Everything is relative in matters of cuteness<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): I love animals, apart from reptiles, which
\ndisgust and scare me. I am left so depressed if I accidentally
\ntouch a picture of a snake in an encyclopedia; I guess I have a
\nsort of snake phobia.<\/p>\n
Members of the bird family do not do much for me, except baby
\nbirds. Yes, all baby animals are cute, save for babies of
\nreptiles and insects. Confusing, huh? I love mammals and fish. My
\nfavorite mammals are dolphins and cows, but alas it's impossible
\nto have those animals as pets since I do not live by the sea nor
\non a farm. I prefer the humble dog as the next best pet after
\nfish and I am sure all dogs love me.<\/p>\n
My mom gave me a pet rabbit when I was in high school. He was
\nso cute, and at first everybody in the family loved him. As he
\ngot older, however, he started to chew my father's shoes, then he
\ngnawed on my mom's favorite couch. My mom was so infuriated she
\ngave him to my uncle. Then he chewed my uncle's bed, so he gave
\nhim away to a friend of his.<\/p>\n
I heard this man decided to eat the rabbit after he chewed his
\ndaughter's school bag!<\/p>\n
When I was in university, my sister brought home a puppy. She
\nnamed him after the Russian scientist Pavlov. I loved him so
\nmuch.<\/p>\n
One day we had to leave him with someone because we needed to
\nvisit my grandparents in the village. A day after we got back
\nhome, I found him sick. He died in my arms at the vet's.<\/p>\n
My sister tried to cheer me up by saying it was all her fault
\nbecause she had named him after a well-known scientist. A
\nJavanese belief is that when you are named after an important
\nperson, there is the probability that the name could be too much
\nfor you to bear, burdening you with bad luck all your life.
\nPerhaps the name Pavlov was too much for my pooch.<\/p>\n
I am afraid I am sort of a black widow to pets. After Pavlov,
\na friend gave me a purebred Pekinese. He died of a heart attack
\nwhen we had to renovate our house and the noise of the work was
\ntoo much for him.<\/p>\n
Well, at least I do not eat them. I was invited to visit a
\nfriend in eastern France and they showed me around their house
\nand introduced me to their dogs, plus a cute rabbit.<\/p>\n
While I was playing with the rabbit, they said: \"He is going
\nto be dinner tonight, and he's going to be yummy.\" Excuse me, I
\nthought, but isn't he too cute to be on a plate?<\/p>\n
A professor of mine, also from France, told a story of how he
\nate dog in China.<\/p>\n
\"Professor, how could you, they're man's best friend,\" I said.<\/p>\n
\"So you love dogs, young lady?\"<\/p>\n
\"Yes.\"<\/p>\n
\"So do I, but on a plate,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Forgive me for being too conservative when it comes to what
\nmeat to eat. For me, cute things deserve to be cuddled, not
\neaten.<\/p>\n
A friend asked me: \"How about cows?\"<\/p>\n
\"They're cute.\"<\/p>\n
\"How about goats?\"<\/p>\n
\"They're cute, too.\" They are cute, especially the young ones.<\/p>\n
\"And how about fish?\"<\/p>\n
\"Of course they are cute\"<\/p>\n
\"So why eat them?\"<\/p>\n
He said my definition of cuteness was relative. Something cute
\nfor me may be ugly for somebody else. And my argument that cute
\nanimals should not be eaten did not work along the same lines as
\nmy eating habits. He said I did not appear to recognize the
\nlogical contradiction in my egocentric thoughts.<\/p>\n
My answer is that we can easily accept things that make us
\nhappy, things that we consider to be beautiful, cute, sexy,
\nthings we can control, all having good attributes according to
\nour own values.<\/p>\n
In contrast, we cannot accept things with bad attributes,
\naccording to our own definition of what is badness itself.
\nEverything is relative. Everybody has their own beliefs and
\npreferences on things they like.<\/p>\n
A Taoist principles states: \"When everyone knows beauty is
\nbeauty, this is bad. When everyone knows good is good, this is
\nnot good. So being and nonbeing produce difficulty and complement
\neach other, long and short shape each other, high and low
\ncontrast with each other ...\"<\/p>\n
In life we have to accept good and bad, because that is what
\nmakes the world go round.<\/p>\n
Whenever I meet the professor now and he asks me if I still
\neat meat and fish, I answer, \"I'm almost a vegetarian now\".<\/p>\n
Which I am not. Shhhhhh.<\/p>\n
-- Laksmi Prasvita<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/everything-is-relative-in-matters-of-cuteness-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }