Pouring Cold Water On The Cult Of Cute

I read a great article today by Laura Freeman, the chief art critic of The Times, about how the cult of Cute took over the world but to count her out as she laments how the Japanese fashion for fluffiness that once seemed adorable has become overbearing - you could say she was pouring cold water on it, so I thought why not represent that with my image!
The wildly popular trend is being explored in a new exhibition called Cute at Somerset House In London and is described as "exploding the irresistible force of cuteness in contemporary culture". Think of the leading lady as Hello Kitty, the palette as pink and the vibe as snuggly.
The exhibition makes the case for the cultural importance of cute. Apparently Cute studies is a thriving academic discipline with its own academic language. An example can be taken from wording in the show's catalogue:
"Cute delights in dichotomies, hybrids, and opposites: young/old, ugly/adorable, happy/sad, light/dark, dominant/passive, cruel/tender, masculine/feminine, human/non-human.
The oscillating dynamic which flows between the cute object and its consumer (for it is always intended to be consumed), where the line between desire, seduction, agency and manipulation is blurred, even made irrelevant, is merely a reflection of cute's own vital indeterminacy". 
She argues that all this kind of over the top waffle aside, the cult of cute is a fascinating subject in its own right with its own particular aesthetics (which we know when we see it: wide eyes, big head, little limbs, soft body and a wobbly walk being just some examples), how biologists believe that cuteness was an adapted trait that appeared early in our evolution to encourage parents to protect their helpless, squishable offspring and even how Cute, with a capital C (and capitalist), is a particularly Japanese creation which may have had its beginnings in the Shinto religion, whose followers see life in all things.
However, her argument is that it has now gone too far and that it is infantilising adults - giving an example of how with every passing season fashion gets cuter - with even high-end brands such as Max Mara (with a £7,855 special edition sparkly Teddy Bear coat), Loewe (with bags in the shapes of elephants, penguins, pandas or hippos starting at £625) and Mulberry (with a Miffy Bayswater rabbit tote at £1,295) climbing aboard the cute bandwagon.
Her own daughter is 14 months old and has her own little wicker pram full of bunnies, teddies and a particularly cute winsome plush panda that she pushes around the kitchen, which is as it should be at that age, but by the time she's dropping her off at university she'd be worried if the bunnies came too.