{"id":4304,"date":"2006-01-03T18:19:36","date_gmt":"2006-01-03T22:19:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.law.harvard.edu\/formerlyknownas\/2006\/01\/03\/cuteness-engenders-gender-dif"},"modified":"2011-08-05T14:54:16","modified_gmt":"2011-08-05T18:54:16","slug":"cuteness-engenders-gender-differences","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/2006\/01\/03\/cuteness-engenders-gender-differences\/","title":{"rendered":"cuteness engenders gender differences"},"content":{"rendered":"

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– Welcome to those coming from <\/EM><\/FONT>Blawg Review Awards 2005<\/STRONG><\/FONT><\/A>. <\/FONT><\/EM><\/FONT><\/DIV>
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For <\/FONT><\/EM><\/FONT>our reaction to winning the “Creative Law Blog” Award,<\/EM><\/FONT><\/DIV>
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see <\/FONT><\/EM>thanks a lot (for all this pressure)<\/STRONG><\/EM><\/FONT><\/A> .<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/DIV><\/FONT><\/DIV><\/BLOCKQUOTE><\/BLOCKQUOTE><\/BLOCKQUOTE><\/BLOCKQUOTE><\/BLOCKQUOTE>
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Nothing demonstrates the importance of cuteness in our  <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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emotional lives and consumer habits quite as well as the <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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Christmas <\/FONT>gift-opening ritual among an extended, multi-<\/FONT><\/DIV>
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generational family.  “That’s so cute” and “Isn’t it-she-he <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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cute?” was repeated over and over last week in millions of <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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homes. <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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<\/FONT> <\/DIV>
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\"yyS\" But that same ritual, along with the entire Holiday shop-<\/FONT><\/DIV>
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ping, <\/FONT>gifting, and decorating experience, also seems to show <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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significant differences between the genders in reacting to the <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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Cuteness <\/FONT>Factor.  As I’ve opined on previous occasions, <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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“It’s cute” seems to be a sufficient reason for most women <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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to bring something home and for most men to want to smile <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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once and then leave <\/FONT>it where they found it.  <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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evening star…
she sleeps with the lion’s tail
in her little hand<\/FONT><\/DIV>
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<\/FONT> <\/DIV>
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            Tom Clausen<\/STRONG><\/FONT><\/A><\/DIV><\/DIV><\/BLOCKQUOTE><\/BLOCKQUOTE><\/BLOCKQUOTE><\/BLOCKQUOTE><\/BLOCKQUOTE>
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An article in today’s New York Times<\/EM>, “<\/FONT>The Cute Factor<\/FONT><\/A>” (by <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/DIV>
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Natalie Angier, Jan. 3, 2006), provides plenty of information <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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on what<\/EM> we deem to be cute: “practically anything remotely <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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resembling a human baby or a part thereof” — to wit, “bright <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/DIV>
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forward-facing eyes set low on a big round face, a pair of big <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/DIV>
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round ears, floppy limbs and a side-to-side, teeter-totter gait, <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/DIV>
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among many others.” <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/DIV>
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 <\/DIV>
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\"pandaCute\" <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/DIV>
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Jessie Cohen\/<\/FONT><\/FONT>via Reuters<\/FONT> <\/DIV><\/BLOCKQUOTE><\/BLOCKQUOTE><\/BLOCKQUOTE><\/BLOCKQUOTE><\/BLOCKQUOTE><\/BLOCKQUOTE><\/BLOCKQUOTE>
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<\/FONT> <\/DIV>
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The article also discusses why<\/EM> cute is important:<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/DIV>
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“Cute cues are those that indicate extreme youth, <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/DIV>
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vulnerability, harmlessness and need, scientists say, <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/DIV>
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and attending to them closely makes good Darwinian <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/DIV>
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sense. As a species whose youngest members are <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/DIV>
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so pathetically helpless they can’t lift their heads t<\/FONT><\/FONT>o <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/DIV>
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suckle without adult supervision, human beings must <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/DIV>
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be wired to respond quickly and gamely to any and all <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/DIV>
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signs of infantile desire.” <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/DIV><\/BLOCKQUOTE>
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Therefore, “The greater the number of cute cues that an animal or  <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/DIV>
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object happens to possess, or the more exaggerated the signals <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/DIV>
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may be, the louder and more italicized are the squeals provoked.”<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/DIV>
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<\/FONT> <\/DIV>
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The Times<\/EM> article notes that “Primal and widespread though the <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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taste for cute may be, researchers say it varies in strength and <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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significance across cultures and eras.”  NYT<\/EM> appears to be too <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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Politically Correct, however, to suggest that the taste for cute also <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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varies <\/FONT>in strength between the genders<\/EM>. Happily, I am not.  That’s <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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probably because: (1) I just finished reading Marriane J. Legato, MD’s<\/FONT><\/DIV>
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Why Men Never Remember and Women Never Forget<\/EM><\/FONT><\/A> (2005), which <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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details the many differences in the male and female brains, bodies, <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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emotions, etc.  (2) I’ve never known a male who collected Hummels.<\/FONT><\/DIV>
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 <\/DIV>
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And, more importantly, (3) For over 50 years, I have noticed that <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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girls and women say “Isn’t that cute?” far more than boys and <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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men do.  Indeed, it seems to me that males almost never <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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initiate the topic of cuteness — unless<\/EM> they are trying to get on <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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the good side of a female.<\/FONT><\/DIV>
