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A former University of Auckland student has turned a viral selfie and a flood of criticism into a global conversation about beauty standards and self-acceptance.
Naomie Pilula, a 37-year-old lawyer from Zambia, told PEOPLE she was stunned when casual posts of her, often dressed up and talking about her job or faith, drew thousands of comments – many of them fixated on her appearance.
A video about one of her favourite face masks drew comments like “is this AI?” and “is she using a filter?” Another post in June drew more comments on her appearance including one which she said particularly struck a nerve.
“I got a comment that said something about trying out rhinoplasty, and I think she caught me at a time where I was really pissed off, because I had received other comments and maybe even worse comments because I had people telling me outright, ‘You’re ugly,’ [and] ‘you don’t deserve to be on the internet’.”
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