While zipping through my friends I found and interesting post leading to an article My Little Feminist: Cartoons are Magic.
“My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic has done more for the cause of feminism than any writer, artist, theorist, activist, or anything or anyone else in the Last Ten. Years”
“There’s one cause that feminists have never really managed to achieve, though. One victory that has ever eluded us.
And that is the cause of making girl stuff cool, too. In particular, the cause of making girl stuff cool without simply reinforcing particular gender roles for women. After all, it’s difficult to say, “Cooking can be really fun,” when there are people seemingly crouched by (in? under?) the eves ready to bellow, “…Because women belong in the kitchen!””
While the article applies to My Little Pony Friendship is Magic I wonder how the same can be applied to we male fans of Hello Kitty, are we helping the cause of hello Kitty. There is one huge caveat with the feminist argument as pointed by one poster: certain radical feminist rejection of expressions of femininity. Many other feminists would disagree. A good example is
“The absence of Hello Kitty’s mouth is a prime example of the oppressed, docile, and obedient female, a stigma that has been explored by many feminist scholars”
The view above is pure rubbish as Yuko Yamaguchi points out.
Why doesn’t Hello Kitty have a mouth?
Sandi Saksena, Dubai
It’s so that people who look at her can project their own feelings onto her face, because she has an expressionless face. Kitty looks happy when people are happy. She looks sad when they are sad. For this psychological reason, we thought she shouldn’t be tied to any emotion — and that’s why she doesn’t have a mouth.
Read more: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1834451,00.html#ixzz1jVvoByMV