Pretty Isn’t Pretty - Olivia Rodrigo

September 28th, 2023

A song that touched me dearly on Olivia Rodrigo’s sophomore album was pretty isn’t pretty. It’s upsetting that being “not enough” is a universal feeling, but as a teenage girl, that concept heavily focuses on physical appearances and it is brutal.

The hard truth is, we all want to feel accepted and validated by others, and that is completely normal. What’s wrong is that there shouldn’t be a certain standard people have to meet to be considered “enough,” especially if these standards were set by generational strangers. As women, we are forced to comply with ladylike behavior and play by the rules, but when does it cross the boundary? When do we realize that putting our mental, physical, and emotional health on the line for society is not worth it?

We are driven so far into insecurity that our mindsets allow us to do the unthinkable just to make ourselves more appealing to the world. We all need a constant reminder that society’s expectations of young women are unrealistic and unreliable (as they’re always changing) and that we need to alter how we think.

So here’s that reminder.

I picked out some lyrics from Olivia’s song Pretty Isn’t Pretty that were personal to me. I want to shed some light and analyze and interpret them from my perspective, and hopefully help you realize that it’s not our fault and that we are all enough.

VERSE 1: Bought a bunch of makeup, tryna cover up my face

I started doing full face makeup at the end of my junior year of high school. Since then, I hated and always felt uncomfortable going out in public with my bare face. I have struggled with acne since puberty so there is some scarring on my face from my previous breakouts. I never felt pretty without my makeup and always thought it was necessary for me to be pretty.

VERSE 1: I started to skip lunch, stopped eatin' cake on birthdays

I started hanging out with two of my old friends from elementary school near the end of my junior year. They were the type of girls who often worked out, and had jobs so were cautious and responsible with their money, and always had an actual water bottle nearby. The first time I hung out with them at lunch, they noticed I didn’t get any food from the cafeteria. I told them I just didn’t eat lunch, and in the nicest way possible they called me out on it. I didn’t even realize I had a bad habit of staying hungry because I didn’t even notice the starving feeling after a while. After that, I slowly started to break that habit and told myself it was okay to eat. They also inspired me to bring my own hydroflask to school and I learned the importance of staying hydrated.

VERSE 1: 'Cause there's always somethin' missin'

There's always somethin' in the mirror that I think looks wrong

There’s always something that I wish could be better, like my short eyebrows or my small lips. Sure those features aren’t perfect, but why does that have to mean they’re “wrong”? 

CHORUS: And everybody's keepin' it up, so you think it's you

You know when you and a girl compliment each other and it’s bittersweet because you don’t believe what she said at all? You instinctively point out all of your flaws and belittle yourself because, in your eyes, this girl may have the prettiest eyes and the most perfect body anyone could ever wish for. So you think to yourself why can’t that be me? 

Well, guess what? She doesn’t believe your compliment either, and she wishes she had YOUR qualities. 

This is a common conversation and personal experience we’ve all gone through. We feel as though everyone around us is doing something right and we’re always doing something wrong, but in reality, we’re all running around in circles feeling the same thing.

VERSE 2: You fix the things you hated, and you'd still feel so insecure

No matter how hard you try to be better, something will always replace your old insecurity. How dumb is that?

BRIDGE: And I bought all the clothes that they told me to buy

I chased some dumb idea my whole f****** life

And none of it matters, and none of it ends

You just feel like s*** over and over again

You do your best to keep up with the trends, like buying certain clothes or doing your hair this way, but it never seems to be sufficient. Remember that standard I talked about earlier? That’s going to hang over your head for the rest of your life, and whatever you do it will always play in the back of your mind. It will never go away and you will always feel like you’re not enough.

But isn’t that b*******? The idea that women have to prioritize other people’s thoughts and opinions before themselves is something that society has been feeding us our entire lives. It’s affecting our health and our mindsets for the worse.

Pretty Isn’t Pretty is a wonderfully well-written song that is composed of everything every girl has ever felt. Olivia is incredible for writing this experience in her own words and sharing this unfortunate event with the world, and when we learn the lyrics to her song it makes us stop and realize what we are really going through. It’s our job to protect ourselves, because who else will?

Oh, and don’t get me started on all-American b****.

from one girl to another,

Jasmine ꨄ