Do Animals know the Difference between a Female & Male Human ?

[girlsearching]

I just want to know if say for example if a guy owned a cat does the cat know that their owner is a male too. ? Do Animals sense if their owners are one gender or the other. I think they can know by voice type or smell what are your opinions .?

[knightofalbion]

Yes. Just body scent alone is enough.
We humans don't appreciate the role the sense of smell plays in an animal's life

[knightofalbion]

And they probably know what you're thinking too ....

[sarek]

Its been tested in Dutch research that mice are more scared of men than they are of women, so they at least can clearly distinguish.

[linen53]

I have a dog, or should I say my husband has a dog. It is a he. He is very rude and male chauvinistic towards females and loves hanging around men.

He goosed one of my female friends in the butt with his nose once and turned and walked away and another time went up to another female friends' water bottle, hoisted his leg and peed on it.

He doesn't like me and I don't like him.

His karma? I have two female Maremma livestock guardian dogs who rule him.

So yes, at least this dog knows the difference.

[girlsearching]

Originally Posted by knightofalbion

Yes. Just body scent alone is enough.
We humans don't appreciate the role the sense of smell plays in an animal's life

Thanks knightofalbion we could learn a lot from animals. but we as humans have this superiority complex were we think we are above them. I have always found when animals of different species interacting with each other to be beautiful I watch on Animal Planet and National Geographic about friendships being made with animals.

[girlsearching]

Originally Posted by sarek

Its been tested in Dutch research that mice are more scared of men than they are of women, so they at least can clearly distinguish.

Wow that's interesting seeing as though women sure don't like mice all that much lol. EEK EEK it's a mouse.

Originally Posted by linen53

I have a dog, or should I say my husband has a dog. It is a he. He is very rude and male chauvinistic towards females and loves hanging around men.

He goosed one of my female friends in the butt with his nose once and turned and walked away and another time went up to another female friends' water bottle, hoisted his leg and peed on it.

He doesn't like me and I don't like him.

His karma? I have two female Maremma livestock guardian dogs who rule him.

So yes, at least this dog knows the difference.

Thats one rude dog. Sounds like a male politician in dogs shape.

[linen53]

I have never seen or had a dog like him before. We got him when he was 2 years old. He was a rescue and I picked him out! But that's okay my husband adores him.

I'm not quite sure ; sex and gender are both very complicated things. Gender identity is what someone identifies as ; their gender expression, their qualities, who they associate with, and their preferred pronouns. Gender includes man, woman, and a large umbrella of genderqueer identities. Animals can observe the "typical" behaviours of gender within the binary, but genderqueer individuals aren't likely to be identified by animals.

Sex is biological sex..it's determined by your genitalia,my our reproductive system and your chromosomes and maybe hormones. However, some people are both with ambiguous genitalia resulting in a term called "intersex". It's very possible to have male genitalia, but female chromosomes, or female genitalia with male organs inside. You might even have the wrong sex ; unless you've gotten chromosome tests, it's impossible to know. Sex is a very complicated thing, but I feel as if animals can distinguish between the main sexes using pheromones.

Sorry for getting all technical ; I just think gender and sex are too commonly interchanged, and many people aren't aware of how complicated they both are.