I'm upset that Iris is labeled "ugly" just cuz she doesn't have a dorito-shaped nose.... l...

btw I'm not trying to hate on the manga, because I only read the first chapter so I'm not gonna judge it. I'm just angry at how main or side characters in almost all manga are expected to be attractive, and all have the same face

i actually thought that she didn't look that bad. :) don't like the hate iris is getting.

i'm agreeing with you (just in case you get the wrong idea) :)

i know right! I actually like that nose! :) we need more big nose representation in manga tbh

YAASSSS (づ￣ ³￣)づ

I am feeling this thread!!!!

glad to hear it! :D

Yeah it did bother me too since this comes from a novel that describes them as ugly(or plain??I can’t remember fully) but the manga I feel like didn’t do much to show that besides “big nose” which isn’t ugly at all besides beauty standards :/

ye, and also I hate the connotation that "ugly" automatically equals evil. all that's ugly are these dumb beauty standards.

Yessss. In this manga/novel case, the daughters aren’t being portrayed that way since their “new” mom seems to encourage them getting along and doing equal work which is unique from the original Cinderella and multiple webtoons. But the fact ugly has to mean evil where if she’s beautiful and evil she gets away with it

I don't think the message is ugly = evil, so much as their looks are the reason behind their jealousy of Cinderella. In an era where women are treated like commodities and a female's future is determined entirely by how good of a husband she can secure, beauty can mean the difference between marrying a wealthy lord or marrying a poor farmer. Cinderella's beauty meant that she would be able to attract more suitors and could marry well, while the stepsisters being unattractive meant that they would have far fewer prospects. Evenmore so if men saw Cinderella and compared the stepsisters to her.

Hence, the wicked stepsisters being "evil" or cruel to Cinderella wasn't out of pure vanity, it was because her future prospects were bright while theirs was pretty hopeless.

I think it's important to consider that context when looking at modern treatments of the Cinderella story. Because in most original versions (including the one by the Grimm Brothers and Charles Perrault"), the step-sisters were actually just as beautiful as Cinderella, but they were cruel for no reason whereas Cinderella was kind (Perrault's moral was "beauty is a treasure, but graciousness is priceless"). I think modern revisions made the stepsisters ugly to give them a reason for being cruel to Cinderella, rather than just making them psycopathic foils with no motivation aside from inborn viciousness.

Yeah that’s true though ugliness is still often used for villains. Perhaps not always the woman, but the man

I was only referring to the context of Cinderella and it's various treatments. As far as the use of ugliness/beauty goes as an umbrella trope, I have no comment.

First of all, this was very interesting to read! I never knew about those different versions of Cinderella, and I like your explanation of it all. Secondly, I was thinking more in general about how in most media, ugly is made to be evil while good is beautiful. It might just be a statement about how internal beauty shows itself externally as well, but I find it damaging to kids' and teens' self-image. It doesn't hurt to have an "ugly" protagonist and still give them attractive personality traits. It's dumb to put worth to genetic appearance when it really has no innate effect on someone's personality or worth.

For that reason, I wish the original Cinderella versions were the more well-known ones among kids because it conveys the message that you may be physically attractive, but that holds no worth when your soul is ugly. A much better message, and a much more interesting read.