A prominent theme in "The Catbird Seat" is the difficulty men and women experience in understanding and coexisting with each other. In Thurber’s stories, this conflict often involves a timid, nervous man and a strong, dominant woman. This theme recurs in his works such as The Owl in the Attic (1931) and "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" (1939). When "The Catbird Seat" was turned into a film in 1960, it fittingly received the title The Battle of the Sexes.

Thurber’s tales and illustrations frequently explore the marital tensions between men and women. In "The Catbird Seat," this struggle is depicted in a workplace setting. In Thurber’s world, men and women are constantly unable to understand one another. Like Mr. Martin and Mrs. Barrows, they communicate using different "languages," with women always aiming to initiate change.

This story interestingly reverses traditional gender roles. Mrs. Barrows enjoys drinking alcohol, smoking cigarettes, and following baseball, while Mr. Martin drinks milk, has never smoked, and is unfamiliar with Red Barber. Mrs. Barrows is loud and authoritative, while Mr. Martin "always maintain[s] an outward appearance of polite tolerance."

Judging by conventional behaviors, Mrs. Barrows is depicted as the more "masculine" character, while Mr. Martin seems more "feminine." Martin finds her masculinity offensive. Although he tries to "keep his mind on her crimes as a special adviser," he can't help but focus on "the faults of the woman as a woman."

The stereotype of the feminist who emasculates men is common in twentieth-century literature. However, Mrs. Barrows does not emasculate Mr. Martin; instead, she pushes him to resolve his own issue—to "act like a man" for the first time. The story's message suggests that strong women must be removed to maintain the current social order.

Jesse Bier, author of the critical history The Rise and Fall of American Humor (1968), asserts that "The Catbird Seat":

represents the ultimate triumph of oppressed man over matriarchism. Thurber’s work is a joyfully vengeful and relentless critique of womanhood ... Thurber’s stories ... are the pinnacle in our literature of controlled wish fulfillment and victorious, enduring resistance to everything that Woman, particularly the assertive American woman, embodies."

Many critics perceive this resentment in Thurber’s works; however, others view him as humorously resigned to the gender conflict. Catherine McGehee Kenney, in her book Thurber’s Anatomy of Confusion, describes his exploration of the theme as "both bright and melancholy, enlightening and saddening, amusing and frightening."

At the core of communication problems between men and women lies a deeper reality: each person is inherently isolated. Men struggle to communicate effectively with women and even with other men. The so-called "battle" between the sexes is just the most obvious example of how disconnected people are from one another.

What is Martin protecting by getting rid of Mrs. Barrows? It's the same role he's held for over two decades, working under a boss who barely notices him and still calls him by his last name. When he breaks his routine to buy cigarettes, the store clerk doesn't even acknowledge his presence.

In truth, Martin relies on this solitude and invisibility to carry out his plan unnoticed. Only the reader will see that after Martin achieves the greatest victory of his life, he has no one to share it with.