pretty hurts...

I know how typical this sounds that a pop star helped me through some rough times. But it's true, I've always admired Beyonce for her hard work, determination and how she presents herself. She's worked hard to get to where she is as well as hit some strokes of luck blah blah blah I could go on forever as to how amazing she is. 

One thing I really admire about not only Beyonce but also Jenifer Lawrence, is that they are proud of their bodies and who they are. Jennifer Lawrence openly admitted to wanting to look fit for the Hunger Games, not thin. She doesn't want girls who look up to her starving themselves to be like her. Instead she wants them to eat what they want and excercise to be fit and happy. 

The song And music video from Beyoncé's new album really hit me hard. I can't tell you how many times I have watched it in awe. When it first came out I absolutely loved it and that it slapped societies ideal of what women should look like in the face. 

Recently I was able to actually apply Beyoncé's Pretty Hurts music video to one of my sociology classes. We were talking about our societies stereotypes and expectations of women. Some things that we decided society expects from us were: that we should be thin, we should throw ourselves over men, we should be sexualized, we should look like the girls in magazines as well as many more. Just as my professor was going on about how we have to do a paper and presentation on a music video or advertisement that shows how women are viewed in society, I got BEYOND excited. 

The media portrays the female as a very unrealistic ideal. The models are even airbrushed to have smaller waists, larger eyes, thigh gaps, longer legs, bigger boobs, I could go on forever. By showing women in this light, everyone who does not fit into the cookie cutter image of what women should look like, feel badly about themselves.Young women end up  going to extremes to try and fit into the cookie cutter image. 

Pretty Hurts - Beyonce Video

Beyonce fights for all women in Pretty Hurts. She goes through many things that women of all ages do on a regular basis to try to be thin and fit the cookie cutter image. By saying "perfection is a disease of a nation", I think she is implying that our nation puts so much emphasis on a particular way women should look and its become such a problem. Through the video different painful tricks are shown that women use to loose weight. Those tricks range from eating cotton balls to trick your body into not being hungry, to throwing up and so many more.

It's sad that our society puts so much stake on the way we look. "what you wear is all that matters" reiterates this idea. And she is right, we try so hard to fix ourselves, but is it whats on the outside that we really need to fix? No its not, we need to fix whats inside of us, our emotions and our souls. We need to be empowered and confident in ourselves. At the end of the day, when you are laying in bed at night, you need to be happy with yourself. No one else will be there to tell you that you are fat or ugly. That is one of the biggest things that I have learned this year. That its not about what everyone else thinks about me, but if I'm happy with myself. I may not always be perfectly happy with myself, but I'm always doing something to make myself happier. 

Check out my earlier posts on my fitness journey, tips to drop a few extra pounds, tabata and working out.

Don't make being pretty hurt anymore. Be you, do you, be happy.

until next time... xoxo J