Stop drawing eyelashes on animals - by Brooke Barker

SubscribeSign in

Stop drawing eyelashes on animals<br>Stop putting eyelashes on them<br>Brooke Barker<br>Jun 08, 2026

98

19

Share

The world is full of animals, and full of people assuming every animal is male.

I blame cartoons for this. There seems to be an established rule that all characters are male unless if they have eyelashes.<br>So it’s no surprise that when people are exposed to cartoons like this,

They see photos like this and assume they’re all good boys.

You can’t blame them when they call every robin, squirrel, deer, penguin, crow, and worm male. But just because you can’t blame them, doesn’t mean you can’t correct them on their assumption every time. Especially when you know the animal they’re talking about is actually female.<br>Here are five times you can correct someone if you hear them calling an animal male by default. None of these animals are male.

A mosquito that bit you

Do mosquitos love certain people? Maybe, maybe not. But what I don’t love is when someone at a barbecue adds “he already bit me four times.” Male mosquitos don’t bite, no matter how much they like you. Female mosquitos bite you because they need protein found in blood for their eggs. Male mosquitos aren’t strong enough to pierce through human skin. Any mosquito that’s bitten you, ever, has been female.<br>Trust me, people love hearing this when they have mosquito bites.

A honeybee you saw

Here’s another one to make you popular at summer parties! “Why is he hovering near our food?” “Is he going to sting me?” Wrong and wrong. You’re only seeing female honeybees, the males are slave drones and stay in the hive. Wasps, hornets, other types of bees, there’s more variation. But every honeybee that’s hovered near you, or stung you, or been trapped in your car, has been female.

Kangaroos with pouches

I don’t live in Australia, I almost never see kangaroos. But it is wild how many times I see a cartoon kangaroo with a pouch, and the kangaroo’s been given the name Fred or Allan. You can name your cartoon kangaroos whatever you want, I think this is usually the case of a gross oversimplification. Not all animals are male, and not all kangaroos have pouches.

Cows

This is another one that seems easy and yet people do it all the time.

Deep-sea anglerfish

A lot of people who are saying all animals are male are open to clues that an animal might not be. Clues like eyeliner or eyeshadow, like I mentioned earlier, but also more overall hints, like a maternal quality, or an innate femininity. Take the deep-sea anglerfish, with her bioluminescent appendage casting an eerie glow over her slack-jawed tooth-filled mouth. If anyone ever tries to point at a deep sea anglerfish and say “look at this little man” you can tell them that male deep-sea anglerfish are tiny parasitic blobs, who latch onto a female to seep nutrients from her, until eventually the male’s organs and tissue are resorbed into her body.<br>Here’s a goat I drew just because I wanted to.

Do you notice people, or yourself calling animals male? Do you care? Do you make a point not to do it, nor naturally not do it? Or do you speak a language that genders animals in a different way?<br>The night I moved into my apartment in France there was a mouse in my bedroom, and the fact that my housemates were calling the mouse female was more surprising than sharing a room with a mouse. In French all mice are assumed female unless you’re told otherwise. So are all fleas and goats.<br>What animals do you see most often? Lately for us it’s morning doves and rabbits. I’d love to be seeing more crows, raccoons, and kangaroos.<br>Last week I read Anxious People by Fredrik Backman, have you read it? I didn’t love the first half, but I finished it because I’m in a book club that read it, and I loved the second half. The second half made me like the first half too.<br>Boaz gave me David Sedaris’ new book for my birthday, I can’t wait to read it.<br>Thanks for being here, I hope you’re never bitten by a mosquito again and that every bee you see is a honey bee.

98

19

Share

PreviousNext

Discussion about this post<br>CommentsRestacks

Victoria Aronoff

8d

"The males are slave drones" and are "tiny parasitic blobs." I will remember these words whenever I am feeling despair about the patriarchy.

Reply

Share

1 reply

Melissa Zinsitz

8d

I see plenty of crows. The ones on my morning walk always seem to be carrying on an endless conversation. One will call out with a couple of caws, "Are you still there?" After a moment's pause, two others, stationed farther down the route, reply with a single caw each: "Yes, Sonia. We're still here. We haven't moved since the last time you checked."

Reply

Share

17 more comments...

TopLatestDiscussions

No posts

Ready for more?

Subscribe

© 2026 Brooke Barker · Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice<br>Start your SubstackGet the app<br>Substack is the home for great culture

This site requires JavaScript to run correctly. Please...