No, John, this is precisely my point. Infant cats are, in this usage, ascribed qualities of cuteness, sweetness, fluffiness, helplessness, smallness, etc. Infant cats in this usage lack attributes of maturity, adulthood, sexuality in the sense of having one, and are considered not to be responsible for their actions.
You are not small; you are not fluffy in any possible sense, either physically or metaphorically; you are not helpless or particularly sweet or overwhelmingly cute in the way a kitten is, though you are not unattractive - your attractiveness is, however, linked to your sexuality, which cutesy-wutesy kittens do not have.
Shall I compare thee to a kitten? Thou'rt basically completely different and the comparison is essentially pointless. You do not manifest good qualities in the same way as an infant cat. Very few people do.
My point is that if you refer to a person as a kitten, you are referring only to wishy-washy cutesy-wutesy aspects of their self, and leaving out anything which makes them an ADULT person, like their sexual drive, their responsibility for their actions, their ability to say no. It's dehumanising and objectifying, and I really dislike it.
You could refer to a baby in this way, perhaps, but not an adult.
In what way do the crowd who go to B-Movie often, and are referred to by some as the Kitten Collective, manifest good qualities in the same way as an infant cat? Go on, tell me.
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Date: Saturday, 15 November 2003 03:38 am (UTC)You are not small; you are not fluffy in any possible sense, either physically or metaphorically; you are not helpless or particularly sweet or overwhelmingly cute in the way a kitten is, though you are not unattractive - your attractiveness is, however, linked to your sexuality, which cutesy-wutesy kittens do not have.
Shall I compare thee to a kitten? Thou'rt basically completely different and the comparison is essentially pointless. You do not manifest good qualities in the same way as an infant cat. Very few people do.
My point is that if you refer to a person as a kitten, you are referring only to wishy-washy cutesy-wutesy aspects of their self, and leaving out anything which makes them an ADULT person, like their sexual drive, their responsibility for their actions, their ability to say no. It's dehumanising and objectifying, and I really dislike it.
You could refer to a baby in this way, perhaps, but not an adult.
In what way do the crowd who go to B-Movie often, and are referred to by some as the Kitten Collective, manifest good qualities in the same way as an infant cat? Go on, tell me.