By RYN
The story of Snow White by the Brothers Grimm is an Aarne, Thompson, Uther type 709 story. 709 stories are categorized by the presence of a jealous stepmother or queen. One could argue that the beauty of Snow White drew the jealous stepmother to resent Snow White and attempt to dispose of her, however, I would say that the Evil Queen’s low self-worth and desire for social recognition was the driving factor for her resentment of Snow White. This low self-esteem and need for social recognition is not confined to fairy tales, it is the mindset that has become increasingly common for adolescent girls in the 21st century. According to Piper Sandler, an investment bank, teens’ skincare spending increased by 19% between 2022 and 2023, as adolescents worry about preventing all signs of aging before it begins to show. How are adolescents experiencing the same fear and envy as the Evil Queen did centuries ago? The answer is low self-worth reinforced by beauty standards. Beauty standards are a set of traits and values that define what is beautiful. In Snow White, the Evil Queen is not malicious towards Snow White until the mirror informs her that Snow White is the most beautiful in the land, and by extension meets the beauty standard. Similarly to how the rise of teenage beauty consumption and adolescent self-esteem issues are on the rise post the introduction of social media, which exposes who meets the beauty standard and by extension what adolescents are lacking. From analyzing the actions of the Evil Queen and the consumption habits of adolescent girls we can deduce that the Evil Queen and modern adolescents’ obsession with beauty is because of the access to an unobtainable beauty standard that reinforces low self-worth.
In today’s society, social media networks such as Instagram and TikTok replicate the role that the magic mirror played within the Snow White tale by overly informing adolescent girls of the unattainable beauty standard, according to a 2022 survey of teenage girls 97% of them report using social media daily. Further, the majority of the 97% of the interviewed population reported that “Skinfluencers have the most power over their purchases” (Mccoy et al). The population using the word “most” versus another word like “some” to describe the influence that social media has on introducing skincare and beauty to them suggests that they trust social media above other sources such as licensed medical practitioners and parental guidance. Further, The Journal of Clinical and Aesthetic Dermatology suggests that social media “Introduce[s] impressional viewers to appearance-altering fads” (Mccoy et al). When convincing adolescent girls to purchase these beauty products these “Skinfluencers” must first convince the adolescents that there is a problem with their appearance, to begin with. Skinfluencers misuse legitimate medical terminology such as ‘hyperpigmentation’ and ‘discoloration’ to suggest that normal and benign biological variance has a negative impact on social perception. This is similar to the role the mirror played in snow white. The Evil Queen was not angry or even aware of her deficits before she was informed by the mirror that she was not the fairest, and by extension did not meet the beauty standard. If the Evil Queen had in fact been “the fairest” (Tatar 110) she would have needed to be “as white as snow, as red as blood, and as black as the wood of the window frame” (Tatar 109). However, the central issue is that she trusted the mirror, a lifeless form, to determine what made someone “the fairest”. The Evil Queen, a woman, had a lot more agency than the average woman in Grimm’s stories. She was married to a king and was wealthy enough to have henchmen and servants to wait on her and do her bidding. There is a distinct lack of outward social pressure to change outside of the mirror, and the story in particular highlights that “She [The Evil Queen] was a beautiful lady” (Tatar 108). If she had no outward knowledge of her supposed inadequacy, she had no character telling her that she needed to be more beautiful, and she had more agency before knowing her flaws, then the mirror is both the igniting action into her downfall and the culprit of perpetuating rigid and harmful beauty standards. The impact of removing the mirror, social media, is apparent in our world too. Research done by the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario completed a study that yielded that teens and young adults who reduced their social media use by 50% for a few weeks saw “significant improvement in how they felt about…their overall appearance” (Goldfield). Consumptive behavioral studies suggest that “social media…made adolescent girls consume skincare products excessively in pursuit of being beautiful” (Putri) and the consumptive patterns of all women directly correlate to each generation’s reliance on social media. A 2020 study conducted on women from three age generations yielded that “Gen Z used almost all of their spending money on beauty treatments. Meanwhile Gen Y only used 30% of their income, and Gen X used less than 5%” (Putri). There was a time before social media when there was limited access to global beauty standards and the increased availability of social media has caused irreparable damage to the self-esteem of adolescent girls, and by extension increases the demand for skincare and beauty products hoping to address issues that before marketing and social media influencers consumers were hardly aware they had. This raises the question of what were the Evil Queen and adolescent girls like before the mirrors introduced beauty standards to them.
