The Sociological Significance of Pigeons

• In Event: Gender

Abstract

Pigeons occupy a very unique, and I believe significant space in our social world. As a bird it is expected to conform to certain pre-existing categorizations, some of which include: Residing in a natural habitat removed from our own, chirping daintily, presenting themselves infrequently for viewing through binoculars, existing in small numbers, and as our popular colloquialism illustrates “eating like a bird” (meaning of course a diet comprised mostly of grains, twigs and berries). So how does our relationship to a species of birds change when they exist in our urban environment, flapping about rambunctiously in large numbers, defecating all over our cherished public spaces, and eating large amounts of fast-food trash? The purpose of this paper is to show how negative attitudes towards Pigeons can be used as a lens through which to explore our negative societal feelings towards categorical transgression, and specifically gender role non-conformity. Just as the field of gender has the “Act Like a Man” and “Act Like a Lady” boxes I believe a similar phenomena happens in our relationships with animals. Pigeons are forced into the Act Like a Bird box I’ve briefly described above, and when they (or any other bird species) begin to exist outside of that box they are met with hostility on all fronts. This bears startling similarity to the social spurning a person creeping out of their own gender expectation box faces when rejecting conformity to various degrees. Through social and historical perspectives on our relationship with the Pigeon in the USA and careful examination of relevant literature on prejudice in the fields of Gender and Human Animal Studies I intend to show that we can make wonderful use of the plight of the Pigeon as a metaphor with which to gain greater insight into our societal attitudes towards categorical transgression, and more specifically gender role deviation.

Author

• Austin T. Monson, Midwestern State University