Philosophy

The Power of Cute

An exploration of cuteness and its immense hold on us, from emojis and fluffy puppies to its more uncanny, subversive expressions

Hardcover

Price:
$18.95/拢15.99
ISBN:
Published:
Mar 19, 2019
2019
Pages:
256
Size:
4.37 x 7.25 in.
Illus:
19 b/w illus.
Main_subject:
Philosophy
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Cuteness has taken the planet by storm. Global sensations Hello Kitty and Pok茅mon, the works of artists Takashi Murakami and Jeff Koons, Heidi the cross-eyed opossum and E.T.鈥攁ll reflect its gathering power. But what does 鈥渃ute鈥 mean, as a sensibility and style? Why is it so pervasive? Is it all infantile fluff, or is there something more uncanny and even menacing going on鈥攊n a lighthearted way? In The Power of Cute, Simon May provides nuanced and surprising answers.

We usually see the cute as merely diminutive, harmless, and helpless. May challenges this prevailing perspective, investigating everything from Mickey Mouse to Kim Jong-il to argue that cuteness is not restricted to such sweet qualities but also beguiles us by transforming or distorting them into something of playfully indeterminate power, gender, age, morality, and even species. May grapples with cuteness鈥檚 dark and unpindownable side鈥攗nnerving, artful, knowing, apprehensive鈥攅lements that have fascinated since ancient times through mythical figures, especially hybrids like the hermaphrodite and the sphinx. He argues that cuteness is an addictive antidote to today鈥檚 pressured expectations of knowing our purpose, being in charge, and appearing predictable, transparent, and sincere. Instead, it frivolously expresses the uncertainty that these norms deny: the ineliminable uncertainty of who we are; of how much we can control and know; of who, in our relations with others, really has power; indeed, of the very value and purpose of power.

The Power of Cute delves into a phenomenon that speaks with strange force to our age.