"Pretty Hurts"

Many people consider Beyonce a big influence and role model to every generation. People admire her because she is a successful singer. In her song “Pretty Hurts”, Beyonce is representing a woman who is struggling to keep up with society's beauty standards. The video and song are defying the stereotype that women should only be valued for their looks and not their personality. The video shows different beauty pageant contestants constantly trying to be “attractive” and it also shows how much pressure the women feel.

Beyonce criticize the different beauty standards by showing how pop culture influence women to look a certain way. In her song she sings “Blonder hair, flat chest TV says bigger is better South beach, sugar free Vogue says thinner is better”. In society the ideal woman is suppose to be skinny, have light hair and skin, and healthy. The media also has a strong influence on children. When the media is telling girls to look a certain way and the girls don’t, the girls would start to develop insecurities. Another way Beyonce shows how harmful the standard are is by singing. "Mama said, "You're a pretty girl What's in your head, it doesn't matter Brush your hair, fix your teeth What you wear is all that matters". Beyonce video mother only wants her child to be beautiful rather than being intelligent . Mothers have a strong influence on their daughter as they grow up. This lyric shows that the idea that a girl should only be pretty and not care about her education comes from the girl's family and from people they look up to. The chorus of the song is another good example. She sings, “Pretty hurts We shine the light on whatever's worst Perfection is a disease of a nation, Ain’t got no doctor or pill that can take the pain away The pain's inside and nobody frees you from your body It's the soul, it's the soul that needs surgery”. People who will get implants and surgeries to fix themselves up wouldn’t be satisfied with their looks because the beauty standard are always changing. No matter how much we try to fix our appearance, there is no miracle surgery or temporary fix can make us truly feel better if it doesn’t come from within.