HELLO, it’s me, Chihiro. In the article below, I talked about why I love Hello Kitty.
I was especially moved by her remark on YouTube.
Hi, Kitty. I am a man who likes you as you are so kawaii (= cute). People around me laugh at me, saying it is weird for men. Do you think so too?
Definitely not. I am so sorry to make you feel like that. It’s my fault that I still cannot extricate myself from traditional public image that I am the character only for women. I promise you that I will make the world that everyone can like whatever they want without being denied.
From then, for me, Hello Kitty is the magnificent role model who frees the word ‘kawaii’ from women’s virtue and redefine it as gender-free word encouraging all the people.
The character Hello Kitty was made by the famous company SANRIO. And, in Japan, an exhibition celebrating the 60th anniversary of the company’s foundation is now held. So, as one of the fans of Hello Kitty, I went there with Candice.
Entering the exhibition hall, my heart pounded with joy. There were not only a lot of women but also some men. They all seemed enjoying the first exhibition, the big statue of Sanrio characters. I was sure the exhibition would be great. So, we proceeded.
…and we went on…
……and we stepped forward…
…and we……
…………got out from the hall.
…Before I said anything, Candice said, quietly.
…The exhibition mentioned that “Kawaii is the word for girls” again and again.
…IKR 🙁
She was right. The contents of the exhibition can be summarized as below:
And what is worse, the exhibition contains LOTS of gender stereotypes, such as “Girls fall in love with boys!!” “Girls love cute things!!” “Girls want to marry!!” and so on and so on and so on…
I seriously doubt the people who made the exhibition understand what Hello Kitty tries to achieve. If Hello Kitty saw it, she would be really angry, I’m sure.
SANRIO, you are wrong.
GOOD BYE.
コメント / COMMENT