Visual texts are any illustrations, paintings, photographs, drawings, or videos in which an entire story can be played out. Writers and directors use these certain visual texts to get a message across to their audience. A certain zoom of the camera or props can play huge roles in the narrative. Music videos are great tools for singers to tell their story and explain their lyrics through images for viewers to watch. Therefore, creating a music video makes it a lot easier for viewers to understand the meaning behind the words in a song. Music videos break down songs by emphasizing the important parts through setting and imagery. In the music video “Pretty Hurts”, Beyoncé gives us insight into her thoughts and feelings on society’s expectations on girls and their appearances. She creates a whole scenario in which she is involved in a beauty pageant in order for the viewer to see the pressure that is put on girls of our generation. Through the use of visual motifs such as a beauty pageant, the consumption of cotton balls, and Beyoncé drowning, the viewer is able to understand that if we don’t stop putting pressure on girls to be perfect, they will never be able to be happy with their true self.

The first visual motif to be discussed is the beauty pageant as a whole. The beauty pageant symbolizes the stereotype of girls in our society. The way to win in a pageant is based on a girl’s looks, which is equal to how girls feel in society. The contestants are constantly reprimanded and forced to put on makeup that makes them look nothing like their actual selves. Then, they are required to get up on stage and fake a smile as if everything is perfect. This represents the pressure on girls to feel the need to act like everything is okay in their lives on the outside, regardless of what they are truly going through. The viewer sees the transition from Beyonce’s face of struggle and despair to her face with a huge smile, as she goes on and off the stage. It makes the viewer pity her, as a result of her having to hide her true self and emotions. We hear about girls beginning to participate in beauty pageants straight from birth, which is teaching girls terrible morals right from the start. It is making them believe if they do not win the crown, they are not pretty enough, or good enough. Beauty pageants tear down a girl’s self-confidence just as the rest of society does, as well. In addition, we don’t see one man participating in the beauty pageant that Beyonce takes place in. It shows the viewer that women are objectified as a gender and that sexism still exists in society. Culture is much more willing to accept women parading around on a stage in little outfits for competition than if men were. It is just the natural double standard that remains prominent in society and can be completely degrading. 

Secondly, in the music video, not only are beauty pageant contestants required to have a pretty face, but they are forced to be skinny, as well. We see a girl consuming cotton balls in order to fill up her stomach so that she is not hungry. This represents the current rise in girls suffering from eating disorders because they feel their current body is not skinny enough for them to be happy. Girls in our society see edited pictures of girls whose bodies look perfect and therefore want to look like them. They see these girls in pictures as their definition of perfect; however, it is not what these girls look like in real life. These become the most intimidating type of role model. This is where eating disorders develop because girls have a distorted image of what they need to look like in order to be perfect. They believe that if they get skinnier, they will be happy because all the skinny girls look happy in their pictures. We do not think of how easy it is to fake a smile in these pictures and the measures they take to achieve their bodies. In the video, we see behind the scenes of what a girl has to do in order for society to view them as “perfect.” We see Beyonce making herself throw up and take pills, which brings awareness of eating disorders in our society. She shows the world what girls really go through behind closed doors in order to show girls that being perfect is unattainable.

During the music video, Beyoncé falls into a pool of water in several scenes. Throughout the video, the camera moves back to her drowning, showing that all the pressure to be pretty, skinny and perfect, is suffocating her. She cannot function anymore living in a society that cares nothing about her other than the way she looks. She is struggling to gasp for air also representing that she feels the world is collapsing on her. Many girls in our society never end up getting that gasp of air because all their insecurities pile up and make them feel like they are not worth it. They take their own lives because they feel it is the only way they can escape and be at peace with themselves. It is beyond depressing that we live in a world, which places so much pressure on girls to be perfect that it sometimes results in girls to do such drastic and permanent things.

Color schemes and camera angles can add a lot to the overall theme of any music video. In the “Pretty Hurts” video, the camera constantly zooms on the contestants’ faces. This mechanism is used to show how quickly their smiles fade and return to their unhappy frowns. A viewer can recognize their true pain from these close ups. The camera also makes an effort to zoom on the important props, such as the scale, the pills, and the cotton balls. These props are meant to be seen clearly because of their important role in representing girls’ struggle with weight and confidence. Lastly, the scenes in the bathroom switch to a much darker atmosphere. The color difference is meant to create a dramatic and sad feel as she is forcing herself to vomit. 

Through the music video “Pretty Hurts” the viewer is able to understand the pressure put on girls to be perfect and the need to end this mentality through the use of visual motifs such as a beauty pageant, the consumption of cotton balls, and the reoccurring scenes of Beyoncé drowning. Beyonce brings awareness to sexism, eating disorders and suicide throughout her music video. She shows girls that there is no such thing as being perfect so there is no point in attempting to be. Hopefully the pressure put on girls to be perfect can be changed through the use of Beyonce’s video. Girls need to stop comparing themselves to people they see over social media because the girls they see in pictures aren’t real; therefore, they will never be able to look like them. The first step to changing girls’ and boys’ mentalities of what girls are supposed to be like is to get rid of beauty pageants. All these pageants do is put an emphasis on the importance of a girl’s appearance on the outside, which should not be what we focus on when observing a girl. If the need to be perfect in today’s society doesn’t change, girls perception of themselves will never improve. Beyonce’s video and the elements used within do a phenomenal job of calling attention to these issues in an effort to promote change.