The Mass Seduction of Cuteness in the Past and Present: America's Sweethearts, Kawaii Girls, and Cute Cyborgs

Cuteness is often seen as childish, self-indulgent, only popular in East Asia, and if performed by women, even anti-feminist. This dissertation, building on the emerging field of cuteness studies, uses six case studies of “cute” girl icons, stars, and celebrities to analyze the affective and ideological work that cuteness does in the media in the past and present. The case studies include digital ethnography, archival research, and critical discourse analysis. I argue that there are different kinds of popular and iconic “cute” girl stars in the media, like Shirley Temple, Hello Kitty, and pet celebrities, which appeal to many adults in the United States, as in Japan. The media co-opted cuteness to widely promote the figure of the “cute” girl child as an archetypal consumer to sell their media products and tie-ins. Nevertheless, I also argue that these “cute” girl stars embody “cute” personalities who act in different rebellious, heroic ways that charmingly contradict their powerless, innocent appearances and/or mannerisms. The “cute” personalities of these girl stars permit them to undertake what I call “minor rebellion” in the media. As represented by the media, these “cute” girl stars reimagine social norms to address their precarious situations, such as demanding a more compassionate, redistributive model of consumerism and reclaiming femininity for female interests rather than invoking radical social changes or revolution. Cuteness appeals to media consumers because it seemingly allows individuals in precarious situations to use their vulnerabilities to their advantage when escaping from those vulnerabilities is not immediately feasible.PhDCommunicationUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/176668/1/tlngai_1.pd