word?

No, but I wouldn't insist that such names were insulting to
the cats - who couldn't care less, even if they understood
the meanings of the terms. (Considering the behavior intact
cats exhibit when in heat, they would probably heartily
endorse such names, if they DID understand!)

LOL, that's funny. I'm sure you're right. Non-humans don't share our
prudish attitudes about the body, do they?

That said, I admit that it would make me sad to see a cat named something
that is insulting in our culture. I would *feel* like I'm insulting the
cat whenever I said its name. Which is probably what Tweed has been getting
at all along.

However, I think it's important not to confuse one's own emotional
reactions from the reality of the situation. If it made me unhappy to
give a cat an insulting name (insulting from my perspective), then I
wouldn't do it. But that doesn't mean it's morally wrong to do it, if
someone else chose to do so. I mean, what if I wanted to make a positive
statement about the body part in question by naming my cat after it?
Would that be insulting to the cat? Intention is important, too.

For that reason, if someone I didn't know were to name their cat, say,
"Sh*thead", I would be alert to potential animal abuse or neglect, as such
a name *might* (I emphasize "might", because it might not) indicate a
nasty attitude toward the cat. I would be far more concerned about that
than about the name itself.

I guess what I'm saying is that just because something might *feel* wrong,
that doesn't mean it *is* wrong.

What a weird thread. But I like it.

Joyce