Cuteness

When we say the word “cute”, it is usually associated to the things that look fuzzy, friendly, innocent or adorable. But what exactly is cute? It is used widely especially with the younger generation as a term to describe something adorable or to compliment someone who looks attractive for their looks or personality, but does the term ‘cute’ also affect how we see things?

Generally we often see and hear the term ‘cuteness’ in visual communication, especially in illustrations and entertainment media, as something small and round, something of a form of basic shapes, typically an oval or a circle and were often given big round eyes as a form of appeal and attraction, as quoted from the article ‘Fifteen Theses on the Cute’ by Francis Richard “(1) Cute relies on big eyes, round heads, fat bellies. The limbs of the cute are stubby or non-existent, its mouth abstracted or disproportionately tiny, its nose button, its ears enormous, or alternatively, invisible.” 

When I draw something ‘cute’, as shown above as my own example, is to showcase that simplicity plays a large role to define the term ‘cute’ using very little detail as possible. While retaining such form and shapes that helps supports those characteristics of being cute, it doesn't necessarily need a lot of attention to detail in order to convey that.

Countries such as Japan, where ‘cute’ known as “Kawaii” in Japanese, can be seen widely in both advertisement and entertainment industry, often involving popular mascots and various characters from TV shows, usually drawn in such way where they appear as a miniature character(s) with a fairly large head and big eyes, known as a ‘Chibi’, a Japanese slang word for “short person” or a “small child”. 

A drawing I did as myself but this time drawn in the style of Japanese ‘Chibi’ drawings. While keeping it simple but with added colour and details, it still retain the term ‘cuteness’ with the use of simplicity, though the large eyes and short body is what kept its value of looking ‘cute’.

Being as part of the popular culture in the entertainment industry, it goes as far where it begins to have an effect on society, both socially and mentally, as quoted from the article, This Japanese Life “(2) Men are just as interested in being kawaii as women. Some high school boys go so far as to shave their legs, wear barette’s in their hair and keep stuffed toys hanging from their school bags. But grown men embrace it as well.” Young people are becoming more pressured to find ways to fit in society, from fashion to make up and (especially) facial surgery, the power to convey cute within one self as a form of attractiveness or to fit in social groups increases peer pressure.

Business men in Japan, would seek subjects that are ‘cute’ or “kawaii” as a form to escape from their boredom and tiredness of their jobs, into virtual reality, thus affecting their social habits. This can be said for those who spend many hours online playing video games or watching TV shows daily, as it is becoming an increasing problem in countries in Asia, typically South Korea and Japan, where anything relating to the term ‘cute’ is heavily commercialized on every product in media entertainment.

References

(1) Richard, 2001

(2) This Japanese Life, 2011

Bibliography

Richard, F. 2001. Fifteen Theses on the Cute [Online] [Accessed: 19^th March 2015] Available from: http://cabinetmagazine.org/issues/4/cute.php

This Japanese Life, 2011, On being cute in Japan [Online] [Accessed: 20^th March 2015] Available from: http://thisjapaneselife.org/2011/11/30/kawaii-cute-in-japan/