Thai cops punished by Hello Kitty

[kenosis]

Police chiefs in the Thai capital, Bangkok, have come up with a new way of punishing officers who break the rules - an eye-catching Hello Kitty armband

Comments

[rantipole6]

Too funny!

[sparklebutch]

There's a whole thesis between anthropology and gender studies on why the hell Hello Kitty is "shaming". And the meaning of pink.

[revaaron]

Do you see it as being the pink so much as the Hello Kitty?

My first response is to see it as "shaming" because it is forcing upon some officer, who is likely male, and likely embodies the "cop" macho stereotype to some extent to be associated with something that grammar school girls squeal over.

It seems to me that if 'Hello Kitty' was about a more blue color scheme that it wouldn't suddenly lose much in the way of shame, but rather that the people behind Hello Kitty were just playing to extant stereotypes about what "girls want."

[sparklebutch]

The pink is... really not the issue here. Despite the fact that yes, it is very bright and very associated. If it was black, it would look different and resonate different, and wouldn't catch the eye so much.

But that is a tiny tiny percentage of the issue. What you said is the issue here - the girlie thing.

[kenosis]

Where does something like this fit into the thesis, though?

[thorny_rose]

The real sign of macho is swaggering around with a pink Hello Kitty armband and continuing to strike fear into the hearts of civilians, thinking of your punishment as simply accessorizing to bewilder your suspects. :)

[revaaron]

Haha, exactly! That's what I always thought. Or rather, replace "macho" with "badass," and you'd be right. People who are that concerned about being "macho" likely are compensating for something...

[jamescuck]

I got this from MAN Fertility. I still don't get why it's punishment.
Tourism Authority of Thailand