For JSTOR Daily, Natalie Kinkade traced the history of cats and their involvement in American presidential elections, through a series of sexist political postcards. There’s a lot to go through here but I found this excerpt—from the modern day—interesting in its own way:
When JD Vance questioned why a childless person would want to be a teacher or a leader, infamously calling Kamala Harris and her ilk “miserable” and “childless cat ladies,” he was invoking old, sexist stereotypes. The Harris campaign responded by selling “childless cat lady” merch. This tactic of reclaiming an insult and turning it into a badge of honor also has rich historical precedent.
JD Vance’s rhetoric is disgusting but unsurprising. Kamala Harris’s repackaging of someone else’s work in the form of merch and her own rhetoric (see also: the Brat Summer stuff) is also unsurprising. I just wish cats weren’t used as political pawns in all this mess, and that it wasn’t so historical. Leave those cats in peace!