Thread: Can cats smile?
View Single Post
  #1  
Old May 4th 05, 01:59 AM
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Can cats smile?

Hi everyone.

I think if any of you own cats, you are probably familiar with the way
your kitty blinks her eyes slowly at you when she is happy. Lots of
people call this a 'cat-smile'.

I've tried to add this information to wikipedia, an online encyclopedia
(can you believe that it wasn't there yet??). I included a picture of
my kitty (Jellybean) smiling to show people who don't own cats what a
'cat-smile' looks like --- lots of people who don't own cats are
unfortunately quite ignorant of cat behavior, and are quick to jump to
conclusions that cats are expressionless, boring, dull, etc. You can
see a picture of my Jellybean at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Jellybean.jpg.

Unfortunately, my edits are not being allowed on wikipedia because of a
couple of really outspoken people who (1.) refuse to believe that cats
can smile (or even that animal behaviorists recognize this slow blink
as a sign of contentment in cats), and (2.) are absolutely opposed to
the picture because it happens to be my cat.

As you can see, the picture is a little washed out. I have already
offered to post another, higher quality picture, in the case that they
don't like this one, but these two or three people are just totally
unreasonable, and won't budge.

After all, since wikipedia is a free online encyclopedia, *all* of its
pictures are submitted by people. Those cats have to belong to
somebody! If it is I who has added the material on the cat-smile,
should I not be allowed to post a picture of my cat smiling?

I could *really* use your help... There is a discussion page where you
can voice your opinion. Currently, I am virtually alone against two or
three totally unreasonable jerks. Go to
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?...at&action=edit and
scroll the box all the way down to the bottom. Put your comments
there, right above the line that says "==balance==", and don't forget
to click the "Save Page" button.

Thanks so much for your help!!