Before the Evil Queen was told she was not the fairest, she held no animosity towards herself nor Snow White, similarly before social media rates of beauty consumption were lower indicating that there was an increased desire to conform to a beauty standard post the introduction of socials. In the beginning of Snow White the Evil Queen asks who was the fairest of them all, and the mirror answers that she was, and “then she was satisfied” (Tatar 109). The use of the word satisfied suggests that she has no need to take offensive action against Snow White or herself. So before the mirror’s disrespect the Evil Queen was satisfied and non murderous. Snow White was the embodiment of the beauty standard if she was “the fairest ever seen” (Tatar 112), so if the Evil Queen was satisfied with herself and the situation and simultaneously did not know of the beauty standard, her actions post-learning she was not the fairest can be explicitly caused by awareness of the beauty standard. After the mirror states the Evil Queen is not the prettiest, the queen changes in an instant “From that moment on she hated Snow White” (Tatar 109). Explicitly defining that it was after learning about Snow White’s adherence to the beauty standard that the Evil Queen hated her defines the point in which the oppressive and competitive nature of beauty standards began within the story. In the Putri article the researchers conducted a study where they asked adolescent girls their motivations for purchasing beauty and skincare products, and one interviewee stated “I usually wonder how a person’s skin looks so good? Obviously, I also want to look that good and appealing” (Putri). This suggests that before being exposed to people “better looking” and who use beauty products she would have not consumed any beauty products herself. This exposes that there is distinctly a pattern of behavior before and after being exposed to beauty standards and that the previous pattern is distinctly more accepting of one’s natural self. However, I would argue that the Evil Queen nor modern adolescent girls are changing their behavioral patterns solely to avoid personal feelings of inadequacy. Being pretty and meeting beauty standards does have an impact on the perceived social class of women as well as access to a variety of life opportunities. Beauty is a form of combat and agency, and it is one of the only ways that historically women have been allowed to express agency and access things in the patriarchal world.
Pretty privilege is a term for the additional access and agency that women typically receive when they are perceived as beautiful within a patriarchal society. Snow White who is doted on and revered for her beauty is a prime example of experiencing pretty privilege. When the huntsman was ordered to take Snow White into the woods and kill her, he spared her life, which is the ultimate form of privilege. The story writes “Snow White was so beautiful that the huntsman took pity on her” (Tatar 109). Outside of Snow White’s beauty, she had no power or agency. Her father controlled the money and status and the Evil Queen controlled people like the huntsman. The huntsman was willing to risk his own life and his job to save Snow White while doing nothing but admiring her beauty and asking nothing from her in exchange. Using the particular word ‘that’ implies an explanation or reasoning in the subsequent clause of the quote is caused by the first clause. The huntsman would not have spared Snow White’s life otherwise which speaks to the social and agency value that beauty has, it can spare lives. Further, when Snow White escaped into the 7 dwarfs’ home and ransacked their cottage, they did not get angry at her because of her beauty. When the dwarves first arrived at their home they were upset because of the state of disarray that it was in, but when the dwarves discovered the beautiful Snow White they allowed themselves to be soothed by her perceived beauty and innocence. The dwarves stated, “What a beautiful child” (Tatar 111) when before they saw her beauty they were upset and disgruntled. The dwarves then allowed Snow White to stay in exchange for domestic labor, instead of being hostile towards her. However, I think it’s important to note that the “agency” and “privileges” that Snow White’s beauty had were in exchange for options that still benefited and relied on the patriarchy. Snow White was not killed because of her beauty- beauty as a method of protection from violence but instead was confined and domesticized for her beauty. Snow White is believed by the dwarves to be a princess, a title of nobility and status, yet she is immediately confined to the home and domestic life, two places that are traditionally feminine. This raises that beauty standards offer an illusion of choice, with one option being falsely paraded as better. To be pretty like Snow White and be protected by male characters and heroes such as the huntsman, but always be reliant on males for your own safety and be confined to domesticity. Or not meet the beauty standards like the Evil Queen and be “doomed to the inward search” (Tatar 377) for inadequacies while not being granted protection nor any social benefits. In modern society, girls are offered the same semblance of choice by beauty standards. Girls can either meet the beauty standard and be offered pretty privileges or not meet the beauty standard and be denied social acceptance. Pretty privilege is portrayed as solely positive and helpful, which is why adolescent girls flock to beauty treatments such as makeup and skincare; social acceptance is closely connected with life opportunities. This is further exacerbated when adolescent girls see on social media Skinfluencers skin glow-ups, pretty women being treated better, and the money that can be made from being pretty on the internet; “All of these perceptions directly affect self-esteem and life opportunities” (Putri). The false illusion of an easier life via pretty privilege is still a heavily internalized narrative, and after learning of the beauty standard, the behavioral patterns of women are heavily influenced, switching from a passive behavioral pattern to an aggressive offensive behavioral pattern.
