You might be asking yourself, ‘Why am I reading an article about stuffed animals when the world is going crazy?’
I won’t begrudge you for asking that question, since by all accounts, there are many more serious things in the world than the desire to carry a stuffed animal around. Truth is, I led you on. This article isn’t really about stuffed animals; it’s more about fascism, or, more specifically, why it’s important to be whimsical when faced with it.
If you’ve been on any form of social media lately, you’ve seen interviews with anti-ICE protesters. As one protester in a pink inflatable shark suit said, “I think absurdism is the natural foil to fascism.” I agree with the shark’s opinion and present an example: bringing stuffed animals to class. Government policy and attitudes in America today don’t shy away from fascist values or techniques. In oration, narrative crafting and information control, signs point towards an increasingly fascist and authoritarian government. It is in the core of fascism to suppress individual interests and, in doing so, disrupt the daily lives of various marginalized groups and citizens. It is my opinion that, besides having empathy and compassion for everyone, we must maintain a sense of absurdity.
Most adults consider it odd that anyone past their teenage years would wish to carry around a stuffed animal any larger than a keychain. As a result, I’m sure lots of us have felt the need to outgrow such ‘childish’ comforts and impulses. I myself have felt this pressure. As a particularly socially anxious individual, I spend an inordinate amount of time per day thinking about what others may be thinking of me in the privacy of their minds. What a self-centered way of thinking. Moving through college, I’ve come to realize most people couldn’t care less about what you wear or what you bring to class unless it actively disrupts them. So why not bring a stuffed animal to class?
Stuffed toys decrease cortisol levels and reduce stress in adults and children. For me, bringing a stuffed toy to class decreases my anxiety and increases my focus, and while I can’t claim the same for everyone, I do encourage it for one main reason. In class, my stuffed animals make my classmates (and sometimes the professor) smile. Bringing others joy and being just slightly left of normal allows us to acclimate ourselves to small acts of resistance to what is socially acceptable. We all have to realize that life can be unserious.
We seasonally engage in socially acceptable whimsy. Every year, around Halloween, it suddenly becomes acceptable to go to class in full cosplay or dress in outfits otherwise unacceptable throughout the year. Why shouldn’t you be allowed to go to class in cosplay when you like? Lots of people bedazzle bags and clothes with fun fandom pins and keychains. Why shouldn’t this translate to being happily bedazzled all the time?
Perhaps I am more of a pessimist than the average person, but I found it hard to keep feeling joy in the face of a seemingly grim future. When I spoke to my dad about this, all he said was, “You are the only person who can make yourself happy.” Obviously, this is not the best thing to hear in a moment of emotional vulnerability, but in hindsight, he was mostly right. So I had to ask myself, what can I do every day to keep being happy? How can I be aware of atrocities and the prospect of an oppressive future and still be whimsical?
I sometimes find it easier to be happy for others, to share another person’s joy. So I thought empathy ought to be a continuous act of caring for others and bringing joy day to day. Empathy and being ethical do not demand reciprocation; we find them in the small acts of our daily lives. These acts of kindness and absurdity are difficult to fit into a fascist narrative. It is the narrativization and normalization of the suffering of others that eased citizens into a fascist reality. We cannot allow ourselves to fall into the narrative of people in power. We can’t keep looking at the news and seeing policies and figureheads and allow that to dictate how we live. Yes, their actions impact us immensely, but every day we spend far more time with our neighbors, our friends and our family than we ever do with these policymakers. Why give them the legitimacy to occupy consistent and overwhelming space within your psyche? There is a tangible impact on our communities, so the key is to support everyone in it and not stop living.
In difficult times, it is important that, as a community, we embrace and seek out small moments of joy and whimsy daily. Why trample the little joys in our communities when we can celebrate that joy instead? While easier said than done, we should still aim to let go of the social stigmas and preconceptions that hold us back from living our lives to the fullest. Disregard those social standards and allow yourself to enjoy life at its most whimsical. Bring that stuffed animal to class, show off your fandom merch, customize your clothes and be happy. Sometimes it’s important to remember people can be silly and joyful.
Contact Levi Lee at leev@oxy.edu
