Beyond pets: Exploring relational perspectives of petness

Abstract

Considerable work has examined the place of pets in humans' lives, although most of this research takes for granted that pets are certain animals. While these perspectives provide insight into the character of human-nonhuman relationships, the assumptions underlying such research frequently invest in a concept of pets as having essential qualities. This paper explores the possibility that petness, which can generally be defined as the state, quality, or conditions under which a pet is constituted, arises from social relations and the treatment of objects. Using the example of virtual pets I will argue that there is no essential "petness" to anything and that it is a social construct. More specifically, I contend that pets are the product of the investment of human emotion into objects. After outlining how such treatment is not exclusive to the animals that live close to us, but is similarly exhibited toward inanimate entities as well as other sentient creatures, I conclude with some discussion of how pet relations can be understood in the context of late capitalism. © Canadian Journal of Sociology.