The identity of Hello Kitty is illusive. While it’s appearance indicates that it is evidently a cat,  it’s creator claims that she is in fact a girl. This piece opens up conversations about the infantilisation and objectification of women in kawaii culture, and suggests that gender and identity could be something that we wear like a lolita dress.

The use of Hello Kitty toilet paper alludes to patriarchy’s simultaneous desire and othering of women. The thought of wiping one’s buttocks with the face of kawaii is both extremely absurd and abject. In the words of Kristeva: “dung signifies the other side the border, the place where I am not”. It is alarming that humanity loves to anthropomorphize animals, while dehumanizing women who stray from stereotypical societal expectations.