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Buttered Jorts the Cat meme and viral reddit story depicting an orange cat and a tortoiseshell cat.

Jorts the Cat

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Updated Oct 19, 2022 at 02:40PM EDT by sakshi.

Added Dec 21, 2021 at 08:42AM EST by Owen.

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About

Jorts the Cat, also known as Buttered Jorts, refers to a cat named "Jorts" who became known online from a viral Reddit post in December 2021. The post relayed a story from a Redditor who worked in an office that had two cats: an orange cat named "Jorts" and a tortoiseshell cat named "Jean." In short, the Redditor was accused of "perpetuating ethnic stereotypes" in regards to thinking that the orange cat (Jorts) was dumber. Additionally, it was revealed in the post that her co-worker had been buttering Jorts with margarine.

Origin

On December 13th, 2021, a Redditor named throwawayorangecat made a post to the subreddit /r/AmItheAsshole[1] that relayed a story about two cats that live in their office: an orange cat named "Jorts" and a tortoiseshell cat named "Jean." The cats are fed inside a closet within the office where one cat (Jorts) always locks the other cat (Jean) inside the closet. This is because, according to the Redditor, Jorts is perceivably dumber. One of their coworkers (anonymously referred to as Pam) actively tries teaching Jorts lessons to become smarter. After the Redditor cut out a hole in the closet door in order to prevent the cats from being locked inside, Pam confronted them about it, causing the Redditor to joke, "You can’t expect Jean’s tortoiseshell smarts from orange cat Jorts." This led Pam to allegedly send a company-wide email, claiming that the Redditor was "perpetuating ethnic stereotypes by saying orange cats are dumb."

Overall, the post (shown below) is identifiable as a cringeworthy Karen story. It received roughly 7,400 upvotes over the course of one week.


Posted by u/throwawayorangecat 7 days ago S 4 3 2 2 25 41 3 37 3 7448 3 AITA for "perpetuating ethnic stereotypes" about Jorts? Not the A-hole [EDITED TO ADD:]This post is about 2 cats who are named Jean and Jorts, cat tax HERE : UPDATE is here THE STORY We have two workplace cats in one area of our worksite. They add value to the worksite, we all love the cats and the worksite cat presence is not the issue. One of the cats (Jean) is a tortoiseshell cat we have had for years. The other cat (Jorts) is a large orange cat and a recent addition. Jorts is just... kind of a simple guy. For example, Jorts can't open a door even when it's ajar- he shoves it whether he is going in or out, so often he closes the door he is trying to go through. This means he is often trapped inside the place he was trying to exit and meows until he is rescued. My colleague Pam (not her real name) has been spending a lot of time trying to teach Jorts things. The doors thing is the main example – it's a real issue because the cats are fed in a closet and Jorts keeps pushing the door closed. Jean can actually open all the other interior doors since they are a lever type knob, but she can't open this particular door if she is trapped INSIDE the closet. Tortie Jean is very nice to poor orange Jorts, and she is kept busy letting him out of rooms he has trapped himself in, so this seems easy to resolve. I put down a door stop. Pam then said I was depriving Jorts of the "chance to learn" and kept removing the doorstop. She set up a series of special learning activities for Jorts, and tried to put these tasks on the whiteboard of daily team tasks (I erased them). She thinks we need to teach him how to clean himself better and how to get out of minor barriers like when he gets a cup stuck on his head, etc. I love Jorts but he's just dumb af and we can't change that. Don't get me wrong- watching her try to teach Jorts how to walk through a door is hilarious, but Jean got locked in the closet twice last week. Yesterday I installed a cat cutout thing in the door and Pam started getting really huffy. I made a gentle joke about "you can't expect Jean's tortoiseshell smarts from orange cat Jorts" which made Pam FURIOUS. She started crying and left the hallway, then sent an email to the group (including volunteers) and went home early. In her email Pam said I was "perpetuating ethnic stereotypes by saying orange cats are dumb" and is demanding a racial sensitivity training before she will return. I don't think it's relevant but just in case, Pam is a white person in a mostly minority staff (and no she is not ginger/does not have red hair). TL;DR: AITA for 'enforcing an ethnic stereotype' by joking that orange cats are often dumb?

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The next day, December 14th, 2021, u/throwawayorangecat posted an update[2] to their original post. Within it, they detailed how they had conversations with HR about Pam who agreed that Pam's actions were irrational. Towards the end of the post, u/throwawayorangecat revealed that Pam had also been putting margarine (butter) on Jorts' fur as an attempt to teach him to clean himself better. This was most likely the cause of the other cat (Jean) having diarrhea because she often helped Jorts groom himself by licking him. This was also a problem that needed to be stopped, according to the post.

