Have you ever stopped for a second to consider just how hard life is for people who are pretty and famous? The constant glares from jealous strangers, agents begging you to walk down runways at fashion week, thousands of followers hanging on your every word and practically demanding to give you their money. Being pretty makes going out in public so intimidating.

“And guys make it so obvious too. Like, I hear you. Like, I literally hear what you’re whispering to your friends and I see you all staring at me. And then this guy literally tried to walk into me to get my attention. I’m like, oh my god.”

Only a handful of people in the world are unlucky enough to suffer this terrible, terrible blight of being better than literally everyone else. “Yes, I have really pretty eyes. Okay, why don’t you ask me about my family or where I’m from or anything else? It’s always my eyes. They make me so uncomfortable on dates.”

What if I told you that all it takes to struggle in those awful ways of being pretty is to claim it in front of the whole world and convince everyone that you’re right? “Being skinny does solve all your problems. Every single one. And I mean that.”

You’ve heard the terms pretty privilege, the beauty standard. So how far would you be willing to go to attain the unattainable and show up online as the new perfect version of yourself?

Let me set the scene for you.

Close your eyes and picture this. You’re a young woman navigating low self-esteem because everywhere you look, there’s someone who seems better than you according to society’s messed-up beauty standards. Ridiculous standards. They’re thinner than you. They’ve got booty cheeks that sit up here when yours sit down here. They’ve got those perky twins that somehow defy gravity and don’t require underwire. And gasp, all this with a better nose than you.

No matter how hard you try, you can’t shake the feeling that you’ll never be enough. And certainly, AI isn’t going to let you feel any differently, which is only made worse when you go out with your hot friends and notice the difference immediately.

“She’s like a Martian. God, my hips are huge.”

“Oh please. I hate my calves. You guys can wear halters. I’ve got man shoulders.”

“I used to think there was just fat and skinny. Apparently, there’s a lot of things that can be wrong on your body.”

“My hairline is so weird. My pores are huge. My nail beds suck. I have really bad breath in the morning.”

“Ew.”

It feels like no matter how confident you act, no matter how good your personality is, the world only values your appearance. And it gets to a point where you look in the mirror and struggle to accept the woman staring back at you.

And one day, you finally have had enough. You decide to undergo the biggest transformation of your life. Ozempic injections melt away half your body weight and a quarter of your bank account. You sacrifice your savings so a surgeon can carve your nose into the image of a Hollywood starlet.

But when you recover and step into your new body — and good for you, making a decision that you’re happy with — that’s just when the real nightmare begins. According to some influencers, strangers at the mall who once walked past you without noticing now stare and approach you because of your beauty. Your online following grows, and your DMs become even bigger. Suddenly, the changes that were supposed to make you feel better only push your anxiety to the brink of panic.

Welcome to the chaos.

Allow me to introduce you to the star of today’s story. Talia Brier, a twenty-two-year-old self-proclaimed “stay-at-home daughter” — way to aim high, girl — who has sent the internet into a melodramatic spiral over her hot takes and broadcasted confidence in what appears to be a very unserious troll. Or is it?

“I’m pretty and I know I’m pretty, and that makes people so f***ing mad. Yes, I am slut-shaming.”

Let’s be real for a second. The world is literally on fire. Gas prices, the economy, everything. It can sometimes feel like we wake up in chaos, go to the bathroom in chaos, go to sleep in chaos. So today, we’re fishing Talia Brier out of the chaos because she’s been deemed the internet’s most hated influencer. I feel like this is a title given to a different person every week. It constantly evolves. Nothing matters anymore. But here we are.

Before we rage-bait ourselves into oblivion, let’s get a clear look at Talia’s online presence. Her Instagram bio shows about 65,000 followers and a partnership email, so she’s clearly on that professional influencer mindset. Over on TikTok, we find a similar vibe with 73,000 followers and a bio that reads, and I quote, “Spreading delusional confidence.”

Goody goody.

