In the nineties it was Unpretty by TLCIn the noughties it was Beautiful by Christina AquileraMore recently we had Little Me by Little MixAnd now Beyonce with Pretty Hurts
The video portrays Beyonce taking part in a beauty pageantHer sash reads Miss 3rd WardWe see her go to any lengths to winShe puts vaselline on her teethGets botox injected in to her faceWe also see her purgingOther girls eat cotton balls to fill their stomachsSome are painfully thin
The girls all line up in the pageantThey look like Stepford wivesSmiles painted on their facesMechanically wavingPerfectly in synch
The song like all the others before it comments on the pressures facing women in this day and age
Pretty hurts
We shine the light on whatever's worse
Perfection is the disease of a nation
Pretty hurts, pretty hurts
We shine the light on whatever's worse
Tryna fix something
But you can't fix what you can't see
It's my soul that needs the surgery
The video directed by Melina Matsoukas shows Beyonce trying everything in her power to look flawless -but still can't achieve perection
Matsoukas said -
'Well I think we wanted to speak to as many women as we could and all the pain and struggle that we go through as women to maintain the impossible standard of beauty. We wanted to give it a darker edge and not give you the Disney version of that struggle'
I think it's great that Beyonce is addressing this subjectThere has never been more pressure on women to be perfectEverything we do is scrutinisedOur weightOur shapeOur beautyEating disorders are on the rise and are effecting younger and younger boys and girlsIt's impossible to escape the message that thin and beautiful equals success
It's so important to reassure our children that they are perfect just the way they areI remember when I was in school weight was a hot topicI studied ballet where my body was on constant showYou really need to be a strong person with good self esteem to avoid falling in to the beauty trapHopefully this song and video will get people talking about body image and eating disorders
Because all too often we feel we need to change the external to fix something that's internal
We go on diets
We measure our self worth in pounds and ounces
We deny ourselves food
We feel we have to be a certain size
We compare ourselves to air brushed photos in magazines
We try our best to be perfect when really there is no such thing
Have you seen this video?What did you think?
