e150. Sexy Cartoons: You Know… for the Kids!

Have you ever noticed how sexy cartoons are? On last week’s Valentines Day show we talked about sexuality in superhero comics and other media. In that case we were largely talking about the kinds of media that really is targeted at adults or at least teens. Comics that are clearly trying to tackle sexual issues,…

Call for Comments: Sexy Cartoons and the Kid Gaze?

From Mav: As we approach Valentines Day this year I started thinking about our Valentine’s special from last year about “fictional celebrity crushes.” One of the things we drifted into talking about on that episode was characters like Lola Bunny and Harley Quinn — characters that despite originating in children’s cartoons, were clearly created explicitly…

e72. The Power of Cuteness

The Internet has two main purposes: porn and cute kittens. The reason people like porn is obvious… or if it isn’t… well, that’s a different show. But what about the kittens? Why do we like cute things so much? The answer isn’t as obvious as it seems. For one thing, cute is a complicated concept.…

Call for Comments: Cuteness and Popular Culture

From Hannah: Happily, we’re surrounded by cute things. The Internet was made for photos of cute cats (and hedgehogs and teacup pigs and otters and puppies and wombats and foxes and all the baby animals). How many people have gone to see films like How to Train Your Dragon or The Secret Life of Pets…

Call for Comments: Comics for Kids?

From Mav: I had an interesting experience at the comic book store Wayne works at this week. I was standing around browsing the new releases when a white woman walked into the store with her 9ish-year-old daughter and asked Wayne and the other employees for help finding comics featuring both Shuri and Ironheart. With Shuri,…

Episode 18: She-Ra and the Male Gaze

If you happened to see a mid-tier 1980s cartoon superheroine get a costume update that was less objectifyingly sexy for a modern day reboot of the series in the last couple weeks and you were shocked to see a bunch of angry middle-aged men complaining about it… well then, “hello there! You must be new…