Agnes Azria’s song “Beauty Myth” explores the relationship between beauty standards and women’s liberation

What’s perhaps most interesting about art is that it leaves a paper trail. A painter creates a masterpiece inspired by a book, which was inspired by a song, which was inspired by a photograph. We could go on and on, or we could give you an example using the work of 19-year-old musician Agnes Azria.

While reading Naomi Wolf’s The Beauty Myth, Agnes was confronted with the relationship between women’s liberation and society’s version of beauty. In the process, she gained a greater understanding of how beauty standards have impacted womankind’s ability to advance. That, in turn, inspired Agnes’s song “Beauty Myth.”

In a voice that sounds straight out of the Jazz Age, Agnes croons lyrics such as,

"We soak and rub the beauty myth within the folds of our skin," and, "The makeup and cream runs through our blood streams."

To accompany Agnes’s haunting vocals, there’s now a music video to go along with “Beauty Myth,” and we’re exclusively debuting it here:

Directed by Devin Rojas and featuring Agnes Azria herself, the video paints a vivid picture in which the intersection between beauty and social issues is examined. One can truly see that Naomi Wolf’s novel came into play, inspiring Agnes as she came face-to-face with how obsessed our society is with a certain type of beauty. And moreover, how this certain-type-of-beauty standard affects the women of this world. A lyric that encapsulates this: “Our business is your pleasure / Says a sign on the road / It’s your business it’s your pleasure and / It’s our bodies being sold.”

To hear more, you can follow Agnes on Twitter and Soundcloud.