Despre ursuleţi şi oameni

„One of the primary examples of this comfort culture that I discuss throughout this book is the teddy bear. While teddy bears have a long history in American culture since the time of Theodore Roosevelt, they have emerged as particular kinds of icons in the past two decades. No context of loss seems to be complete today without teddy bears with particular insignia. This started in the beginning years of the AIDS crisis in the early 1980 when people began to give teddy bears to people who were sick with AIDS, and the teddy bear has been increasingly deployed as a commodity of grief since that time. Over the course of the late twentieth century, teddy bears were made larger and less like actual bears, their arms sewn in overstretched poses as if asking for a hug. It is important to note that this recent consumerism of teddy bears is aimed not at children but at adult consumers, and it carries with it the effect of infantilization. These teddy bears are thus primarily objects that are intended to provide comfort to people, to convey the message that one can and will feel better. It is notable that after the events of 9/11, many organizations distributed Teddy Bears in New York City. In the first day after the attacks, when the Salvation Army organized to help people who were returning to the city after being evacuated to places like New Jersey, they greeted them with teddy bears.”
(Marita Sturken, Tourists of History: Memory, Kitsch and Consumerism from Oklahoma City to Ground Zero, Duke University Press, Durham, 2007, pag 6-7).

Nu-mi revin din ridicolul situaţiei. Îmi imaginez scena: dezastru naţional, trupe speciale mobilizate care găsesc soluţia perfectă: să asalteze totul cu ursuleţi şi să facă lumea mai bună. Cred că teroriştii ar fi renunţat la planul lor, impresionaţi până în străfundul sufletului, dacă ar fi ştiut ce nevoie imensă de ursuleţi va declanşa fapta lor rea.

Şi as propos de infantilizare, cred că presiunea pentru ea se exercită social mai mult asupra femeilor. Nu cred că bărbaţii primesc prea des ursuleţi.

Îmi amintesc acum de imaginea feminităţii ideale din filmele anilor '50-'60. Femeia-înger, cu ochii foarte mari, foarte miraţi (şi ea era obligatoriu mirată în continuu), eventual înlăcrimaţi şi visători, cu voce piţigăiată de fetiţă şi cu gesturi corespunzătoare. Inocenţa întruchipată. N-aş putea spune exact de ce, dar am senzaţia că omenirea nu a depăşit încă momentul.