[FORUM] On the import of the plush octopus
Mar. 2nd, 2013 06:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rfmcdonaldI quite like this cheerful plush octopus, distinguishable from other cephalopods for its eight pairs of arms. The cheerful pink makes this one work.
I wondered: Are the frontiers of what can be considered cute expanding? Or is including a cold-blooded invertebrate among the ranks of animals suitable to be made into toys for children perfectly OK? I lean towards the second option, but I still wonder more generally. As we learn more about the world and the ways in which other animals behave in ways like us, even very distantly related animals, and exhibit evidence of being conscious, does the human mind seize upon these similarities and decide that these others are not Other? In the era of Moby Dick, after all, whales were seen as monstrous brutes while now, after learning about cetacean intelligence and culture, whales generally are stereotyped in popular culture as brilliant gentle giants.
I wondered: Are the frontiers of what can be considered cute expanding? Or is including a cold-blooded invertebrate among the ranks of animals suitable to be made into toys for children perfectly OK? I lean towards the second option, but I still wonder more generally. As we learn more about the world and the ways in which other animals behave in ways like us, even very distantly related animals, and exhibit evidence of being conscious, does the human mind seize upon these similarities and decide that these others are not Other? In the era of Moby Dick, after all, whales were seen as monstrous brutes while now, after learning about cetacean intelligence and culture, whales generally are stereotyped in popular culture as brilliant gentle giants.