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<\/FONT> <\/DIV>
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\"maleSym\" \"femaleSym\" This gender difference makes sense<\/FONT>.  The evolution and history <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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of <\/FONT>our race <\/FONT>have made it far more important and natural for mothers to <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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r<\/FONT>eact <\/FONT>to the needs of infants than the father.  (I’m not endorsing these <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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gender roles, just pointing out reality.)   If women were not more <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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attentive than men to the needs of children, the race would have <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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died out a long time ago.<\/FONT><\/DIV>
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<\/FONT> <\/DIV>
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cleaning the poop out
    his little Superman
          underpants<\/FONT><\/DIV>
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<\/FONT> <\/DIV>
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    <\/FONT>Tom Clausen<\/STRONG><\/FONT><\/A><\/DIV><\/DIV><\/BLOCKQUOTE><\/BLOCKQUOTE><\/BLOCKQUOTE><\/BLOCKQUOTE><\/BLOCKQUOTE>
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<\/FONT> <\/DIV>
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The article mentions another aspect of The Cute Factor that also <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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seems likely to affect males more than females:<\/FONT><\/DIV>
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“Denis Dutton, a philosopher of art at the University of Can-<\/FONT><\/DIV>
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terbury in New Zealand, the rapidity and promiscuity of the <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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cute response makes the impulse suspect, readily overridden <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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by the angry sense that one is being exploited or deceived. <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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<\/FONT> <\/DIV>
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” ‘Cute cuts through all layers of meaning and says, Let’s not <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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worry about complexities, just love me,’ said Dr. Dutton, who <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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is writing a book about Darwinian aesthetics. ‘That’s where the <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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sense of cheapness can come from, and the feeling of being <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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manipulated or taken for a sucker that leads many to reject <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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cuteness as low or shallow’.” <\/FONT><\/DIV><\/BLOCKQUOTE>
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Although I had never thought of it in quite this way, Dutton’s notion <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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resonates with me.  Many other males would, I think, also see <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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themselves as having the “rational” fear of being manipulated by <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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cuteness (could it be because men can never be sure just who <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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fathered an infant and are thus reluctant to make a quick familial <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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commitment?).   That is surely the male reaction to the advertisers <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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and product designers who, according to the article, “<\/FONT>are forever <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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toying with cute cues to lend their merchandise instant appeal, <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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mixing and monkeying with the vocabulary of cute to keep the <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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message fresh and fetching.”  <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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<\/FONT> <\/DIV>
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“SnowManBroom”<\/FONT><\/DIV>
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<\/FONT> <\/DIV>
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That’s as far out as I’m sticking my neck tonight.  Your Comments <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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and <\/FONT>insights are welcome, as always.  Hate mail should be directed <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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at <\/FONT>Prof. Yabut.  <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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 <\/DIV>
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<\/FONT> <\/DIV>
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to the cat:
“that’s complete and
utter nonsense”<\/FONT><\/DIV>
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<\/FONT> <\/DIV>
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<\/FONT> <\/DIV>
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 <\/DIV>
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<\/FONT> <\/DIV><\/BLOCKQUOTE><\/BLOCKQUOTE><\/BLOCKQUOTE>
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New Year’s …
recycling last year’s
resolutions
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second day
of the New Year:
taxes arrive<\/FONT><\/DIV>
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<\/FONT> <\/DIV>
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<\/FONT> <\/DIV><\/FONT><\/FONT><\/BLOCKQUOTE><\/BLOCKQUOTE><\/BLOCKQUOTE>
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Tom Clausen<\/STRONG><\/FONT><\/A> <\/FONT>
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           from Homework<\/FONT><\/A><\/EM> (2000)<\/FONT><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/DIV>
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<\/FONT><\/SPAN><\/SPAN> <\/DIV>
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                                                                                               \"pandaCute\"<\/FONT><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/DIV>
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<\/FONT><\/SPAN><\/SPAN> <\/DIV>
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<\/FONT><\/SPAN><\/SPAN> <\/DIV><\/DIV><\/BLOCKQUOTE><\/BLOCKQUOTE><\/BLOCKQUOTE><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

– Welcome to those coming from Blawg Review Awards 2005. For our reaction to winning the “Creative Law Blog” Award, see thanks a lot (for all this pressure) . Nothing demonstrates the importance of cuteness in our   emotional lives and consumer habits quite as well as the Christmas gift-opening ritual among an extended, multi- generational family.  “That’s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":94,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2926],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4304","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pre-06-2006"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6kP1R-17q","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4304","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/94"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4304"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4304\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12844,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4304\/revisions\/12844"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4304"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4304"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4304"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}