The psychology and biology behind what we find cute, and how cuteness has shaped cultures around the world.
Why are some things cute, and others not? What happens to our brains when we see something cute? And how did cuteness go global, from Hello Kitty to Disney characters?
Cuteness is an area where culture and biology get tangled up. Seeing a cute animal triggers some of the most powerful psychological instincts we have - the ones that elicit our care and protection - but there is a deeper story behind the broad appeal of Japanese cats and saccharine greetings cards.
Joshua Paul Dale, a pioneer in the burgeoning field of cuteness studies, explains how the cute aesthetic spread around the globe, from pop brands to Lolita fashion, kids' cartoons and the unstoppable rise of Hello Kitty. Irresistible delves into the surprisingly ancient origins of Japan's kawaii culture, and uncovers the cross-cultural pollination of the globalised world. If adorable things really do rewire our brains, it can help answer some of the biggest questions we have about our evolutionary history and the mysterious origins of animal domestication.
This is the fascinating cultural history of cuteness, and a revealing look at how our most powerful psychological impulses have remade global style and culture.
"A layer cake of cultural history and developmental biology ... peculiarly charming ... with such a wealth of examples to consider, cute studies has only just begun. There's plenty more to see, and plenty to wave a glow stick at" - Daily Telegraph
"Dale, a cheerful and able raconteur, has written a cracking story, straddling history, art and complex
developmental science" - New Scientist
"Our fasciation with cuteness is more than just a quirk of human psychology; it's fundamental to explaining what made us human in the first place .... an absolute treasure trove of unconventional and unexpected insight" - If Nietzsche Were A Narwhal
"In this accessible, enjoyable book, Joshua Dale takes readers on a tour of the aesthetics and cultural uses of Japanese kawaii and related forms of cuteness, traversing historical times and national boundaries. Dale shows what we can learn about our societies and ourselves when take cuteness seriously" - Tokyo in Transit
