Please, Don’t Call Me Cute

Being cute is great, but we want to hear you say a little more than that.

When I was a small girl and I first started to dance, I was cute. I had chubby cheeks and a pink tutu, and I danced like a clumsy toddler. I wore my hair in pigtails and had a bubbly personality all while being extremely energetic. I was cute.

When someone calls me cute, it reminds of a baby bunny. As I got older, I didn’t want to be called cute anymore because the word made me feel small. It made me feel like a child, and the word started to become meaningless to me. I was cute.

What does that even mean? Did it mean that I was pretty? It meant that I was cute. The word has always came across as a playful descriptor that doesn’t seem serious. It really doesn’t seem like a big deal, but believe me. Telling a girl that she is beautiful or gorgeous makes a huge difference.

Yes, we all do cute things sometimes. I don’t always like to wear the same color socks, and sometimes I prefer to lay on the floor. That’s cute, but when I spend the time to do my hair and makeup, I don’t want to be called cute. I want to be called beautiful or gorgeous or stunning. I want to be more than cute.

I noticed that many people don’t understand the difference, and that is more than understandable. If you look up the word cute and compare it to the definition for beautiful, they are basically the same thing. Not every women cares if she is called cute, and some may even prefer it. Not everything we do should be considered cute though.

Sometimes we are talented or intelligent. We can be creative, funny, and friendly. Some of us are extremely determined or entertaining. There are so many more adjectives that can be used other than cute. We love to hear them not only for our own self-esteem, but also because simple words like that make us feel cared for.  

Cute is not a bad word, and it still has a positive meaning behind it most of the time, but remember that it isn’t the only word that can be used to describe a person. Sometimes, all we want is to hear a little bit more. We want to hear what we really are whether it is skillful, beautiful, smart, or all of the above. Let the people you care about know how you really think of them. Cute is too easy, and we are more complicated than that. 

Author's Note

This is my first writing for this site, and i'm used to simply writing what is on my mind. Please let me know what you think!

Reviews

[cbritto6]

Hi Deana! Your message is thoughtful and I can see where you're coming from. I'm a guy and I probably call girls cute too much, so this will make me more conscientious of it.

However, this labeled a story and it's not quite a story. A story has a narrative. This is more of a blog post or beginning to an essay. So taken in that light, here a couple ways you can improve this:
"I wore my hair in pigtails and had a bubbly personality all while being extremely energetic. "- I wore....pigtails" could go in the sentence before, and the rest can be shortened, it would make reading more smooth.

"As I got older, I didn’t want to be called cute anymore because the word made me feel small. It made me feel like a child" - This could be all made into one sentence, since it's a bit repetitive.

And also you repeat "I don't to be called cute" and "call me/us beautiful, gorgeous". Try synonyms or omitting some of them.

But like I said, it made me think and that's probably what you wanted! I'll read more if you keep posting!

[barleygirl]

This is one of my favorite rants that I've read in a long time. Many times a person doing a rant is so wrapped up in the feelings, they forget about the writing . . . and it suffers. Here, you have taken the time to explain this whole concept from many angles, all with recognizable & relatable examples. I mean, who woulda thought that "cute" could conjure up this much angst?!?!? As a personal preference, I do not relate so much to replacing "cute" with "beautiful" or "gorgeous" (since they all refer to physical beauty that isn't really something I prefer to be praised about) . . . but I definitely loved when you got to the part about replacing "cute with many other adjectives to denote a person's true worth in various ways. I kinda wished this were more about THAT, than about being all dolled up & wanting to be gorgeous, not cute. Eventually even gorgeous fades away & we are stuck with attributes that we earn the hard way.

[PaintedBirdy]

hi Deana Leigh! i like this story. i thought it was funny but also serious. and i particularly like how you describe how just one word can have so many nuances, and just because the dictionary describes it one way it can also have many other connotations. i've noticed in my life that when people say certain words i have to ask them "what does that mean to you exactly?" because words have all these different meanings. i like how you also specifically mention that people want different things, it's very true. this was creative and thoughtful, good writing! i hope you post more of these!

[Addict With a Pen]

Cool! I like how you started out with a memory, it really sets the writing. I love how you just wrote what you had on your mind, its good to just go out and do that sometimes. I like how you used your words and expressions.
Keep writing!

[Jacob Clifford]

You know what? You made some very fair points. How you described what cute means to you in the first paragraph was a great way to show your perspective. Well-written and detailed enough to get your point across. Welcome to the Cafe! I hope to see you around.

[Deana Leigh]

Thank you so much!

[AliciaB]

This is great! I like the structure of starting out with a small example from your childhood, then progressing outward through your life and finally to the bigger meaning of your experiences to the rest of the world. I agree with you completely on the "cute" thing. Yes, it's nice at times, but there is much more to us than that. Your final line is stellar. It's a beautiful way to conclude this piece - you restate what you've been discussing the entire time, but you add an interesting twist with the idea of cute being too "easy" of a compliment. Keep up the great work, and welcome to WritersCafe!

[Deana Leigh]

Thank you so much for the positive comments, and thank you for such a warm welcome to the site!