I loved everything Hello Kitty when I was a kid.  I had it all - the erasers, the keychains, the luggage tags.  Now, thank God, my sons will no longer be excluded from this universe of plastic crap.  Sanrio announced last Friday it will start selling a line of Hello Kitty merchandise designed for young men.

This line, which will be available next month in Japan and soon after in the U.S.,will include T-shirts, watches, bags and other products.  Naturally, Hello Kitty herself as been given a "more rugged, cool look."  Which begs the question:  would she really be Hello Kitty without the bow and the vacant expression?

In other breaking news, a groundbreaking new study suggests that Japanese youths are more secure in their masculinity than their American counterparts.