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02-27-2022, 06:46 PM
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#11
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Newborn Pup
Join Date: Mar 2021
Posts: 30
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Re: Real men don't keep hamsters
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lilafernim
I don’t like to make presumptions about people when I’m not entirely clear on the topic but I study psychology and one thing we’ve been looking into recently is gender differences. Obviously I know nowadays there’s men, women and everything inbetween but normally there are biological differences between sexes. Those who are transgender often have brain structures similar to that of the gender they feel they identify as so we can be pretty certain there are differences.
What’s normally assumed is women normally end up being ‘people’ oriented and more emotional, and men tend to like ‘things’. When looking at studying psychology around 80% of the students are female, whereas on 12% of engineers are female. It’s why STEM came out to encourage more females into the field.
Obviously when hormones are considered again women are more sympathetic towards things and tend to be more caring towards animals. But I don’t like saying that men don’t have hamsters as such. I have a hamster and my partner always says he can’t hold her for too long because he loves her so much he has to grit his teeth. He loves all our pets but I think men do tend to like animals they can be a little rougher with normally like dogs.
He has a cat and constantly refers to her as a panther. She’s actually scared of everything lol but she is our mini panther. But I don’t know if I wasn’t with him if he would have a hamster of his own.
And like Serendipity said it could also be a camera thing, and relating back to the ‘people’ and ‘things’ a guy might be more likely to post his car than his pets. Also, just how society is women are allowed to melt over animals, and I know things are much more equal now, but I think a lot of men still feel they’d be seen as weak to see an animal as cute. Men tend hide their personal lives whereas women are more open to be emotional.
Like I said at the start I don’t like to make presumptions on topics I don’t know 100% but there may be a difference. Also, some men are more feminine and some women are more masculine so if there is a difference it may just be coincidental or be due to differences in lifestyle or something instead.
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This is true, there are biological and physiological differences. Most hamster owners are female. Let's face it, most women like things that are cute and cuddly and hamsters are that. While most men want a companion animal to follow them around, like a dog.
Denying biological differences is pointless, they are what they are. In places like Sweden where the sexes are as equal as they have ever been in history, women lean into more feminine jobs even more so than anywhere else.
People will choose and be drawn toward things that they are biologically prone toward (not always but generally, based on temperament). STEM programs, be darned.
That said my hubby likes our hammies but he would choose a dog over hammies any day of the week lol
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02-27-2022, 08:56 PM
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#12
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Newborn Pup
Join Date: Feb 2022
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 4
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Re: Real men don't keep hamsters
i'm male and own a hamster called gizmo shes cute but likes to bite lol
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02-27-2022, 09:19 PM
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#13
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Hamster Overlord
Join Date: Jun 2019
Location: London
Posts: 763
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Re: Real men don't keep hamsters
Women are overrepresented in all the mammal pet communities. Fish and especially reptile communities are skewed more towards men. I think that might be because people tend to have different reasons for keeping mammals vs reptiles or fish. Mammals are more often kept for companionship and something to care for, whereas reptiles and fish can be more something to keep or collect or display. That might come back to what lilafernim says about men being more drawn to "things" (not that they necessarily see reptiles or fish as things, but more subconsciously).
I think it is quite rare for single men to own hamsters as their own pets but it's common for couples to own hamsters and both be involved with them. It's probably the case that it just rarely occurs to a man to get a hamster as a pet but if one is already in the family they find they like it more than they expected.
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02-28-2022, 05:34 AM
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#14
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Hamster Antics
Join Date: Sep 2014
Posts: 23,533
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Re: Real men don't keep hamsters
"It's probably the case that it just rarely occurs to a man to get a hamster as a pet but if one is already in the family they find they like it more than they expected. "
I think that's true - if other family members have had one and they get to know how great hamsters are!
Maybe we should ask some of the male members I think for many it is a case of only a caged pet being possible in a small living area.
