Mirror mirror, on the wall, who’s the fairest of them all? Pretty Privilege in Witch Hunts
One thing I’ve begun to notice in class these last few weeks through the “Ugly history: Witch hunts” video and the Snow White presentation is how appearance affects how one’s perceived. Throughout history, human bias has linked physical attractiveness with moral goodness, creating an implicit hierarchy where beauty bestows privilege and ugliness invites suspicion. I’ve heard this called “pretty privilege” in a more modern sense, referencing advantages in the job or dating markets. It’s even been proven in several studies I’ve seen (I’ll link them at the bottom) that pretty people get paid more. But this phenomenon extends beyond merely preferential treatment, influencing how we perceive and judge others on a fundamental level. Pretty people are perceived as more trustworthy, likable, and intelligent (link at bottom). Examining the history of witch hunts reveals a disturbing link between physical appearance and accusations of evil.
This tendency to equate physical appearance with inner character has historical roots. In religious imagery, from biblical art to modern depictions, angels are typically portrayed as beautiful, glowing, kind, and radiant, while demons are rendered grotesque and repulsive. This visual dichotomy reinforces the idea that beauty signifies goodness and ugliness signifies evil, a message subtly absorbed from a young age. So you can imagine growing up with images like these, you may grow to perceive a woman in your village with a large hooked nose differently than one with a conventionally attractive face.
This association extends beyond historical imagery. In modern movies and animation, often in Disney, villains are characterized by exaggerated unattractive features while heroes and heroines are conventionally attractive. This visual shorthand reinforces the ingrained notion that beauty equates to goodness, shaping our perceptions from childhood onward. It’s easy to let Disney further indoctrinate us into patterns of thought where being skinny, having a small nose, and having big eyes reflects moral good, while being fat, large nosed, and beady eyed exposes a corrupt nature. This is quite straightforward to see in Snow White when comparing the movie’s namesake to the Evil Queen.
During the witch hunts we’ve talked about in class, like the ones that swept through Europe and the American colonies from the 15th century until the 18th century, it was often the marginalized women who were unmarried, less sexually conservative, elderly, poor, or who looked different who were targeted as witches. These women, deviating from the idealized "Snow White" archetype of innocence and beauty, were more readily cast as the "evil queen" – their ugliness or unconventionality serving as evidence of their moral corruption. Physical imperfections like birthmarks or blemishes could be interpreted as the witch’s teat, further equating the skin’s physical appearance to moral standing. Unblemished skin being considered beautiful, while marred skin as a mark of wickedness.
I learned in some research that even in the 1800s and 1900s, there existed “ugly laws” where “unsightly” individuals were not allowed to appear in public. So judging people based on appearance is not a thing of the distant past.
I believe that this tendency to think beauty is more virtuous could be rooted in human mating psychology. We are drawn to beauty as an indicator of health and fertility, and by contrast we may be wary of those who appear different. But despite any instinctual pull, we still choose to societally perpetuate this idea today through art and movies.
The decline of witch hunts coincided with the rise of legal processes like due process and stronger government institutions, emphasizing the importance of evidence-based judgments over superficial assessments. But it’s important for modern society to make an effort to challenge this notion of beauty equals virtue to create a society where people are no l
onger targeted because of their subjective beauty, and are instead valued for the content of their character. So I can end by saying “don’t judge a book by it’s cover”.
These are some of the articles I referenced, but if you type in “pretty privilege” you can find many more:
Great blog, thanks. Your comments on the "pretty privilege" and witchcraft are interesting and insightful. I am not too familiar with "ugly laws," but they are certainly connected. I suspect that, at least metaphorically, both still persist on our own campus. I appreciate you taking up this sensitive topic. Certainly most of the people who get "othered" tend to look differently in appearance.
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