This thread has gone nuts!
Ephraim, I wonder what you meant by "cute" in the first place. You obviously wanted to articulate something (not pick a fight) with what you posted.
Girls in the world are allowed to be cute by their families and environment. But at some age, around your sister's we are prompted to begin "acting" mature and adult like. In fact, this prompting goes beyond encouragement...it is expected of you with a threat behind it. And older women will make fun of how you are not good at/silly at your adult imitations until you're a teenager. At that point, you can either completely devote yourself to an act of creepy "adult" behaviors or suck at it and be still made fun of (even if it's behind your back).
And what does the world expect an adult woman to act like? Apparently, you need to be really self-focused, smart about useless information, learn how to manipulate others with your emotions (instead of just feeling), be less affectionate, and act like you don't care about anything but relationships to name a few. Do those things have anything to do with adulthood? I think not.
Did us girls on the thread have to act like this at times in our lives? Yes. There's no need to be defensive about it. Couldn't we all benefit from the realization that the world demands we act fake? Maybe we could sometimes not do it, if we saw it was there.
But also, "acting cute" has its pitfalls. Have you ever seen the show Masha and the Bear? I liked it at first, but now I won't let my kids watch it anymore. It seems to use a very intriguing, snowy setting to sell to little girls that being cute is their only value. And it's okay that Masha always thinks about herself and treats the bear like her do-boy, because she's a cute sassy girl! Acting all of the time and not being what you are in any fashion is upsetting to someone that really saw you and loved you at some point.