TresSugar

The Dark Side of Cute

TresSugar — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 15:00:00 -0800

Kittens in casts. Babies nudged to laugh every five seconds. Stuffed teddy bears left at killing-spree sites. We are so surrounded by the tyranny of cute that even multibillion-dollar corporations have cute names like "Google" and "Twitter," and the uncute business of insurance is represented in ads by a cute lizard with an English accent. (And yes, I too am guilty of spreading cuteness.)

What's up with the cute? Writer Jim Windolf has had enough and decided to try to get to the bottom of what he calls the "self-infantalization" of Americans. His conclusion? There's a dark, manipulative side to cute. If you want to know what it is, read more.

In Daniel Harris's book Cute, Quaint, Hungry, and Romantic, he says that there's a hidden sadism to our love of cute, citing the barrage of images of cats falling, puppies slamming into mirrors, and even babies trapped in high chairs being prodded to laugh.

"The process of conveying cuteness to the viewer disempowers its objects," he writes, "forcing them into ridiculous situations and making them appear more ignorant and vulnerable than they really are. Adorable things are often most adorable in the middle of a pratfall or a blunder." In other words, they are cute insofar as they are helpless, and we, conferrers of cute, are all-powerful.

Becoming cute, conversely, is one way of disarming opponents or critics. It's not incidental, argues Windolf, that the cult of cute in the US emerged during the Bush years, when "the American image went from that of protector to invader, from defender of human rights to aggressor on the lookout for loopholes in the Geneva Conventions." Cuteness then, according to this theory, "came about as some sort of correction, as a way for us to convince ourselves and our friends that we're not as bad as our recent national actions have made us seem." (It reminds me of smiley emoticons at the end of passive-aggressive email messages and instant messages. In this case, American cute is like a ginormous cultural smiley face emoticon tacked on the end of dubious actions telling our allies we're not all that bad.)

Windolf traces American cute back to Japan's kawaii culture, which got huge 10 years ago but actually emerged at the end of WWII after it was "humiliated and emasculated." If you're interested in political and cultural psychoanalysis, I suggest reading this long essay. But whatever you do, remember - ~~sometimes a cigar is just a cigar~~ sometimes a cute kitten isn't just a cute kitten.

Source

Happy Caturday!

TresSugar — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 03:47:00 -0800

I love when cats go into crouching ~~tiger~~ kitten, hidden dragon mode on little bugs. They don't want to kill them, necessarily, they just enjoy little scurrying things. (OK, maybe they want to eff with them a teensy bit.) His flexibility is quite impressive, I have to say.

Happy Caturday!

TresSugar — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 09:02:54 -0700

This squash-faced kitteh sure has the sweet life! Not only does he get fed by hand, with chopsticks, but if his human ~~companion~~ servant doesn't do it fast enough, he swats her! It's good to be the king.

Do Tell: How Would You Respond to a Guy With Magic Tricks?

TresSugar — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 04:00:00 -0700

I'm going to try not being a mean girl, because I think the following story is all kinds of adorable. But let's just say it's hard not to affectionately tease the guy who runs a class for seducing women - with magic tricks!

27-year-old McDerick Ho co-owns Secret Skills, a magic school in Singapore. The course he teaches? "The Art of Seduction Magic," a two-hour class for $150 during which Ho will teach men ten magic tricks that are supposed to help them break the ice with women they're interested in.

For example, he teaches techniques that allow a man to hug a girl while performing a particular magic trick, all while speaking lines from a script Ho provides that's so top secret he won't even put it on his website.

Although some men are skeptical about magic tricks as aphrodisiac, others say anything that can get a man's confidence up to speak to a woman is a good thing. You hear about rapists spiking women's drinks with roofies or others who are just disrespectful, so it's hard not to see this approach as innocent and adorable - if waaay dorky.

How would you react if a guy came up to you at a bar and asked, "Can I interest you in some magic tricks?

Source

Happy Caturday!

TresSugar — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 15:08:26 -0700

Instead of creating a cat door for their little feline friend, these people made their cat do the heavy lifting. She knows how to knock on the freaking door to ask permission to be let in! I love her serious little patient face as she waits. Sigh. I heart cats.

Friday Feel Good: Simon's Cat Continues to Be Needy

TresSugar — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 09:00:00 -0700

In advance of Happy Caturday, I thought I'd post this cute cartoon Fuzzles sent our way. The Simon's cat series depict essentially the same scenario: Simon's cat will not be ignored, and resorts to all manner of devious acts to get attention. Whether it's jumping all over Simon when he tries to sleep, or messing up his papers when he's trying to work, the cat is a punkass. But still adorable.

Happy Caturday!

TresSugar — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 08:30:15 -0700

They say you have to be extra careful about the meat you buy these days, but even going organic with Niman Ranch might not save your from E. coli poisoning if your friendly neighborhood meat department is this lax with its standards of hygiene . . .

Happy Caturday!

TresSugar — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 09:15:20 -0700

The standards for beauty have truly reached impossible heights. Now, not only do you have to be uberthin to be considered beautiful, you can't even be human!

Replacing stick-thin human models with feline ones, fashion line United Bamboo has given new meaning to "cat walk" with its limited edition 2010 calendar featuring little furries modeling its ready-to-wear line. (In case you're wondering - they're already out of stock!) I have to say, these cats do make the garments look quite fetching! And they're pretty good at smiling with their (cat's) eyes.

View 4 Photos ›

Source: Noah Sheldon for United Bamboo

Happy Caturday!

TresSugar — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 09:48:12 -0700

A friend sent me this video on Facebook, and before I even had a chance to do a video-grab, it was yanked. While shedding hot tears and searching YouTube, I was reunited once again with one of the best cat videos I've ever seen. (I don't say that lightly.) A woman and cat seem to have this amazing routine together: she brushes her teeth, and her cat jumps on her head. Pay careful attention to :45 and 1:21. Wow.

Happy Caturday!

TresSugar — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 07:38:43 -0700

Although it looks like someone drew in Groucho Marx eyebrows on this kitty, I think those brows are real! Maybe a little fur dye or kitten electrolysis will help this cat so that he doesn't have to go through life looking so quizzical. Or maybe it doesn't matter - it looks like someone is in love with him just the way he is!