The “animalized humans” – the reformulated body: A discussion of the phenomenon of Japanese Catgirls motivated by a Danish school project

From Disney cartoons we experience animals being humanized and representing a human character to a degree in which it becomes difficult to see them as animals. This is just one example of how animals are attributed with a human character. The impetus for this contribution, however, is a discussion of another cartoon culture of humanized animals: Japanese Manga. Here the animals are not only represented in a humanized way, but Manga culture goes one step further, engaging in the remediation of the cartoon animal to people depicting animals. Female Japanese dress like cats and act like cats. They are called Catgirls.
The paper will discuss the phenomenon of Japanese Catgirls who practice cat behavior as a counterpart to Disney's cartoon in which animals have a human character. Furthermore, the role of this Japanese phenomenon in a Danish pedagogical context is addressed. The discussion's theoretical approaches draw on performativity, social aesthetics and visual culture. In the final discussion the humanized animal is related to symmetrical anthropology, brought about by the contradictory position between the humanized animal character and a non-humanized social practice in which humans’ attribute themselves with animal behaviors.