Saturday, 31 March 2012

The Downside of Cute

One more downside of some anime is the preoccupation with little girls in short skirts, or the "doll look". Now, I really do not like quoting the Daily Mail, but this article points out a problem I have guessed myself from the Japanese popularity of "cute" or "kawaii" in Japanese. This cult of trying to look very young and very cute, like a child, and even speaking like one, in imitation of anime heroes, both male and female. I have written on Japanese narcissism in January here on this blog and now, I think the dress and make-up reveal how far this cultural illness has gone. At first, it did seem like being cute was, well, just cute. But, now it has the horrible characteristics of androgyny as well as an inclination for child-sexual attraction. Having said all this, in European countries I have visited in the past year, the Japanese young women have not only been the most modest, but very stylish in retro clothes of high quality. They also act more feminine than their European peers.

Here is a link to the Mail article. I must confess, however, that I did have a Hello Kitty toaster, but all who know me, really, really, know I am not cute.