你更喜歡公狗還是母狗？「性別偏見」對汪星人的影響

人們對狗狗的性別偏見，對人寵關係有何影響？

註：為方便具有英文閱讀習慣和需求的讀者，我們在譯文發表的同時，附上了英文原文。在部分譯文的處理上，我們進行了二次編輯，以求更接地氣、更容易理解的表達，因此並非所有譯文都和英文原文100%對應。原文鏈接可在文末找到，提醒有需要的讀者留意。

The relationship between people and their dogs can be a lasting and loving bond if the match is right. But when acquiring a dog, how do you know if that match will be a good one?

只有主人和狗狗互相適合，人類和汪星人的關係才會長久、充滿愛。那麼，選擇新狗狗的時候，怎麼才能知道自己和那個它合不合適呢？

Research shows there is a difference in the way some dogs react to men and women, and it can also matter if the dog is a he or a she.

研究表明，狗狗對待男人和女人的方式是有所不同的，而公汪和母汪對待人的方式有時也會不同。

The challenge lies in understanding the interactions of dogs with humans. And part of that challenge can be influenced by gender stereotypes of both humans and dogs.

性別為什麼會影響人狗之間的互動呢？人類對這一點的理解尚未透徹；更糟的是，我們對於人和狗的性別成見，都會在一定程度上妨礙我們形成正確的理解。

This shows why matching dogs to people is far more complicated than we might predict.

所以，給鏟屎官和汪星人牽線，比我們想像中困難得多。

Humans & Dogs: a Long History人類和汪星人：悠久的友誼

Humans have been co-evolving with dogs for thousands of years. We owe them a lot, including(perhaps surprisingly)the ways in which we experience and expressgender via animals.

幾千年來，人類都在和汪星人一起成長，一起進化。它們，乃至廣大的動物團體，都對人類的思想文化影響很大。

比如說，我們會通過動物來體會和表達自己對性別的理解（這一點也許會讓一些人感到驚訝）。

This often happens in negative ways, such as when women are referred to as bitches, cows, pigs, birds, chicks and men as wolves, pigs, rats. None of these animal metaphors have much to do with the animals themselves but more to do with how we use categories of animals to categorise humans.

但是，這方面的理解經常帶有歧視意味。舉個例子：中國人可能會用 「蛇蠍心腸」 來形容女人，用 「狼心狗肺」 來形容男人。而歪果仁也一樣：他們有時候會把女人稱為母狗、牛、豬、鳥、小雞，把男人稱作狼、豬、鼠……

雞犬們紛紛表示冤枉！

當然，這些動物的名字成為歧視性比喻，和動物本身並沒有多大關係。我們使用這類稱呼，其實是在用我們對動物的成見對人進行分類。

So unpacking and challenging gender stereotypes might just also improve the lives of animals too.

因此，卸下性別成見的枷鎖，不僅能幫到人類，或許還能幫助動物們過上更好的生活。

A 2006landmark analysisof gender and dog ownership revealed that owners use their dogs as props to display their own gender identities.

一項 2006 年澳大利亞的里程碑式研究發現，養犬者會把狗狗當成道具，並利用它們來展示自己的性別身份。

Participants in this study considered female dogs to be less aggressive but more moody than apparently more playful male dogs. They used gender stereotypes not only to select dogs, but also to describe and predict their dog"s behaviour and personality.

這項研究的參與者認為，母狗攻擊性較低、比公狗更情緒化，而公狗則比母狗更貪玩。此外，參與者在選擇寵物狗以及描述和預測狗狗的行為和性格時，都會受到性別成見的影響。

The potential ramifications of this are important because such flawed predictions about dog behaviour can lead to a person giving up on their dog, which is then surrendered to a shelter.

但是，性別成見可能會給狗狗帶來嚴重後果：如果狗主人出於成見而錯誤地預測狗狗的行為，狗主人可能會因此而把狗狗遺棄……

而此時它們的命運，也只有被送交收容所。

Once surrendered, an aggressive bitch or uncooperative dog faces a grim future, with most dogs who fail a behavioural assessment being killed, adding to the troublingeuthanasia ratesin Australia.

一到了收容所，有攻擊性的母狗或者不樂意配合的狗狗前途便會更灰暗，因為大部分行為測試不合格的狗狗會被安樂掉。在澳大利亞，這種現象導致動物安樂死率持續增加，實在令人不安。

That said, the predictive power of behaviour assessment in shelters is being questioned. Some say the ability of such assessments to reliably predict problematic behaviours in future adoptive homes is "vanishingly unlikely". Moreover, the assessments are likely to be informed by the gendered expectations and behaviours of the humans who assess, surrender or adopt.

至於這樣的行為測試準不準，目前仍有待商榷。一些學者表示，這種測試 「極不可能」 準確地預測狗狗被收養後是否表現出問題行為。更何況，狗狗的評估員、遺棄者和收養者的性別成見和行為，都會影響測試標準。

Asmall studyin the UK in 1999 observed 30 dogs in shelters when approached by unfamiliar men and women. It found that the female dogs spent less time looking towards all the humans than the male dogs did.

