What is beauty? This electronic music video denounces the pressure on women to be perfect

“What Is Beauty?”, the latest release by Russian electronic artist Rosemary Loves a Blackberry, is a dreamy but poignant reflection on beauty standards for women.

Surrounded by roses and purple hydrangeas, frontwoman Diana Burkot appears in the music video submerged in a pink-coloured world, where she wallows between the blooms and wraps herself in soft fabrics. In a sharp contrast to the video’s glittery, doll-like aesthetic, she starts to eat the flowers, before vomiting inside a vase.

Fusing candyfloss visuals with a visceral sense of nausea, “What Is Beauty?” elevates its otherworldly electronic sounds to create a dystopian feel.

Burkot says the video is based on her own experience of body shaming and mental health issues. She wanted to make a song that would break with the associations of femininity with perfection, or the idea of “girls as princesses” who are expected “not to even go to the toilet”.

“What Is Beauty” is part of the band’s second album, weirdberry. You can listen to it here.