Pretty isn't pretty by Olivia Rodrigo
- myanalysisofmedia
- Jan 22, 2024
- 3 min read
Updated: Feb 25, 2024
Context
Pretty isn’t pretty by Olivia Rodrigo is a pop song that was released in 2023 about Olivia’s insecurities about her body. It is an emotional reflection on self-positivity and female physical expectations. Through the use of lyrics, Olivia portrays the themes of insecurities and body dysmorphia.
Body dysmorphia
In the song pretty isn’t pretty, the psychological theme of body dysmorphia is discussed through lyrics. Throughout the song, it is clear that Olivia never feels pretty enough whatever she does to change her appearance. She describes chasing after the ever changing fashion trends and ideals that all the other girls seem to coincide with. Even after trying to keep up with trends and make her body more appealing to herself, she never feels pretty. It seems that even when Olivia fixes an insecurity a new one is created, “You can win the battle, but you'll never win the war/ You fix the things you hated and you’d still feel so insecure.” This lyric shows that although specific insecurities can be fixed, you will never be truly happy with your full appearance.
This idea that you will never feel pretty no matter what you do is a sign of body dysmorphia. Body dysmorphia is a mental health condition where someone spends an unhealthy amount of time worrying about flaws in their appearance. It has become more and more common through time as more media is portraying people in an artificial, edited light. In our society we can consume lots of media everyday. This leads to us seeing more and more models being edited making us feel that we should look like them. These constant reminders on our phones, posters and magazines can make us think more about our flaws and make us feel as if we should fix ourselves.

Eating disorder
The whole song’s purpose is to describe Olivia’s feelings about her insecurities. This theme of insecurities is also in some of her previous songs like jealousy, jealousy describing how she wishes she looked like girls on her phone. In a few of her lines in pretty isn’t pretty she talks about restricting her eating habits. “ I started to skip lunch, stopped eatin’ cake on birthdays.” This line discusses how Olivia started missing meals to make herself feel better about her body. She feels that by restricting her eating she will be like the girls on her phone. However this is not true and also very dangerous.
Purposefully missing meals is a sign of an eating disorder. Most eating disorders are created due to a hyper-fixation on the flaws of your body. However it is dangerous as it can affect the ability to get your necessary nutrients and give you other side effects. Even if skipping meals makes you feel better about your body, it does not make your body feel better. It is important for us to eat as it gives nutrients and energy to keep healthy.

(@OliviaRodrigo)
I found this song to be very emotional and relatable as I feel that so many teenage girls go through this experience of never feeling pretty enough. Pretty isn’t pretty is a beautifully written song that perfectly captures the feelings of insecurities and body dysmorphia. Olivia also includes the psychological theme of eating disorders and shows that she can relate to them. I think this song is very understandable to many people who are struggling with their body image.
How did you interpret this song?
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