Why do we love sweet things so much?

The cult of cute kittens. This is an obsession among web users that its inventor, Tim Berners-Lee, had not thought of when he created this great interconnected web in 1989. Since then, photos and videos of baby cats have generated a record audience worldwide, on the Internet and on social networks. No less than 294 million hashtags are generated for the simple mention of “chat” on Instagram.

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“The cat, the totem, the emblem, the symbol is one of the central themes that our exhibition explored,” explains Claire Catterall, curator of the exhibition. Sweet, dedicated to the movement of the same name, which has just been completed at Somerset House, London. Scanning several subcultures and epiphenomena, from the birth of kawaii in Japan to the character of Hello Kitty – which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year – among others. My little ponyPikachu and works by contemporary artists, this British exhibition recalled how the history of this movement sweet it is nothing new.

The kitten, internet star

The exchange of kitten memes may predate the creation of the Internet. In fact, the relationship between cats and cuteness goes back to ancient Japan. For example, the first one maneki-neko, these small statues of lucky cats raising their paws (which can now be found in all souvenir shops) appear at the end of the Edo era (1603-1867). Closer to us is the work of the British photographer Harry Pointer. “In the 1870s he took pictures of his cats in humorous poses that could be compared to the first memes,” says Claire Catterall. This long story goes a long way toward explaining why cats have quickly become Internet stars.

But beyond the single case of the cat, how can we explain the increase in cuteness In our lives? With its 675 million dedicated hashtags on Instagram and a pop culture that celebrates it in all its forms, the phenomenon is everywhere. He even invites himself into the half-cycle when Prime Minister Gabriel Attal shares pictures of his puppy with his colleagues. To understand the phenomenon, let us first remember that sweet was theorized in 1949 by the ethnologist Konrad Lorenz.

Another connection to childhood

According to him, the cute creature is necessarily young, with a prominent forehead, a head larger than the body, large eyes, short limbs, elastic skin and clumsy movements. “These qualities trigger empathy and nurturing behavior in us,” says Vincent Lavoie, author of So cute ! Mythologies of sweet (PUF ed.). We would therefore be programmed to take care of everything that is sweet. But this emotional reaction – the famous “awww” – represents much more than a simple biological phenomenon. “We can connect sweet to the development of social conventions throughout history”, insists Doctor Joshua Paul Dale, specialist in sweet studies, a new subject taught at Chuo University in Tokyo. The transformation of the relationship with childhood in our postmodern society, which we now consider an important phase of life rather than a moment from which we must escape as quickly as possible, has made possible the aesthetic sweet to get its full meaning. And his strength.

Collecting sylvan animal figurines or sharing animal videos on social networks has thus become a kind of bulwark against the horrors of the modern world. “Yes that one sweet is childish but not infantilizing. By allowing us to recapture some of that youthful spirit, this movement gives us a respite from the anxiety and pressures of modern life. It creates a space where we can find friendliness, comfort and a sense of belonging,” explains Claire Catterall. Vincent Lavoie, for his part, believes that behind the apparent naivety of a stuffed animal with big eyes lies a form of resistance to productivism. Politics, that sweet ? The power of tenderness.