Kawaii + Me

I have a lot of mixed feelings about the "kawaii" culture now, as I did as a child as well.  As a young child, I resented cutesy toys and dolls, preferring dinosaurs and Star Wars figurines.  I loved stuffed animals, but only because I loved animals more than people at that point.  To this day, the pastel colors and infantile toys make me grimace, and I remember receiving a Hello Kitty clock when I was kid and hating it.  

Ironically, I still own this clock today, but at this point, I've had it so long that I don't even acknowledge the colors or Hello Kitty figure.  It does amuse me that such items that I was expected to like as a little girl - the original demographic - are now so popular to adults in Japan.  I respect the individualistic rebellion against traditional, stifling social norms in Japan, but the aesthetic itself frankly doesn't appeal to me as a fashion statement.  On the other hand, I will shamefully admit that sometimes I enjoy cutesy animes or anime moments (and I still have stuffed animals, like Aika-san), so I can't denounce the kawaii altogether.