"Childless Cat Lady"

24"x 30"
Oil on canvas
2025

This is the first painting in my NEW series “Childless Cat Ladies”

Artist Statement:
This series is being created in response to Vice President Vance’s remark about our nation being run “by a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable with their lives and choices.” He has plenty to say about women without children—and so do I.

The “cat lady” stereotype has deep roots in history. The independence of cats has mirrored society’s discomfort with independent women since ancient times— a woman who chooses a creature that cannot be fully tamed is presumed to be untameable herself and therefore must be suppressed.

In ancient Egypt, cats embodied femininity and power which was personified in the goddess Bastet. Later, in medieval Europe, cats and the independent women who kept them were branded dangerous or deviant. These women became known as witches. By the 18th century, the “crazy cat lady” trope cemented the idea that a woman’s worth depended on marriage and motherhood.

This series challenges that narrative. Each portrait celebrates strong, fulfilled individuals content in their independence, careers, relationships, and passions. They are not lonely or broken; they are powerful, self-defined, and very much alive.

For fun, I added lions and cheetahs to the mix—because some of us prefer to run with big cats. Let’s all move forward and leave women alone to choose what is right for their own lives. I’m childless by choice, happy with that choice, and, ironically, allergic to cats.

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