I really loath the overuse of the word “cute”. The thing is, I can see the context and the appeal when it is overused by teens or very young girls. But I seem to come across a good number of adult women who keep on going on and on about “cute this”, “cute that”, etc.
Here’s why I hate the ubiquitous use of “cute”:
- It normalizes a sort of harmless beauty. In general, “cute” is that which doesn’t rock the boat too much. Cute clothes? = clothes that are fashionable this season; conventional. Cute people? = people who adhere to conventional beauty standards. Cute has almost become a synonym for “approved by the blandness army”. I want FIERCE, DAMN IT! I want a kind of beauty that defies the “patriarchy approved” label.
- It’s an infantilizing word. Sure, some stuff is “cute”, like “cute kittens” or “cute pandas”, but I also noticed almost everyone who’s overusing the word ends up projecting such a child-like aura, assigning the utmost importance to superficial matters of appearance, trying to “fit in”, to prove that whatever they are doing is approved by society in general. The best example of this are women desperate to date “cute guys” and/ or guys who will be perceived by their peers as “cute”. Funny enough, many of these women would be outraged if they were measured by their perceived level of “cuteness”.
So now, since I have the fascist gene running strong in me (that’s what growing up in a dictatorship will do to you), this is the part where I call for a total ban on the word “cute”. Instead, let’s all use AWESOME! (shame written language does not convey the enthusiastic tone in which AWESOME! is generally uttered).
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