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What exactly IS "cute"?

Alex Dame

Alex Dame

Startouched
First off, sorry I've been away for so long. Part of it has been being busy, part has been not knowing what to say, and part has been not knowing how to say it. But now I'm back, and I wanted to ask what exactly does "cute" mean? I know my mom has often used that word to describe things that had a positive ending, or were funny, or (frustrating as it was for me) things that I've written or drawn.

I've seen a lot of cute things, especially in recent years, when I've been researching cartoons and other media I saw when I was growing up. And while I think I know a lot about cute, everything I "know" is just a set of opinions that I may or may not support with facts. For example, it's my opinion that furry creatures have a higher "cute factor" than non-furry creatures because (in my experience) furry pets and stuffed animals feel better to hug and cuddle than creatures that have no fur or fuzz.

That said, one of my thoughts (and strong beliefs) is that human children are, in general, very cute. If they're family members, they look like you, they have a charming youthful innocence, and they can wear some very cute outfits. That said, I have a four-year-old niece and a pair of two-year-old twin nephews. The twin nephews were born premature, and when they were really little, I did not find them cute. I mean, they're family and I love them. They're precious, but that doesn't mean I want to cuddle them. I feel loyal and protective of my brother's kids at any age, but I really think toddlers are a lot cuter than infants.

Human children are cute, but as far as I'm concerned, furry animal children (especially anthropomorphic animals) trump them in the cuteness category. A lot of people, including my mom, prefer human children, but I'm an animal man. There are a lot of cute cartoon characters I've seen over the years, and if I had to pick right now which one of them was the cutest, I'd say Care Bears. I like them for their idealism, but I can totally understand anyone that gets repulsed because they're obnoxiously cute or "too cute". They make me blush. The minions from Despicable Me, on the other hand, aren't so cute.

The truth of the matter is, my mom thinks they're adorable and that they remind her of her grandkids, but to me, they're just weird and silly. I mean, sure they're funny, but I really can't imagine hugging any of them. The werewolf kids from Hotel Transylvania would be more fun for me to cuddle, assuming of course they didn't rip my face off in the process. Of course, even a huge creature without any fur, or a robot or something can still ACT cute without having a cute appearance.

Part of the reason I'm interested in cute things is because of their naturally morale-boosting charm, and another part is because I'm the uncle of three little kids that I want to share cute things with. Another part, though, is because I'm aware of how "cute" can attract kids, families, and lone adults to movies and shows, and I've always aspired to be an entertainer. People can say that appearances don't matter, and in a lot of ways, that's true. However, it's been my experience that just about anything (Including appliances in the case of "The brave little toaster") can be stylized to appear cute and harmless, and anything can be taken the other way and become scary.

Both scary AND cute can be attractive based on the audience, and what one person sees as scary may actually be cute to another person. There's nothing wrong with that, but for the sake of contrast, it's good to show these two together. Anyway, because parents and other caretakers generally prefer their kids to have something cute than something scary, I believe cute has more marketability. That said, too much cute can get pretty annoying, and there's nothing wrong with a little fear once in a while. I, myself, have a dark side that has enjoyed seeing many horror movies (especially older, black-and-white ones).

Anyway, I wanted to find out what most people consider cute, which is why I set up a pole for cute animal kids on playbuzz.com, but I'm kind of confused by the results. In forty results, absolutely nobody has picked Koda from Brother Bear, Todd from The Fox and the Hound (My personal favorite) has only received two results, the top choice is Fievel from An American Tale, and the other mouse character on the poll (Ms. Fabisham from The Great Mouse Detective) has only gotten one vote.

At any rate, if you want to share any thoughts on what's cute, I'd be interested in reading them.
 
Well, cuteness is a very nebulous and subjective topic. I am not certain one could conjure a set of truly universal perameters. Generally I would say it refers to any aesthetic which elicits affectionate and protective feelings. That can paradoxically mean very different things, like the fact that people find babies cute, but also apply the term to old ladies. Both elicit protective responses, for obvious reasons, but the aesthetic qualities of both are quite different.
 
I really don't know, perhaps it varies from person to person. I once read that animals and children with baby faces are cute because it triggers the emotion of affection that parents feel for their offspring. That would make sense, but I don't find babies cute at all, especially not new born ones - actually I find them rather unattractive! I never got this cooing over babies I see a lot of people engage in.

