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Is there generally a difference in personality between the sexes like with humans?
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Are Male Kittens And/or Cats More Active And Aggressive Than Females?
- Thread starter 10009891
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I don't really see a difference between male and female. I currently have two males and a female. One male is definitely more hyperactive but the female is right behind him and the other male is the most laid back of the three. I think you may start to see a difference if you don't spay or neuter as they get older.
Honestly, I have worked with kids as young as 18 months for many years in childcare and sports. There really is not a behavioral difference by gender. In families where the parents don't enforce gender norms and expectations that is. I have found that when a family says, "he is such a boy" to explain acting out you end up with boys who act out more while the parents shrug their shoulders. Little girls who dress up, mimicking Mom usually, will start to mimic other "girly" traits and get praise for it too. Like overreacting to dirt or bugs. In reality I don't even think there is a gender based behavioral difference in humans. TBH the hormones that would be to blame for those difference that can exist are primarily related to child rearing and procreation and don't really impact until puberty. Anything else you see as a gender difference is reinforcement of societal expectations and culture.
So.... If you expect to see gender based differences in your cats you will see them. You will subconsciously attribute specific behaviors to being a boy or being a girl. Which isn't to say that is a wrong behavior or the conclusions are wrong. I know some people will disagree and say that boys do this or girls do that. That torties are known for being moody and girls are sassy and orange males are sweet hearts. Humans want to generalize things by nature which includes gender traits and roles along with humanizing pets. I fully acknowledge that I do it too, despite logically knowing there isn't much difference I prefer males cats. But I still maintain that if you really get down to it there isn't much difference between male and female prior to puberty.
Honestly, I have worked with kids as young as 18 months for many years in childcare and sports. There really is not a behavioral difference by gender. In families where the parents don't enforce gender norms and expectations that is. I have found that when a family says, "he is such a boy" to explain acting out you end up with boys who act out more while the parents shrug their shoulders. Little girls who dress up, mimicking Mom usually, will start to mimic other "girly" traits and get praise for it too. Like overreacting to dirt or bugs. In reality I don't even think there is a gender based behavioral difference in humans. TBH the hormones that would be to blame for those difference that can exist are primarily related to child rearing and procreation and don't really impact until puberty. Anything else you see as a gender difference is reinforcement of societal expectations and culture.
So.... If you expect to see gender based differences in your cats you will see them. You will subconsciously attribute specific behaviors to being a boy or being a girl. Which isn't to say that is a wrong behavior or the conclusions are wrong. I know some people will disagree and say that boys do this or girls do that. That torties are known for being moody and girls are sassy and orange males are sweet hearts. Humans want to generalize things by nature which includes gender traits and roles along with humanizing pets. I fully acknowledge that I do it too, despite logically knowing there isn't much difference I prefer males cats. But I still maintain that if you really get down to it there isn't much difference between male and female prior to puberty.
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I don't think there's much of a difference. It's more the individual personality.
It's a lot of individual personality, breed and the way they are raised. All in all though, after over 50 years of raising a lot of cats, females tend to be more like little divas, they like to rule over the males and keep them in line. Neutered males always were much more loving and more of a lap cat. Two males will play and become buddies, a male and female have more of a mother/son or sibling relationship with the emphasis on the female being standoffish and a princess. That being said, right now I have a tiny little girl that is SO loving and is always on our laps and giving us head butts, it's hard to sit down without her there. So there is always the exception. She WAS hand raised from a two week old kitten, so....? She still slaps her boys around though, and screams loud when they try to play with her!
The only real difference I've noticed is that young female kittens are more apt to help you clean litter boxes than young males are. By "help" I mean get in and dig around while you're scooping. 
