The evil queens are the princesses that were never saved. Sometimes, a girl just wants her prince charming and although there is a negative stigmata surrounding the view of “damsels in distress,” it doesn’t mean that a girl is not allowed to be one once in a while.
Oftentimes, women get caught up in their attempt to abjure from society’s stereotypes placed on women. However, at the end of the day, a woman is just that-- a woman-- and sometimes, she wants to be the “fairest in all the land.” If she has no one to tell her that she is and she can’t quite convince herself of her own beauty, she turns against anything that could threaten her. It’s not just beauty, though; it could be her wits or her brains or her ability to think. Sometimes women just need justification from someone we love whether it be a man or a woman.
Evil Queens in fairy tales are often the women that married the widowed man and most often, they just want the love and satisfaction from their spouses. However, again, in most fairy tales, the “more beautiful” or the “cunning” get in their way of true happiness. No woman wants to be married to a man who loves his daughter more than he loves her because his daughter looks like his dead wife and reminds him of how happy he was. Although, women should be smart and capable of being on their own, they should also be able to feel dependent at times and like they are secure in their relationships and can receive help if they need it. If bad things happen every time a woman gets close to someone, they will become bitter and aggressive towards things that threaten their existence and things that compete with them.
It simply makes the evil queens in fairy tales seem justified as to why they want to kill the girl and why they want to be evil. Because being evil gets you noticed. Nobody noticed them when they were just the wife. When they were second best. Psychologically, they just want attention, like any woman does. And if they can’t get it by being “good,” then “evil” is the next best way to go. If only someone had saved them when they had the chance. Women do it every day to people that they think are more beautiful or smarter or whatever it is that “other woman” is subconsciously competing with. An evil glare, a passive aggressive twitter post, a picture that gets 500 likes to make them feel better about themselves. Although women are strong and classy and don’t need men (or an SO) to get by, sometimes women just need that approval and reminder that they are beautiful and that they are smart and that they don’t need to compete with other women.
This article might just be incessant rambling, but I hope I can get my point across. Evil Queens are human to and all they wanted out of life was to be the best that they could be (in a more twisted way of course), but they were held back by their own self-doubt and deprecation. Once in a while it is okay to seek the approval and help that you need. You don’t always have to be a strong and independent Artemis archetype. It’s okay to be dependent and needy once in a while. Don’t become an evil queen because your ego won’t let you seek help.