1999 年在英國進行的一項小型研究觀察了 30 只收容所狗狗被陌生男女接近時的反應。研究發現，母狗望著所有人的時間比公狗要短。

All the dogs barked at and looked towards the women less than the men, which the researchers suggest shows that gender of the potential adopter plays a role in determining what a good match might look like, as well as the likelihood of adoption.

此外，所有狗狗望著女人、對女人汪汪叫的時間都比對男人短。研究者認為，這個結果可能意味著，收養者的性別不僅能決定一個人和一隻狗是不是好的搭配，也能決定狗狗被收養的可能性。

Even the bond that dogs share with their primary care-giver may have gender differences. For example, in a 2008 Australian study,dog owners reportedthat male dogs showed elevated levels of separation-related distress compared to female dogs. They also reported that separation-related distress and food-related aggression increased with the number of human adult females in the household.

就連狗狗和主要照顧者之間的關係，也會根據人汪雙方的性別而有所差異。比如，2008 年在澳大利亞進行的一項調查便指出，和主人分離時，公汪會比母汪表達更多的離別焦慮。這份研究也稱，家中的女性成人越多，狗狗的離別焦慮和與食物相關的侵略性表現也會越多。

Desexing, which is more than justified by the animal welfare benefits of population control, also complicates cultural beliefs about appropriate dog gender and may even influence a dog"s problem-solving behaviour. Arecent study published this yearsuggests that desexing may have a more negative effect on female than male dogs when it comes to aspects of cognition.

此外，有些寵物主人也會為狗狗進行絕育。進行絕育能幫助控制犬只數量，從而有利於動物福利，所以絕對是合情合理的做法。但是，絕育不僅會影響人們對一隻狗的 「正確性別」 的文化成見，還會影響狗狗解決問題的行為。今年發表的一項研究指出，絕育對母狗智力的負面影響，可能比公狗來得大。

Astudy published last month, that focused solely on working sheepdogs and their handlers (and so may have limited relevance to domestic companion dogs), is the first report of behavioural differences related to gender difference in both dogs and humans.

上個月發表的一項研究，首次報告了人狗性別差異和行為差異之間的關聯。但是，由於這項研究只針對工作牧羊犬和其管理者，其研究結果可能不適用於寵物犬。

Gender Stereotypes性格成見與汪之幸福

These studies underline just how much the lives of dogs depend upon how they conform to gender expectations. In other words, it"s not just how we humans interact with dogs that matters, it"s how our genders interact as well.

這些研究都表明：狗狗的生活質量，很大程度上取決於它們符合人類性別成見的程度。換句話說，汪星人的幸福，不僅取決於人類和狗狗之間的互動，也取決於人狗雙方各自的性別之間的互動。

While we know how damaging stereotypes can be for humans, dog owners may not consider just how their conceptual baggage of gender stereotypes affects the animals they live with.

我們都知道，成見會對他人造成傷害。但是鏟屎官們未必知道，性別成見會形成包袱，是會影響同住他們屋檐下的動物的。

More research can help to shed light on the role that gender plays when it comes to making a good match between humans and their dogs; and by good match, we mean one that will result in a decrease in the likelihood of the dog being surrendered to a shelter or treated badly.

如果要深入了解性別和人狗匹配度的關係，我們還需要更多的研究。這一點非常重要，因為如果人狗相互匹配，這隻狗被送入收容所或者不被善待的可能性就會降低。

The take-home message from these studies is that, to be truly successful mutual companions, dogs don"t need just any human, they need a complimentary human who is open to reflecting critically on gender stereotypes.

歸根結底，這些研究的重點就是：假如要舒舒服服地彼此陪伴，就不能隨便為狗狗找一個人；狗狗需要的是一個與它匹配的人。

而這個人，也必須能夠帶著批判性態度反省自己的性別成見。

Thanks partly to an uncritical adoption of gender stereotypes, the matching of dog and human is currently rudimentary at best. So we should not be surprised if dogs often fail to meet our expectations.

但現在，這方面的批判性思維還是缺失的。人類毫不過問地就採取性別成見，已在一定程度上導致人狗之間的配對過程變得挺粗糙的。所以說，如果狗狗的表現沒能符合養育者的期待，也沒什麼奇怪的。

When relationships go wrong, it"s catastrophic for dogs, because it contributes to euthanasia rates in shelters. These deaths need to be better understood as a broader failure of human understanding about how their own beliefs and behaviour affect the dogs in their lives.

家養汪星人的生活往往是圍繞著人類打轉。所以，當人與狗的關係惡化的時候，這對狗狗來說便是災難性的，因為更多狗狗會因此而被遺棄在收容所，甚至遭到安樂死。

或者應該更正確地說：正是因為人們在更大層面上誤解了自己的想法和行為對身邊狗狗的影響，才會導致那麼多無辜狗狗的死。

所以，別再冤枉狗狗了！不管男汪女汪，也都可以是好狗狗！

你的讚賞是我堅持原創的動力