The update post (shown below) received roughly 5,500 upvotes over the course of six days. Additionally, u/throwawayorangecat plugged a Twitter account that they created for Jorts called @JortsTheCat.[3]


Posted by u/throwawayorangecat 7 days ago 2 2 46 58 55 5554 UPDATE: aita for perpetuating stereotypes about Jorts? Original HERE Thanks for responding to my query which had truly upset me. I work to have a good relationship with my team and the situation had gotten weird so gradually that I lost perspective. I just met with HR, she had already met with Pam. HR was concerned about Pam's comparing ethnic stereotypes with giving a cat a doorstop and they addressed that which went well. HR will follow up to make sure Pam understands. (The replies to my query were helpful to me for this discussion.) HR also addressed Pam assigning other staff Jorts-related tutoring, as it is not appropriate for Pam to assign others work. This also went well. We both think Pam had a hard time with the transition from volunteer to staff, and may have "new kid" sensitivity projected to Jorts. Pam got emotional about her perception that I favor Jean over Jorts and gave specific examples. Some of these things are fair. Jorts deserves respect as a member of our team. There are 3 buildings in our workplace. Jean and Jorts are limited to one. HR told me there were 5 holdouts about vaccines, and restricting unvaccinated people from entering the building (to protect Jean and Jorts) was enough to win over 4 of them. That's CRAZY, but great. More importantly: the cats' presence greatly enhances our work with our clients, and Jorts' friendly nature has been so great. Both cats truly are doing important work. Truly Jorts deserves to be treated with respect. We all deserve to be treated with dignity at work, so I will apologize to Jorts about some things that were insensitive or disrespectful. a. Jean has a nice cat bed with her name on it, while Jorts has chosen an old boot tray in my office with a towel in it. Recently a visitor put wet boots in the boot tray and Pam saw Jorts sleeping on the wet boots. I bought a bed for Jorts today and a name tag has been ordered. b. I will apologize to Jorts and remove the sign saying "DAYS SINCE JORTS HAD A TRASH CAN MISHAP: 0" Jorts likes to fish dirty paper cups out and he often falls into the bin or gets a cup stuck on his head, etc. (He is able to get out of the bin by tipping it over so it isn't a safety issue.) c. Jean's "staff bio" has a photo of Jean, while Jorts' bio has a photo of a sweet potato. I did not actually know either cat had a staff bio, but we will use a photo of Jorts instead of a sweet potato. HR also suggested changing Pam's duties so she is "in charge" of the cats. This I refused, the cats are my staff, not Pam's. I think Pam was well-intended but actually not meeting the needs of either Jean or Jorts so they remain under my supervision. (Pam is also not to put cups on Jorts' head or intentionally put him into frustrating situations given his unique needs.) Lastly, and this made us both laugh so hard we can't deal with it in person and will be said via email: Pam admits that she has been putting margarine on Jorts in an attempt to teach him to groom himself better. This may explain the diarrhea problem Jean developed (which required a vet visit). Pam is NOT to apply margarine to any of her coworkers. Jean has shown she is willing to be in charge of helping Jorts stay clean. If this task becomes onerous for Jean, we can have a groomer help. I am crying laughing typing this. added: I'm so glad this brought joy. Fan mail can be directed to jortsandjean @ gmail dot com. or follow the Jorts and Jean joke account on twitter @JortsTheCat

On December 14th, Redditor DoodlingDaughter made a post to /r/BestofRedditorUpdates[4] titled, "The saga of Jean and Jorts," that provided links to all of u/throwawayorangecat's updates. The post received roughly 4,500 upvotes over seven days and spread awareness of the story further.

Jorts The Cat Official Twitter

Much of the attention surrounding Jorts the Cat migrated to Twitter after @JortsTheCat was created. For instance, on December 14th, 2021, @JortsTheCat[5] tweeted, "I don’t need to be buttered, Pam," (shown below). The tweet received roughly 5,900 likes over one week.


Jorts (and Jean) @JortsTheCat I don't need to be buttered, Pam 9:36 PM · Dec 14, 2021 · Twitter for iPhone 644 Retweets 56 Quote Tweets 5,984 Likes

Other Twitter users started posting memes and tweets about Jorts, Pam and the buttering of Jorts on December 14th. Formats like Time Person of the Year Parodies were used by Twitter users like @no_dead_weight[8] whose meme (shown below) was posted on the 14th and received roughly 27,500 likes over one week.


PERSON of ΥEAR the KIME JORTS "I don't need to be tutored. I don't need to be buttered. I just need to be loved for who I am."

