On Tiktok and Instagram, a viral trend is currently capturing attention: the “Princess Treatment” (literally, princess treatment). Many young women exhibit videos in which they claim a life where man does everything for them: he pays the addition, makes the decisions, opens the doors, chooses the dishes and covers them with gifts. An idealization of Prince Charming Modern … but at what price?
The return of an old fantasy, brought up to date
With more than 250 million views on Tiktok, the hashtag #PrinceStreAtment refers to a well-known fantasy: that of the adulated princess, pampered, raised on a pedestal, but also say it … passive. This apparently glamor relational model, which is reminiscent of the tradwives movement, is reassuring and comfortable. An American influencer, Courtney Palmer, has also hit the headlines by describing herself as a “home woman princess” whose role is to leave her husband “direct” while she remains “sweet and feminine”.
In a video seen more than 7 million times, she confides never to speak to the restaurant hostess, not open a door, and not order herself. But behind the displayed elegance hides a more dull mechanics: that of self -renunciation.
An illusion of love that hides a granted submission
According to Amélie Boukhobza, clinical psychologist, this phenomenon is worrying. “”Filming yourself saying that you let your companion choose everything is promoting a relationship model where women become a spectator of their own life. As if being “taken care of” is equivalent to being valued “. An observation before which the historical faces of feminism would suffocate.
Because this romantic vision refers to an old story: that of the submissive, dependent, protected woman … and at the same time silent.
“”What some seek in this posture is a form of security, the illusion of being precious because chosen. But it is not love: It is an idealization of submission ” bid our psychologist.
Behind the varnish, an insidious trap
This tendency, appearing in appearance for some, is actually based on a gradual abandonment of individual freedom. “When we get used to what the other decides for us, we end up no longer knowing what we want. We cut ourselves from our desire, of our power to act. We give up, slowly, to our own subjectivity”alerts the expert who wishes to open the eyes of young women crashing with illusion.
And the danger is all the greater since the model is sold as luxury, a life of glamor. The favorite emoji of these videos? That of freshly varnished nails. The message is clear: being taken care of would be a privilege. A refinement. But what we make up here as a fairytale is in fact a loss of bearings, a confusion between attention and domination.
A choice of comfort or modern alienation?
So, of course, some women claim to freely choose this way of life. But should freedom not include the power to say no, to decide, to act, to exist other than through the gaze of the other? Amélie Boukhobza quotes the philosopher Emmanuel Levinas: “Liberty is difficult”, recalling that comfort is not always synonymous with emancipation.
“What worries me the most, she concludes is that this renunciation is presented as a desirable model. As a dream of elegance, when it is a form of erasure.”
And to prevent. Being treated like a princess can be pleasant, in an exchange where each gives oneself. But provided you never have to give up your throne.