Sianne Ngai

The asymmetry of power that cuteness revolves around is another compelling reminder of how aesthetic categories register social conflict. There can be no experience of any person or object as cute that does not somehow call up the subject__ sense of power over those who are less powerful. But, as Lori Merish underscores, the fact that the cute object seems capable of making an affective demand on the subject__ demand for care that the subject is culturally as well as biologically compelled to fulfill__s already a sign that __ute_ does not just denote a static power differential, but rather a dynamic and complex power struggle.