Twitter[6] user @LouNoDear tweeted a poem about Jorts the Cat on the morning of December 15th (shown below, left). It received roughly 6,700 likes over six days. Twitter[7] user @DentLizzy also posted a meme on December 15th that had text reading, "I can't believe she fuckin buttered Jorts." The meme (shown below, right) received roughly 3,800 likes over the course of six days.


Lou @LouNoDear This is just to say I have buttered the Jorts who was in the closet and who you were probably keeping around for staff morale forgive me he was adorable so stupid and so orange 6:55 AM · Dec 15, 2021 · Twitter Web App 1,439 Retweets 65 Quote Tweets 6,701 Likes I can't believe she f----- buttered Jorts

More and more memes surfaced on Twitter in the days following, as well as migrating to other platforms like Instagram [9] and Facebook. [10] Memes[11] also started to reference the "sweet potato" nuance within the update Reddit post (that Pam used a photo of a sweet potato in Jorts' bio on the company website for unknown reasons).

Jorts The Cat Ableism Accusations

On October 18th, 2022, Jorts The Cat's official Twitter account @JortsTheCat[12] posted a tweet responding to a person complaining about their experience with an Instacart personal grocery shopper, saying "Idea: Go get your own groceries." The tweet gathered over 12,000 likes and 600 responses in a day (seen below, left). The tweet received several replies from Twitter uses accusing the account of being ableist, as shown in a tweet reply addressed to "Jorts" posted by @LasciviousFox. The reply gathered over 2,000 likes in a day (seen below, right).


Yall Sound Crazy @queenveej. Oct 17 My last time using grocery delivery and I got a man, he started refunding stuff that I knew dang on well the store had. I was so p----- I got in the car and went to the store he was at, bruh was literally standing in one aisle on the phone. 861 Jorts (and Jean) @JortsTheCat 5,359 Replying to @queenveej Idea: Go get your own groceries 2:09 AM - Oct 18, 2022. Twitter for iPhone 225 Retweets 738 Quote Tweets 12K Likes 27 70.6K ↑ ⠀ 18 Las Fox (3/3) Replying to @JortsTheCat and @queenveej Jorts, this is a common problem and a lot of us can't just go get our own groceries, whether it's due to time or health. @LasciviousFox - Oct 18 A lot of disabled people use delivery or pick-up especially during a pandemic. 184 Your message is tone-deaf & cruel to busy workers & disabled who need to eat. 196 ⠀ 2,217

The inital replies to @JortsTheCat's tweet were from people accusing the account of ableism towards those who cannot grocery shop on their own, as well as accusing the account of being a milkshake duck. A compilation of replies was posted by Twitter[13] user @kimpossiblefact on October 18th as well, gathering over 9,000 likes in a day (seen below).

On October 19th, Twitter[14] user @merrittk posted a tweet commenting on how chronically online this discourse is, gathering over 3,000 likes in a day (seen below).



Various Examples


YOU'RE TELLING ME SHE BUTTERED THE CAT? IT WASN'T BUTTER, IT WAS MARGARINE! mund Corporate needs you to find the differences between this picture and this picture. They're the same picture. mgflip.com Hot Buttered Jorts 2 cups boiling water 2/3 cup brown sugar 1/2 cup margarine 1/2 cup rum 1/4 cup Triple Sec 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon Blend all ingredients well. Spray 4 festive cups with Pam. Enjoy standing in your favorite closet doorway. @sweavermph Photo credit: Amber Kipp-Unsplash.com Look how they i buttered my Jorts PLANTASe on nor Butter! the ORIGINAL now with PLANT-BASED OILS E ALr more GOOD FATS I cant believe it's not MAK FRM JORTS! 60 00 CALRES POR T TRUP the ORIGINAL Jort! MOU

Search Interest

External References

[1] Reddit – r/AmItheAsshole

[2] Reddit – u/throwawayorangecat

[3] Twitter – @JortsTheCat

[4] Reddit – r/BestofRedditorUpdates

[5] Twitter – @JortsTheCat

[6] Twitter – @LouNoDear

[7] Twitter – @DentLizzy

[8] Twitter – @no_dead_weight

[9] Instagram – @imaginehowtouchisthesky

[10] Facebook – Kingdom Comics

[11] Twitter – @CarmenHandiego

[12] Twitter – @JortsTheCat

[13] Twitter – @kimpossiblefact

[14] Twitter – @merrittk

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Top Comments

kraas
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kraas

pretty sure it was just a dunk on an entitled fuckhead who had the time and means to go directly to the store rather than any judgement against someone who has very limited options when it comes to getting their food.

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