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02-28-2022, 08:20 AM
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#15
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Newborn Pup
Join Date: Mar 2021
Posts: 30
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Re: Real men don't keep hamsters
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chesterspal
I get the impression there are not a lot of men who own hamsters.
All the videos I've seen are with young ladies.
Is this the case and why is that?
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I personally think this is mostly because hamsters are marketed as children's pets in the US. I don't even find that many adults that care for hamsters, let alone men. It's pretty far and few between.
I personally would never own any reptiles or snakes, so I can get why guys may not be as interested in cute fluffy things.
Although, the person I adopted my dear Cordelia from was a guy! So there was at least one adult man who had a hamster in MA. =)
I would love to find more adults that are interested in hamster ownership, in general.
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02-28-2022, 09:28 AM
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#16
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Hamster Pup
Join Date: Feb 2022
Location: USA
Posts: 126
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Re: Real men don't keep hamsters
My sister and I had hamsters as children. Actually, we had two at a time in the same enclosure and never had any issues. Never knew they needed to be raised separately.
We were both very interested in animals in general. Our parents took us to the petting zoo at a young age so we learned to appreciate and respect animals of all kinds.
Now, with us both in our 60's she has four dogs and is very involved, as a volunteer, with the local animal shelter where she lives in New Mexico. She produces videos so they can get the animals adopted quicker. It works!
I, as a single man, have always had a dog and, now, also a cat and together they have become best buds.
The hamster is just the newest addition.
My feeling is, unless children are introduced to animals at a very young age they may not be as inclined to want them later on in life.
BTW: in case you're wondering, the hamster can care less about the cat and pays no attention to him. Bingo, has gotten use to having the hamster around, as well. Chester, the dog, is clueless to the whole deal.
Such is our life together
Last edited by Chesterspal; 02-28-2022 at 11:23 AM.
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02-28-2022, 02:47 PM
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#17
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Hamster Antics
Join Date: Sep 2014
Posts: 23,533
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Re: Real men don't keep hamsters
That sounds good. Although be careful with the cat! Hamsters can feel quite stressed with cat around and cats can pull cages down when you're not looking. It's their instinct to seek prey. And hamsters are prey animals.
For a long time on here there were people who had them as therapy pets, and one lady who used her hamster as a therapy pet for clients.
In my case they are the only pet I have found I am not allergic too - which is brilliant - being able to hold a furry animal. Our first one was for my stepson when he was 6 but I absolutely fell for him and have had quite a few since then. They really do communicate when you get to know them.
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02-28-2022, 02:47 PM
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#18
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Hamster Antics
Join Date: Sep 2014
Posts: 23,533
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Re: Real men don't keep hamsters
[QUOTE=I would love to find more adults that are interested in hamster ownership, in general.[/QUOTE]
You'll find plenty on here!
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02-28-2022, 04:09 PM
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#19
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PM Fluffy for custom title
Join Date: Mar 2016
Posts: 4,545
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Re: Real men don't keep hamsters
Quote:
Originally Posted by Serendipity7000
That sounds good. Although be careful with the cat! Hamsters can feel quite stressed with cat around and cats can pull cages down when you're not looking. It's their instinct to seek prey. And hamsters are prey animals.
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Agree with this 100% - it's just not remotely safe to allow cats or any other predatory pet like that(including dogs & ferrets for example) to be in the same room as prey animals like hamsters!
Even if you don't see obvious signs of stress, that is something inherent to their very nature, and it impacts both animals involved whether predator or prey(although it's arguably worse for prey animals and can even be potentially lethal).
No matter how sweet, indifferent, etc a cat or other predator seems, you can't remove their biological nature. I know from personal experience just how quickly and easily an incredibly sweet cat can turn utterly vicious with prey, and it's not pleasant to say the least.
As far as hamsters being viewed as children's pets in the US, that definitely seems to be the case in my experience. They're unfortunately not really taken seriously from what I've found, and we seem to be particularly awful about mass producing "cages" that are glorified toys for example!
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