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“My Dog's Just Like Me”: Dog Ownership as a Gender Display
Author(s) -
Ramirez Michael
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
symbolic interaction
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.874
H-Index - 47
eISSN - 1533-8665
pISSN - 0195-6086
DOI - 10.1525/si.2006.29.3.373
Subject(s) - personality psychology , power (physics) , psychology , social psychology , gender studies , sociology , personality , physics , quantum mechanics
Based on interviews with twenty‐six dog owners in northeast Georgia, this article examines how people rely on gender norms to organize their relationships with their dogs. Owners use gender norms to (1) select what they consider to be suitable dogs, (2) describe their dogs' behaviors and personalities, and (3) use their dogs as props to display their own gender identities. Although these findings are specific to dog owners, they suggest ways individuals may attempt to display gender in other relationships characterized by a power imbalance.