BlogHer - She's the Cat's Meow! - Comments

The commentary on that post

Super Jive — Sat, 08 Sep 2007 10:12:25 -0500

The commentary on that post is really funny too!

AK-47 kitty? I wonder if that's another one of those unlicensed things.

Your Pop Culture Librarian also writes almost daily at I, Asshole.

Ahh yes, the Kalashikitty.

Bridget Magnus — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 23:37:19 -0500

Ahh yes, the Kalashikitty. Love it! You did see the HK disaster preparedness poster this week?

hello kitty gets her gun on

minnie — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 20:38:36 -0500

When i was in japan i found a hello kitty cell phone charm on which she is sporting an ak-47. genius.

AH MY PEOPLE, I have found

Super Jive — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 18:36:56 -0500

AH MY PEOPLE, I have found my people.

I am so glad I'm not the only one. These ideas didn't really gel for me until recently.

About HK going "mersh," I have noticed in the past few years that there's almost a Juicy Couture look about some of the stuff now. I suppose part of her mission is to be all things to all people.

And Brigid, thanks for the update on the vibrator! I never knew, but it makes sense that it was rogue merch.

********

Your Pop Culture Librarian also writes almost daily at I, Asshole.

I have a Hello Kitty purse

kperfetto — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 15:15:00 -0500

I have a Hello Kitty purse that gets me a lot of compliments. Personally, I prefer the older red Hello Kitty stuff, before she went "mersh."

I almost bought a Hello Kitty digital camera a couple weeks ago because I like the idea of having a "toy" digital camera.

Five Dollar Camera & Five Dollar Radio

Oh heck yes I am a Kitty

Bridget Magnus — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 13:51:56 -0500

Oh heck yes I am a Kitty person. Check the hat in my stock photo? Hello Kitty, Chococat, and the Japanese word for "cute" are tattooed on my arm. You should really check out the Hello Kitty Flickr pool too.

I always loved Choco Cat. I

srcsmgrl — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 13:08:13 -0500

I always loved Choco Cat. I had a key chain fob that I would put on any backpack or bag that I carried and that was always the notebook or pen that I would choose from the Sanrio store. There is a little import store near the University I went to that sold Hello Kitty and I have fond memories of looking through all the cute little things and choosing some trinket to keep my shopping bug happy.

1) The HK vibrator (which I

BrigidKeely — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 12:59:13 -0500

1) The HK vibrator (which I own) was not designed or sold by Sanrio. The character was licensed be a different company to use, Sanrio found out and banned them from continuing to make the personal massagers as it went counter to Sanrio's image. That's why you can't find 'em now.

2) While I'm creeped out by her lack of mouth, several people have pointed out that Japanese emoticons focus more on the eyes than the mouth, and eyes are considered more expressive than mouths are. So maybe the lack-of-mouth is something that Westerners read too much into.

3) I really like Hello Kitty, and have HK pyjamas, the aforementioned vibrator, and some other little toys and doodads of hers. I'm not normally into cutesy stuff, but something about her is just appealing.

She's the Cat's Meow!

Super Jive — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 09:26:46 -0500

Hello Kitty cropcircle. Photo credit: Circlemakers.

This week I have been thinking about Sanrio's supernaturally-popular Hello Kitty, partially because lately I have stumbled onto an unholy amount of crazy Hello Kitty-related products and about six hojillion Hello Kitty superfans. Hello Kitty was born in 1974, three years before me, which means I cannot remember life without her beloved, vapid face.

I do remember discovering her at an out-of-town mall while on a family vacation when I was about six years old. I walked in and was hit with the glorious Sanrio Smell. How to describe it? Plasticky, to be sure, but also indescribably pink. If anything can smell "pink," a Sanrio store does. If you ground up a batch of the tiny pens, erasers, and cel phone charms, and the other dozens of doodads they sell, you could juice it all and sell it as perfume: Sanrio's Eau de Chat Blanc. Ooh la la!

Hello Kitty and her little doodads competed with all the other paraphernalia of my childhood: Barbie, Transformers, Star Wars dollies, Rainbow Brite, and Strawberry Shortcake. When I hit the "tween" years I rejected all the usual childish pastimes, like dolls and other role-playing toys, and I dutifully turned my Barbies into a punk-rock zombie prostitute army, complete with blue mohawks and dead eyes. And poor Ken. I'm not sure what horrified my mother more, the safety pins stuck into Barbie's head, or the improvised pen-cap penis my neighbor (I swear!) taped to Ken's perma-briefed crotch. After this, my mother knew I was transforming into some new creature.

But I never let go of Hello Kitty. During my teen years, I carried the occasional Hello Kitty notebook. In college, Hello Kitty was too childish, too unsophisticated. So I turned to Badtz-maru, the "evil" penguin. Watch out, world! I was "edgy" now, and Sanrio was there to help me express myself. Then I was pregnant with my first child. We watched the ultrasound and saw the girl parts. True confession: As I walked out of the doctor's office I thought, "MWAHAHA! She will love Hello Kitty as much as I do!"

Now my oldest is almost seven, and her two-year-old sister is, at this moment, covered in Hello Kitty stamps that she anointed herself with after sneaking into her sister's art supply drawers. As a mother and a feminist, I have made a choice to beat back the Wave O' Disney, and Barbie has no place in my house, but why is Hello Kitty okay? After all, as many have pointed out, she doesn't even have a mouth.

My only thought about why I still embrace that little cat and why I feel okay with my daughters doing so is because she carries no message about evil stepmothers, or breast size. She just is. You can love her, or not; she will continue to stare blankly and cutely forever.

I started to think that other people might feel the same way as me, because Sanrio has successfully taken Hello Kitty to places where other beloved childhood products have not gone. For example, into your, um, pants. I'm sure many of you have seen the Hello Kitty vibrator. Can you imagine Barbie getting up to these shenanigans? I didn't think so. There is also a Hello Kitty airline, a Hello Kitty themepark called Harmonyland, and a Hello Kitty SARS mask.

I also started to wonder if there was any kind of Hello Kitty backlash. A Hello Kitty Resistance, if you will. What I found delighted me: A chronicle of married life with a Hello Kitty fanantic, called Hello Kitty Hell. If this is the resistance, I'll take it. It's so darned cute!

Finally, a Hello Kitty wedding. Kind of makes me want to do it all over again, know what I mean?

What is it with that cat? Please tell me I'm not the only one.