Chicago Cute Stuff: Leslie Bow

WHEN:

4/30/2017 -4/30/2017

WHERE:

Cute Stuff: Leslie Bow, Chicago

DESCRIPTION:

Why do we find some objects cute? Since the 1970s, kawaii (Japanese for “cute style”) has become increasingly prominent, here and abroad: geisha cars, Gwen Stefani’s Harajuku Lovers perfume bottles, Chanel’s “China Doll” handbags. Like the Mammy cookie jar of old, the stylized and racial figures on salt shakers or toys are racial kitsch. But does their cuteness change how we view them? Leslie Bow, professor of English and Asian American Studies at the University of Wisconsin, will ask us to reassess how we feel about the objects around us.