Cutegasm
Cute culture is taking over the world and making our brains soft while we’re watching YouTube clips of laughing babies and sleepy puppies, according to an article in Vanity Fair. Our growing fascination with overly cute things is said to be part of a broader cultural movement which has arisen in a context of war, economic collapse and Wi Fi excess. One of the most viewed clips on YouTube is a video titled “Hahaha” showing a baby laughing in a high chair. The rise of cute has gone hand in hand with viral culture. Meanwhile, pictures of celebrity kids is said to be what keeps the tabloid industry afloat. And by 2010, pastel coloured cupcakes will be more popular than the way too mature wedding cake. Cuteness has become officially trendy and is permeating mainstream culture and marketing. Rock band Weezer is one of the unlikely new faces of cute; the group is endorsing cute product Snuggie, a wearable blanket for warmth and comfort. The unloved car industry is also tapping into the cute trend. When the Smart car was introduced into the U.S. last year spokesman Ken Kettenbeil said, “If you look at it from the front, with the position of the grill and the headlights, it looks like it’s smiling.” The word cutegasm has entered the lexicon, which an Urban Dictionary user has defined as “The reaction one feels when being exposed to something overly cute. This may be an emotional, physical or even sexual response.” Here’s the example: “When Holly saw the baby trying to dance, she had a cutegasm.”
