Imagine for a minute. The pure torment of slowly withering away, the fear of food consuming you, of starving, slowly slipping into madness. You're just screeching skin and bones, remnants of the fulfilling life of the past. This is the sad reality that around 16% of the Australian population suffers from eating disorders. This is the subject of the song "Pretty Hurts" co-written by Beyoncé in 2013, which offers great insight into issues surrounding modern social/cultural norms and mental illness. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original EssayThrough the use of a whole host of linguistic features, impeccable vocabulary in combination with song structure and audio elements, Beyoncé was able to enlighten her listeners and the world about the deplorable effects of high social norms and cultural and their toll on people's lives. In “Pretty Hurts” a number of linguistic tools are used to evoke emotion and engage the audience to enlighten the masses about the song's message. Strongly evocative language such as “It is the soul that needs surgery” and “There is no doctor or pill that can take away the pain”. This influences the audience by evoking emotions and detailing the suffering caused by mental illness. Compelling words like “Masquerade” and “Pageant” engage and convey a deeper message, making it more emotionally impactful to audiences. As the audience is influenced by the verse and choruses of the song, The Bridge and the outro reinforce these ideas using repetition, where "it hurts enough" and the repeated rhetorical question "Are you happy with yourself?" The bridge also uses rhyme as seen in "perfection is a nation's disease" with the notable 2x2 rhyme scheme used to fully reinforce and convey the ideas and emotions within the song. These linguistic devices, used in conjunction with the song structure, effectively conveyed ideas and emotions. The song is vocal in nature with scattered hip-hop instrumentals to enhance its message. The song is mainly composed of a refrain that implicitly explains the singer's beauty standards and body dissatisfaction. The chorus also confronts us to explain how society's obsession with beauty with the phrase "perfection is the disease of a nation" and with the pre-chorus repeating "Without falling" implicitly states that this is to the detriment of health mental. Beyoncé confronts us about the modern female stereotype in the media giving examples such as “flat chest […] TV says bigger is better” and “thinner is better”. Exposing these stereotypes in this way emphasizes ideas that lead to body image issues. All of this is insulted on deck where [the singer] explains that she is suffering from pain that won't go away, indicative of depression associated with an eating disorder. The last line concludes the bridge by saying that [you] "left the mirrors and fragments of a beautiful girl" which implies that she is no longer happy with her body with the shattered mirrors representing her low self-esteem associated with the image corporeal. "Pretty Hurts" uses a number of auditory elements throughout the song to place emphasis and evoke emotion. The lyrics are sung with passion with emphasis placed on the chorus to highlight the mental health message of the song. The song begins with a dark piano ostinato which quickly develops with the addition of more electronic instruments used throughout the song. The background music is sparse, but enough was used to create an energetic atmosphere.