this post was submitted on 27 Oct 2024
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Probably ancient if it's a magic mirror. Also in the original story, snow white is 7 at this time, not 14.
That said, "hottest" is something this comic came up with, I'm pretty sure it's not about sexually attractiveness in the original
It's "fairest," right? So maybe the mirror just saw her doing stuff like meticulously cutting a cake into evenly-sized pieces instead of portioning out bigger ones for herself and her cronies. That'd be plausible for a 7 year old.
fair in this context refers to paleness basically. though, it's often meant in the same way that someone today might say "she's thicc" and just mean "she's attractive" in a more general sense. fairness meant beauty to European high society at the time. aside from the obvious racial connotations, it also implies that she has spent very little time outdoors and has been free of disfiguring diseases, so high of status. it generally carries a lot of implications beyond just "white" and "clear skin". it captures everything that a European nobleman of the time would find attractive in one word.
Love your explanation! The mirror from Shrek would definitely say thiccccc.
Leaving this here for modern contextualizing.
So fair skin doesn't specifically mean pale, it means skin that doesn't have defects. Bumps, pimples, scarring and other things will tarnish the complexion of skin.
In this context it's not racial, it's colorism as you explained it was a status thing. Something that exists in almost every culture, not just European.