Now, the For You Page is no stranger to a queen with some strong opinions who wants to fight with everyone behind her front-facing camera. But for some reason, TikTok reacted to Talia’s recent viral rant more intensely. Talia has been posting on her TikTok account since the summer of 2024, emboldened by Brat Summer to stretch her brat mindset into Brat Fall, Brat Winter, and Brat Spring for brat years to come.

Posting videos like this: “Who gives a literal f? Life is on easy mode for me because I have never once cared. No one’s on a pedestal. No one is that fing important to make me sad. Guys not treating me right? Bye. A friend excluded me? Bye. Someone called me a name? Bye.”

And if this confidence-maxing persona of obnoxious entitlement is going to do one thing, it’s get people engaging. Whether you love it or hate it or don’t understand it, you’re probably going to leave a comment. Some people live for the theatrics, and others are just honestly repulsed by the public arrogance.

“I’m a stay-at-home daughter doing full-time social media instead of getting a job. Let me tell you why. First of all, I graduated college a year and a half early, so I saved my parents a lot of money on school.”

But nothing could have prepared the world for her viral tirade, now sitting at over 3.7 million views, titled, and I quote, “Being pretty and Insta-famous is not for the weak.”

Oh girl, here we go.

“Being pretty makes going out in public so f***ing intimidating. And guys make it so obvious too. Like, I hear you. I literally hear what you’re whispering to your friends, and I see you all staring at me. And then this guy literally tried to walk into me to get my attention. I’m like, oh my god.”

Can we just have a moment? Like, what do you mean being pretty is so hard? Listen, we could get into the finer nuances of the way women are objectified based on different criteria of looks and shamed for different criteria of looks. We could get into all of that. But we’re not doing that today.

This is just like, oh my gosh, being so pretty. Don’t look at me. Stop looking at me. Wait, look at me from this side. Oh my gosh, how dare you look at me. Do you like looking at me? Stop looking at me.

“This is not even to be like, ‘Oh my god, I’m just so beautiful.’ But it really is true. Like being a pretty girl, you know, you’re being looked at, and it’s intimidating. I also didn’t grow up looking like this.”

I think that this is an experience of being a woman, period. First of all, you don’t notice people looking at you unless you’re looking for people to see if they’re looking at you. And if you’re looking at people to see if they’re looking at you, then they’re looking at you because they’re wondering why you’re looking at them.

I also feel like women in general, regardless of what a woman looks like, experience certain levels of encounters. When I go out for a walk, particularly if the sun is setting or if I’m by myself or if it’s in the evening, I literally wear the baggiest, bulkiest, non-form-fitting clothing possible. Beanie all the way down, hood up, sloppy sweatpants. That’s what I wear because I’m trying to hide any semblance of a feminine woman body shape to not be so identified as a woman. And that’s because of men.

So on top of the weapons that I have with me, I also dress that way. And I feel like this is the experience of probably most every girl and woman at some point, just wondering: am I safe in my skin, existing in public?

“Being a pretty girl, you know, you’re being looked at, and it’s intimidating.”

I also feel that “pretty girls” — whatever your definition of pretty girl is, because we all have different definitions — the friends of mine who are considered beautiful as part of their job, they don’t know that people are looking at them because they’re not thinking, “I wonder if someone’s clocking my beauty.” They’re literally just existing and going about their day.

“It’s intimidating. I also didn’t grow up looking like this. And so being seen, all eyes on me like this —”

I do think it’s interesting that she says, “I didn’t grow up looking like this.” There’s this superiority that just leaves a very bad taste in my mouth. This hierarchy that now that she looks like this, whatever “this” is to her, is somehow superior to when she looked like something else. And it’s kind of implying that if anyone looked the way she used to, then you are inferior to her because she is superior because she had work done and now she looks like this because she could afford to buy whatever looks she thinks make her prettier and more superior to other women.

I hate all of that.

“And honestly, what I think it actually is that makes it a lot worse is now that I have a social media following, I hear people being like, ‘Oh, I follow her on Instagram.’ Or people will come up to me. Please, if you see me in person, please just come say hi to me. Because when I can tell that you recognize me and you’re talking about me or you’re saying things and I can hear you, it gives me so much anxiety.”

