Warning: Explicit language and content below.
Okay, we all know that the internet is full of vulgarity. Curse words, rule 34, and obscene trolls are just the tip of this lovely iceberg. But, the internet also has its pastel corners, cutesy art, shops dedicated to adorable vintage toys, and blogs focusing on pastels....
And then there's stuff like this that combines the two:
I showed these sorts of things to my mom one day, and she reacted with shock. For her, it wasn't normal to see such vulgar phrases being put next to pixel bunnies and bears, or upside down crosses done in pink and lavender.
The same reaction happened again and again as I showed friends these images. The juxtaposition of intensely cutesy art and photos with curse words or insults or satanic imagery tended to shock people, or even offend them. And I, of course, ended up loving the combo and plastering my laptop and phone backgrounds with melty pastel wallpapers saying things like "fuck you" or "suck a dick". And I loved it!
For myself, I believe part of the appeal rested in your typical "girly"/"feminine" aesthetic while having really un-ladylike features. People who identify as female are so often held to the standard of liking girly things, and sometimes, you just want to say "fuck you" to people who expect your personality to be just as soft as your pastels.
And that is what this is all about. Enjoying something women are "supposed" to enjoy while smashing it together with something a woman should never do (curse, be mean, you know, all those things that are totally for boys). I mean, the amount of times I've been told I need to like pink and I need to not curse, cross my legs...it gets old, and you get irritated.
There's something empowering about this art to me, something that says "yes I like pink and pastels, but fuck off, I don't like you." As someone often forced to navigate socialization as a female, I know all too well the expectations placed on me. I need to be polite, apologize for everything, never interrupt a man who's speaking, and marry a man someday and want kids (um, barf).
To me, this sort of art and aesthetic is almost like a rebellion against what's expected of me. I especially love pastel gore; there's just something wickedly awesome about seeing beautiful pastel art of someone with her intestines hanging out. From my upbringing and the attitudes of the people around me, I learned that I shouldn't like "gross" stuff and that I should play with dolls and get ready to be a homemaker. And there's just a giant fuck you to society in art that plays with expectations that can be so ingrained. I suppose I also like it because one of my dream jobs is to become a mortician and also become legally certified to embalm dead bodies, but hey, we'll just pretend I like the pastel gore for other reasons.
Even outside of art this juxtaposition is becoming more and more popular. Creepy cute is a semi-popular fashion utilizing this cute/pastel/grotesque/vulgar formula. Below, Anzujaamu (Tumblr here) shows creepy cute makeup, the perfect show of this combo. As you can see, her face is literally split 50/50 between really cute makeup, and makeup that makes her look like a demon or something. There's even a skeletal hand hair clip on the creepy side of her face.
Humans are naturally drawn towards cute things (science says this is why we like baby animals so much).....and a lot of us are also fascinated with things of a macabre, violent, or crude nature. Maybe creepy cute, and this mixing of cute and vulgar is really just an outlet of something we're all into. That could possibly explain the popularity of this fashion, others like it, and the aforementioned art.
Whatever the reason, I have to say I'm glad it exists, if only so I can tell someone to fuck off in dripping, pixel letters.
these are amazing !! 👍
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