Tech obsessions and cat identities

[Josh]

My daughter's story from school was a paper yearbook, no internet access was needed, and texting selfies (or even more inappropriate things) is still very much a thing on flip phones.

There seems to be a principle issue with photography, but I wouldn't say I have it figured out yet.

I just found out this morning that its a "thing" for high school girls to dress up and act like a cat. And the schools can't do anything about it... yet. Apparently last school term it really gained traction in some high schools.

My daughter who teaches in a public middle school has apparently seen none of this, she thinks it is likely a spoof to get a rise out of the adults. Like none of us has ever done this?

Believe it or not, this is actually a real thing, albeit not terribly common (yet).

[Ken]

I just found out this morning that its a "thing" for high school girls to dress up and act like a cat. And the schools can't do anything about it... yet. Apparently last school term it really gained traction in some high schools.

My daughter who teaches in a public middle school has apparently seen none of this, she thinks it is likely a spoof to get a rise out of the adults. Like none of us has ever done this?

Believe it or not, this is actually a real thing, albeit not terribly common (yet).

Yeah, we have that around here. They are even recruiting toddlers. The horror! Sheeh.

[Neto]

I just found out this morning that its a "thing" for high school girls to dress up and act like a cat. And the schools can't do anything about it... yet. Apparently last school term it really gained traction in some high schools.

My daughter who teaches in a public middle school has apparently seen none of this, she thinks it is likely a spoof to get a rise out of the adults. Like none of us has ever done this?

Believe it or not, this is actually a real thing, albeit not terribly common (yet).

It's very real for this young woman I mentioned. And I think she did this name change already at least around 10 years ago. (She is now 31 years old.)

[Judas Maccabeus]

I just found out this morning that its a "thing" for high school girls to dress up and act like a cat. And the schools can't do anything about it... yet. Apparently last school term it really gained traction in some high schools.

My daughter who teaches in a public middle school has apparently seen none of this, she thinks it is likely a spoof to get a rise out of the adults. Like none of us has ever done this?

Apparently its something many of our local high schools are dealing with. Its like a gender... they identify as cats.

Somehow, I think they are poking fun at adults.

[Josh]

My daughter who teaches in a public middle school has apparently seen none of this, she thinks it is likely a spoof to get a rise out of the adults. Like none of us has ever done this?

Apparently its something many of our local high schools are dealing with. Its like a gender... they identify as cats.

Somehow, I think they are poking fun at adults.

You’re a bit out of touch with youth these days. It isn’t poking fun at adults.

[Judas Maccabeus]

Apparently its something many of our local high schools are dealing with. Its like a gender... they identify as cats.

Somehow, I think they are poking fun at adults.

You’re a bit out of touch with youth these days. It isn’t poking fun at adults.

A little less out of touch than you think. I have 2 daughters that are not members of a Mennonite church, one is a teacher.

[Neto]

Somehow, I think they are poking fun at adults.

You’re a bit out of touch with youth these days. It isn’t poking fun at adults.

A little less out of touch than you think. I have 2 daughters that are not members of a Mennonite church, one is a teacher.

I suppose a lot of the teenagers may be just stirring the pot, so to speak, but for a young adult to legally change her name to a "cat name" is more than just trying to get a rise out of the adults in her life. (Actually, I'm pretty sure she is still living with her parents, because she is not emotionally stable.)

[Judas Maccabeus]

You’re a bit out of touch with youth these days. It isn’t poking fun at adults.

A little less out of touch than you think. I have 2 daughters that are not members of a Mennonite church, one is a teacher.

I suppose a lot of the teenagers may be just stirring the pot, so to speak, but for a young adult to legally change her name to a "cat name" is more than just trying to get a rise out of the adults in her life. (Actually, I'm pretty sure she is still living with her parents, because she is not emotionally stable.)

This gal clearly needs help! Some of them just want attention.

[temporal1]

A little less out of touch than you think. I have 2 daughters that are not members of a Mennonite church, one is a teacher.

I suppose a lot of the teenagers may be just stirring the pot, so to speak, but for a young adult to legally change her name to a "cat name" is more than just trying to get a rise out of the adults in her life. (Actually, I'm pretty sure she is still living with her parents, because she is not emotionally stable.)

This gal clearly needs help! Some of them just want attention.

From what i gather, many view it (the furries phenom) as the next step following (as discussed in this thread) “Gender confusion” viewtopic.php?f=24&t=4689

It’s encouraging to read you don’t always discount others’ observations out of hand.

[Ken]

From what i gather, many view it (the furries phenom) as the next step following (as discussed in this thread) “Gender confusion” viewtopic.php?f=24&t=4689

It’s encouraging to read you don’t always discount others’ observations out of hand.

People live out all kinds of fantasy lives in their spare time.

Some people dress up like Civil War soldiers and spend all their spare time re-enacting Civil War battles. They get obsessive down to the last detail and spend their lives perfecting their Civil War kit and persona and traveling around to re-enactments at various Civil War battlefields. And there are those who do the same thing at European World War 2 battlefields.

Some people some people do the same thing but along the lines of cowboys and Indians themes, or “mountain men” and spend their weekends camping out at traditional rendezvous where they mess around with their muzzle loading muskets and archery skills or building log cabins with axes.

Some people get serious about Renaissance Fairs and spend their spare time perfecting their Renaissance gowns and Renaissance music, brewing mead and so forth.

Some people are into Medieval warfare and spend their time dressing up in padded armor and battling each other with wooden swords and shields. Or the various Asian martial arts versions like Kendo, Aikido, Karate, etc.

Some people are into trains and spend all their spare time building elaborate historically accurate model railroads perfect down to the last detail and then spend their time imagining that they are driving old fashioned steam locomotives around.

Some people spend all their spare time dressing up like cowboys and messing around with horses doing trail riding in authentic 19th century cowboy garb complete with chaps, spurs, etc. And they even ride their horses to ‘Cowboy Churches’ on Sundays.

Some people dress up like they are Tour de France riders and spend their time riding around on expensive bikes pretending that they are professional road cyclists. Or sillier still, pretend they are in actual road races on their Peletons as they race against imaginary riders on their big screens.

Some people spend their every free moment creating elaborate Japanese or English garden paradises in their back yards and find their satisfaction that way.

Some people create elaborate online worlds and personas in multi-player games like Sims or Minecraft and other newer ones I’m not familiar with.

And yes, some people like pretending they are living in a cat world and like dressing up like cats and other furry creatures. There are dozens and dozens of warrior cat books written for young adults that are more or less the cat version of Watership Down and probably anime and manga devoted to this stuff.

I have a hard time getting particularly concerned about any of it. As long as you are meeting your other adult responsibilities I don’t think it matters all that much how you spend your free time and what kind of imaginary worlds you might enjoy living in. That comes with living in a free society and a society wealthy enough for people to have elaborate hobbies. I like building boats and sailing. And I read a LOT of books about sailing, ocean exploration, and marine science. My wife likes building model villages and creates the most elaborate Christmas village displays every year. And I have a brother who has spent all his spare time over the past two years carefully restoring a 40 year old traditional British motorsailer that was brought around from the North Sea to Alaska. And another brother who spends most of his spare time playing the banjo in various bluegrass bands.

If some kids or adults like dressing up as cats I find myself utterly unconcerned. There are so many actual human pathologies to be more concerned about from substance abuse, sexual addictions and infidelity, abusive relationships and abusive parents, toxic abusive bosses, criminals, deliberately homeless, mentally ill, etc, etc etc.