The binary construct of consumer culture has long been linked to female desire. It is also the primary method in which society defines, imposes, and enforces femininity. The sentimental narratives used to promote female consumption subtly define a paternalistic role, which simultaneously allows the consumer to be the caretaker and the voluntary dependent. By dangling a false sense of ownership, power, and autonomy, mass culture manipulates females to fall in line with normalized political and social hierarchies. “Commodity capitalism has been identified as a (if not the) principle material expression of American civic culture and ‘freedom’”, and immigrants, needing to assimilate, register this relationship as the physical embodiment of the Americanization. At every stage of womanhood, regardless of culture, there are clearly defined roles and behaviours prescribed by society, disguised as a logical and naturalized basis of civility. The boundaries these performative gender constructs create are amplified when class, race, and culture intersect.

Kitty Pops

Kitty Pops began with my fascination with the psychology behind societal ties of oral fixation and female sexuality. As the audience consumes the candy ring pops, they are forced to invest the time in reflecting on where the line between innocence and vulnerability blur with sexuality, especially when it comes to Asian women. The three hypersexualized renditions of Hello Kitty are a satirical critique on the Confucius’ phrase “非禮勿視, 非禮勿聽, 非禮勿言, 非禮勿動” (Look not at what is contrary to propriety; listen not to what is contrary to propriety; speak not what is contrary to propriety; make no movement which is contrary to propriety), which later influenced the 17th century carving of the iconic three wise monkeys by Hidari Jingaro and the popular maxim “see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil”.

Kitty Communion

Photo Credit: B. Fortuné and Katarina Kaneff