Once I made a grammar mistake when speaking a foreign language, and the person I was talking to said that she found that 'cute.' I don't understand this, either. How can a grammar mistake be cute? The only emotion I felt was annoyance at having made the mistake in the first place. I didn't like her saying that it was cute, I thought it was rather condescending.
 
I have to agree, I do not find infants cute. I almost feel like saying, "Put it back in, it's not quite done yet."
Perhaps it is a good thing I am not a parent. LOL

As for grammar mistakes, and other such inexactitudes, I think I understand why people find them cute. Again, it is something of a childlike quality in that the person in question is in the process of learning a relatively basic skill. This naturally elicits a protective and nurturing response. But that makes finding it cute no less condescending.
 
Progster said:
I once read that animals and children with baby faces are cute because it triggers the emotion of affection that parents feel for their offspring.
Click to expand...

I think there's something to this; and it must be biological because, despite not actually liking children at all, I still find them cute. as long as they're more than 5 feet away from me. :)

a friend once told me that we tend to find animals with human-like faces (i.e. pandas, Koala bears, some dogs, etc.) to be more "cute" than others. (in that same conversation, I learned that there's a whole group of animals we refer to as "charismatic megafauna." it quickly became one of my favorite word combinations :p)

as for "cute" generally, I agree with Progster that the criteria vary widely from person to person. after your post, though, I realize that I have no definition for it myself. I'll think twice before using the word now ;)
 
I am, so I'm told, cute.

But, apparently, in a sort of laughing buddha kind of way :D

buddha 1.JPG


I think they're taking the p*** :)
 
well a lot of things can be cute depending on a person taste and culture background, Japan as the culture of cute for exemple (they call it kawaii) you can hear in animes girls going like kawaii at cakes that are prety (you know those ones that look like a masterpice and your realy sorry your eating them becouse they look so good) you can see guys saying girls are cute if they act all femenine and if they act inocent and younger then they age. for them cute = inocence andI think for us cute = pretty and inocence :) but it deeply varays on a person taste :)
here have a link : https://www.google.pt/search?q=kawa...X2QA5w&biw=1366&bih=643#imgrc=fN2pUy8jOmnBxM:
 
People apply the word "cute" to almost anything of diminutive proportions. Personally though, I don't really think that scale helps with the cuteness of firearms. The proper branding on the other hand...
hello-kitty-machine-gun-guns-handgun-tazer-semi-automatic-pink-purple-cute.jpg
 
Well as you exploration somewhat reveals its not a definate, but an objective adjective, much subject to cultural and personal tastes. Many however think that young fuzzy animals are cute. Hard to go wrong with that one.
 
I think tiny/baby/young snakes are quite cute.
My sister and friend-girl disagree. Won't look
at them. Certainly won't touch them. Young
new snakes look so perfect, as perfect as a
jewel, to me. I am intentionally putting no
image here/no photograph.
 
tree said:
I think tiny/baby/young snakes are quite cute.
My sister and friend-girl disagree. Won't look
at them. Certainly won't touch them. Young
new snakes look so perfect, as perfect as a
jewel, to me. I am intentionally putting no
image here/no photograph.
Click to expand...

Once I lived again with snakes I adjusted and really like the garters, ribbons and similar non agressive types. Will go out of my way to save a garter out of the road or encourage then to live around the house. They are cute. Even the adults!

But I am adverse to touching them. Though actually I don't like touching any creatures unless absolutely need to. Except pets.
 
Touching a snake:
I do that when one has fallen asleep
in the road or path and I don't want
him to get hurt by whoever/whatever
else comes along after me.
So I encourage him to move along to
somewhere less obvious.
 
tree said:
Touching a snake:
I do that when one has fallen asleep
in the road or path and I don't want
him to get hurt by whoever/whatever
else comes along after me.
So I encourage him to move along to
somewhere less obvious.
Click to expand...

I can count on one hand the number of snakes I've seen in my area, I think mostly because of their preference for sunning themselves on black asphalt when it is available. I see a lot of dead animals in the center of a two lane road--like, right there on the dividing lines. And some people do like to drive right on those lines for some damn reason or other, drives me crazy when I see it personally, but I also find them dead center in the lane itself, as if they had been deliberately run down. In order to "get" that animal, the driver would have had to be halfway over into the other lane at the time, risking a head-on collision just to kill something that never did anything to them.
 
Cute? That would be Paige Davis, Dana Delany, Samantha Brown...etc.. :)

Hey...you asked!
 
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