The Evil Queen and modern adolescents both have rapid and intense responses to their perceived social inadequacy after being made aware of it. After the Evil Queen is told she is not the beauty standard she sets out to murder Snow White out of fear of losing power and protection in favor of Snow White’s beauty. The Evil Queen is cited as having “never had a moment’s peace” (Tatar 110) after being made of her inadequacies which is a far cry from “She was satisfied” (Tatar 109) such a short time ago. There is an inherent panic and fear that arises in response to the mirror’s revelations because it reveals an opportunity for women’s power and leverage to be lost. According to the Putri article “Skincare and makeup products are still the fastest growing categories in buying and selling” (Putri) within consumption patterns and “Skin care is one of twenty categories being bought rapidly” (Putri). The use of the word rapidly suggests panicked and uneducated decision-making, as opposed to a holistic and calculated general purchasing attitude. The Evil Queen rapidly attempted to dispose of Snow White via a number of unapproved and inefficient methods such as suffocations by lace and poisoning. One cannot make logical and educated decisions in a state of panic. The article further states that “adolescents are impatient in waiting for the results of skincare and frequently switch to other products they believe are better” (Putri). These products absolutely can work and actually move adolescents closer to a beauty standard-approved look, but out of fear of immediate social consequences for not currently meeting the beauty standard, adolescent girls are switching products rapidly and panicking hoping for an instantaneous magic solution. I would argue that the attempted murder of Snow White and beauty overconsumption are symbolism for the same modality of internalized fear and inadequacy. Beauty standards make it harder not only for the individual, such as the Evil Queen, but also the people around them that have to suffer from their behavioral patterns such as parents having to fund their daughters’ overconsumptive beauty regimen.
From the introduction of the mirror to the Evil Queen and modern adolescent girls their behavioral patterns shift. The mirror, an unverified source of truth for women, is used to comment on whether and how the beauty standard can be met in the narrative and society. The pre-mirror behavioral patterns of less rigid conformity to beauty standards and generally better self-perception are replaced with deeply panicked insecurity which causes the two focus groups to lash out in an attempt to regain power that they feel is already lost or about to be lost. Further, the illusion of benefit from conforming to the beauty standard puts pressure on women to quickly conform so they can avoid further social disenfranchisement and can more quickly access social privilege. It was interesting to see social sciences such as behavioral psychology inform the perspectives of consumption analysts and the interconnectedness of the experiences of the Evil Queen and teenage girls. Both groups were made aware of their beauty shortcomings, suggested negative social impact as a response, induced into shifting their behavioral patterns out of panic, and began aggressive countermeasures in response, which ultimately led to no additional feelings of power or social acceptance.
Works Cited
Ellen, Barbara. “Why Are Our Children Obsessed with Anti-Ageing Treatments? Take a Look in the Mirror | Barbara Ellen.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 27 Jan. 2024, www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/jan/27/joyless-children-fixated-on-anti-ageing-skincare.
Goldstein, Gary. “Kids These Days: Social Media’s Impact on Adolescent Behaviors.” Journal of Clinical and Aesthetic Dermatology, May 2024, web-p-ebscohost-com.lmu.idm.oclc.org/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=0&sid=7513c3f2-05c5-4c44-b93a-7f2f569a935d%40redis.
Putri, Sunita, and Namila Putri. “Consumptive Behavior of Urban Adolescent Girls in Using Skincare Products.” Gale Academic, Journal of International Women’s Studies, July 2024, go-gale-com.lmu.idm.oclc.org/ps/i.do?p=AONE&u=loym48904&id=GALE%7CA803788454&v=2.1&it=r&aty=ip.
“Reducing Social Media Use Significantly Improves Body Image in Teens, Young Adults.” American Psychological Association, American Psychological Association, www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2023/02/social-media-body-image. Accessed 5 Dec. 2024. Tatar, Maria. The Classic Fairy Tales: Texts, Criticism. W.W. Norton & Company, 2017.
