Pretty Hurts Beyoncé

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despite her struggle. This scene open your eyes, and help you realise the harsh reality, that somewhere out there, there are many women of all ages putting themselves through pain because they are not good enough to be accepted in as their selfs. Towards the end of the video clip Beyoncé realises that being beautiful isn’t going to make her happy we learn this from a mid shot of Beyoncé smashes all her trophies from previous pageants she attended when she was younger, symbolising that she no longer cares about outer beauty as she is happy and content with the way she looks, not needing society approval to believe she is pretty.

The powerful lyrics of Pretty Hurts as well as the strong imagery in the music video both aid Beyonce in her strong message about true happiness. In the chorus of the song, Beyonce sings “perfection is a disease of a nation/it’s the soul that needs a surgery.” Beyonce points directly to the fact that the United States promotes unachievable beauty standards for women. By calling the obsession with perfection a disease, Beyonce not only implies how contagious the obsession is but how many people are affected. Though many people turn to plastic surgery to change their appearance on the outside, Beyonce sings “its the soul that needs a surgery.” The soul is who you are on the inside, and has nothing to do with outward appearance. The soul can be seen by how we act and treat others and is in no way defined by physical appearance. We, as a nation, need to change our values and goals. Rather than putting so much value and focus on a perfect appearance, we need to start focusing on what truly matters. When physical appearance is taken away what is truly important comes to the surface.

Beyonce goes on to sing, “You’ve stripped away the masquerade/the illusion has been shed/are you happy with yourself? Are you happy with yourself?” Once we are able to look at who we are on the inside, will we be happy? Regardless of makeup, clothes, and outward appearance in general, are you truly happy with who you are? Beyonce sends a powerful and important message; what you look like on the outside won’t provide lasting happiness and fulfillment in life. But working on being a good person, not a perfect looking person, can result in true happiness and satisfaction.

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