What It Means to Be Cute

Cuteness is an aesthetic intertwined with daily life and deeply connected with notions of femininity particularly for the Asian diaspora and those within Asia for whom cuteness is a prolific aesthetic–– a part of their everyday. While the aesthetic is omnipresent in domestic products, media, and in spoken vernacular, it is often disregarded as kitsch, fetishized, or low brow. In relation to the geopolitics of East Asia, cuteness has become a critical tool of implementing “soft power” strategy and yet at the same time it has been used in the West to stereotype or infantilize those of Asian descent.

“What it Means to be Cute?” will explore the complexity of this tangible, emotion-forward, and affective aesthetic. Christina Yuna Ko, Lulu Yao Gioiello, and Amy Yao will discuss the implications and possibilities of cuteness as an aesthetic, as well as, touch upon their views on the cute and how they have adopted this language in their work. Beginning with short presentations by each participant, this conversation moderated by Sophia Park aims to complicate and add nuance to what is considered cute and to present it as a language that is rich, complex, and significant.