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A question of dogs and babies
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So cute or too cute, take your choice...
It wasn't W.C. Fields who said: "Any man who hates babies and dogs can't be all bad." According to The Quote Verifier by Ralph Keyes, Leo Rosten said it about W.C. Fields. But if the quotation's origins became obscure over time, the sentiment is delightfully unequivocal. Also completely male. Such a thought would never cross the female mind. To the extent that most men consider babies and dogs at all, it's most likely as loud and/or messy irritants. Dogs are what your neighbors fail to clean up after on the local sidewalks. Babies are what you avoid sitting next to on airplanes. For women both are either "so cute" or "too cute."
It was the admittedly dubiously male E. F. Benson character George Pillson who remarked with distaste that, "children are so sticky. Especially at tea time." Where men run from the sound of a screeching baby, women instinctively try to comfort it. Where the average man might be induced to absent-mindedly pat a perfectly groomed canine, any dog, no matter how smelly or ill-tempered, is always deserving of a cuddle where a woman is concerned.
Even for men well-disposed to dogs and babies, their interest is likely to be limited. They will tend to the creatures' needs conscientiously, walking and feeding and cleaning as required. They well even dispense affection freely, in measured doses anyway. But when the conversation turns to the chubby-limbed or the four-legged, a man's eyes tend to glaze over. He is incapable of appreciating the subtler aspects of an infant's cuteness; a woman can discuss the topic for hours on end. A man quickly runs out of words trying to dissect every last detail of a dog's appeal. Women can while away an evening marveling at fluffy fur, wistful eyes, winning mannerisms, funny little ways.
Why this should be is hard to say. Most likely it is a demonstration of essential female superiority. The sight of a helpless infant or pet causes man at some atavistic level to doubt his own strength and independence. The sickroom has a similar effect. A woman by contrast is moved instinctively to love and nurture. The wise man will simply accept this, and not only never quote Leo Rosten on W.C. Fields but forget entirely that the sentiment was ever expressed.
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