Wednesday, August 08, 2007

hello, Kitty: threat to global masculinity


horror of horrors!
who will save us from the egregious crimes of bad policemen?
Hello, Kitty!!

one one hand we have the 'isn't it funny?' factor of modern thai crimebusting; on the other hand we are presented the same old tired thinking that anything 'girly' is kryptonite for 'real' manly men. what is more shaming than an official reprimand? this from a police officer:

“This new twist is expected to make them feel guilt and shame and prevent them from repeating the offense, no matter how minor,” he said. “Kitty is a cute icon for young girls. It’s not something macho police officers want covering their biceps.”

cute. pink. girlish. childish. feminine. danger to masculinity everywhere. elicits shame and guilt.
who knew Hello, Kitty had so much power?

hey, let's make a bunch of these armbands and drop them on iraq.

To Punish Thai Police, a Hello Kitty Armband - New York Times

2 comments:

super des said...

I rather like Hello Kitty. It's a shame that poor Kitty is considered a punishment.

Delia Christina said...

they don't understand kitty.
(though i'm a Bad Badtzmaru kind of person, myself.)

i have a girl friend who made one of those photo books full of pictures of her little stuffed hello kitty on vacation with her in cabo.

frakking hilarious. (here's hello kitty with a cocktail! on the beach! waiting for the train! in first class!)