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The Lolita Complex: - Scholarly Commons Home

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As Yuko Hasagawa has argued:<br />

Immaturity does not necessarily… signify innocence. In Japan, intentionally<br />

remaining in a state of kawaisa (cuteness), an undefined or indeterminate state in<br />

which “determination” (maturity) is never reached, has the potential to perform a<br />

political function of undermining current ideologies of gender and power… [and]<br />

could also be interpreted as a deliberately oppositional image. 132<br />

In other words, the appearance of innocence does not necessarily determine<br />

a lack of conscience.<br />

“It is at this point that the word kawaii may…<br />

be able to take on an expanded function within the collective consciousness<br />

that signifies…<br />

all things that evoke a response”. 133<br />

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