Kammala wannan jumla: A cewar Tris McCall na "The Star-Ledger", waƙar tana nuna cewa "an jefa matan Amurka daga shimfiɗarsu zuwa gasa da juna, kuma ana horar da su don ɓoye laifuffukansu da rashin amincewa da duk wata alama ta haɗin kai". Bugu da kari, kalmomin waƙar suna magana ne game da sakamakon manyan ƙa'idodin kyawawan halaye na al'umma, kuma a cikin "Pretty Hurts" an nuna rikicewar cin abinci a matsayin ɗayan sakamakon da aka yi. Waƙar kuma ta ga Beyonce tana la'antar "murmushin filastik", kuma a cikin ayoyin ƙarshe ta buƙaci a "cire abin rufe fuska". Masu sukar sun lura cewa "Pretty Hurts" ya inganta burin mai sauraronsa don shahara da ci gaban mutum. Kalmomin waƙar sun sami kwatankwacin TLC's "Unpretty" (1999), da Christina Aguilera's "Beautiful" (2002). Marc Hogan na "Spin" ya yi imanin cewa "Pretty Hurts" ya yi kama da jawabi tare da kiɗa kuma ya ji cewa ya zama sanarwa ta siyasa ga masana'antar kyakkyawa. Ra'ayin Hogan ya kasance daidai da McCall na "The Star-Ledger" wanda ya rubuta cewa an yi waƙar ta Phil Ochs a 1995, "da an gane shi nan da nan a matsayin lambar zanga-zanga". McCall ya ci gaba da cewa "Pretty Hurts" ya zama martani ga sukar da Beyonce ta samu game da wasan kwaikwayonta na "The Star-Spangled Banner" a lokacin shugaban Amurka Barack Obama
nadin mulki na biyu a shekarar 2013.