Perfection!
A Symbol of Status in the Me-Me-Me Generation
Hello, my name is Bracha and I am cupcake-junkie.
Can I just say, YUM? Any visit to the Upper West Side requires a stop at Magnolia Bakery for my fix: red velvet. What is it about cupcakes that is so enticing?
Immortalized by Sex and the City, the cupcake craze has exploded over the past ten years . The Guardian’s Zoe Williams in her article The Rise of the Cupcake calls the cupcake a “me-cake, 21st-century-cake, way-of-life-cake” and byproduct of the 90s, the “throbbing epicentre of me-me-me” ideology. Slices of cake, shared among family and friends, become communal and blasé when compared to the cupcake’s individual compactness. The beauty of the cupcake lies in just this: its form. Its taste and content certainly do not differ from that of a regular cake. But because of its size the cupcake becomes a personal treat, only for its eater. One does not share a cupcake. The gratification of having an object, particularly a dainty, tasty one, which is all yours, immediately sets up an opposition between the haves and have-nots.
Furthermore, though size may be the cupcake’s initial attracting factor for those of the narcissistic me-me-me generation, to understand the importance of the cupcake’s form, it may be interesting, to contrast the cupcake to the donut. Both are individualized me-treats, yet the donut inherently differs from the cupcake in form. Besides the lacking waxpaper which so neatly and elegantly surrounds each cupcake, the donut is glazed or covered in fine, white powdery sugar, both either often sticky or messy. The donut, though occasionally dotted with sprinkles, is not adorned with dollops of crème and candies like the cupcake. Particularly in the case of the jelly donut, the treat, the sweet artificial red raspberry jelly, remains on the inside, undetectable. In this age of decadence, the donut is perhaps a more modest dessert than the ostentatious cupcake whose pastel creaminess is openly displayed. Although, these dollops of crème, ornately and openly slathered on top of the cupcake, with candies, like a crowning glory, are only the signifier. What is truly signified by these dollops of creme is personal power and glory. The cupcake wears its cream like a medal. Furthermore, because of its flat, round shape the donut is a difficult treat to eat. To accomplish this feat, there is no other way but to just bite it, confectionary sugar or glaze sticking to the corners of your mouth. Allusions of doofus policemen and Homer Simpson are evoked. The cupcake can daintily be eaten, with or without a fork. Its entire wrapping does not have to be peeled, keeping the uneaten intact. Thus, the cupcake not only transcends sweet pastry but it is also not just a me-treat; the colorful icing makes the cupcake also a status symbol. Kitschy pink cupcake establishments can be found in gentrified neighborhoods such as Nolita and the Upper West Side, and certainly will not be found in neighborhoods such as Morrisania. This further promotes the hegemony and status quo which the bourgeoisie so carefully maintain.
And yet, the cupcake’s popularity is limited to young women. Its appeal undoubtedly stems from its gastronomical sophistication. Sex and the City viewers frowned upon frumpiness and lauded haute couture, as evident from Carrie Bradshaw’s shoe addiction. Perhaps cupcakes are the Sigerson Morrisons of dessert while donuts are second-hand loafers. With all symbols of status, there comes a price. The cupcake promotes illusion of health by assuring its anorexic eaters that because it is so teeny, they will not gain as much weight. It promotes the illusion of grandeur: if one can purchase a $3 personal cupcake instead of buying a $10 cake for her whole family, she is certainly wealthy. It promotes notions of status, these regal me-treats outshining fat donuts, and even their unfrosted brethren: the muffin. The cupcake does not attempt to ever establish notions of equality. The cupcake tells its eater: you are special, you are unique.
The cupcake, therefore, is the anti-Marx. And in the twilight on today’s capitalist society, is it any wonder that these young girls are clinging to bourgeoisie ideology, that which tells them they are beautiful?
What my cupcake is currently whispering in my ear? By eating your cake, you are having it. Win-win!