It’s also fascinating to me. She has what, like 70,000 or so followers on TikTok. I have friends who have millions of followers, and they’re not getting recognized. It’s fascinating seeing someone with 70,000 followers implying that she’s getting stopped all the time and people recognize her.

“But I love when people come up to me. That does not make me nervous. It’s knowing that I’m being heard or seen but them not coming up to me that makes me nervous.”

Here’s another thing I’ll say. People could be chattering amongst themselves, total strangers out and about, and it ain’t got to do with you. But if you are scanning the room trying to see if people are noticing you, if they’re looking at you, if they’re perceiving you, and subconsciously maybe you’re hoping that people are looking at you and thinking, “Oh, look at that pretty girl,” then when you see random people chattering away about whatever the hell they’re talking about, you assume it must be about you.

“But this is just something I’m learning and working on.”

Also, this could just be a giant f***ing troll. And it probably is.

“My gosh, I went to the mall today for the first time in so long, and I’m not going to lie, I never want to do it again. And I never want to go in public again by myself because I need to get used to just being seen and being looked at and being whispered about, but it’s not normal.”

I feel like there’s a need there. She needs to be seen in a way that — yeah. We’ll leave it at that.

It low-key kind of makes my skin crawl how these days it’s getting harder and harder to tell what is manufactured for engagement and rage bait and what is actually sincere. With the influx of AI everywhere, the doomsday clock might as well be at midnight at this point.

“I can’t tell if Talia’s rise to fame is a master class — which we’ll talk about later because she’s actually hosting a master class — in diluted self-confidence of the good kind, like ‘you know what, we should all strive to have that confidence,’ or if it’s performance art. I really find it honestly quite annoying, but also maybe at this point there’s so much worse that maybe I need to like this. I don’t know.”

I have no idea if Talia is putting on a show for the For You Page, but if I had to choose between a young woman being this level of over-the-top, oblivious, gloating, or the Andrew Tates of the world, I would choose her all day every day. I’m just putting that out there.

But the comments seem to agree. There’s a lot of these types of comments: “I want the voices that live in your head. They’re so nice to you.” And another: “Me when the trader chose cashier as my weekend plans.”

Unsurprisingly, a lot of people had trouble understanding if this was satire or sincere. One comment says, “As satire, this is hilarious, and if real, also hilarious.” And I kind of agree.

Talia’s complaints reached far and wide, and people started making their own content about it, parodies with millions of views. “Oh, you think your life is hard? That’s cute. Try being pretty and Instagram famous and going outside without feeling intimidated. It is not for the weak. I will purposefully go outside trying to look ugly, and yet guys make it so obvious.”

Some people outright admitted to hating her. “We don’t hate that girl who said life is so hard because she is so beautiful and famous because she’s confident. We hate her because she’s not, and her confidence is fake. Most of her platform is built on tearing women down, calling women sluts, and her lack of intelligence. Anybody who needs to rage-bait that badly clearly isn’t confident enough to think they can build a platform without doing it.”

As the opinion pieces started pouring in, Talia fully divided the internet with her 70,000-plus “famous” thing that she’s got going on, and she couldn’t be happier, it appears.

“I’m pretty and I know I’m pretty, and that makes people so mad. I made a video saying that going out in public is stressful sometimes because everyone’s looking at you and guys will do things to get your attention, and especially now that I have a following. People are talking about me or they’ll come up to me. It’s just a different experience than it used to be before I got a nose job and hair extensions and lost weight and started posting on social media.”

“And people, mostly guys, trying to gaslight me and be like, ‘You’re not pretty. You’re a chopped a** b*tch.’ You literally cannot tell me that I’m not objectively pretty. I fit the beauty standard. That is just a fact. And the funny thing is, I don’t see it as that much of a personal thing.”

Now, while I’m all for hyping yourself up, I’m just going to say it. The way she says she objectively fits the beauty standard is fully belly-flopped into the chaos. Even though it appears that she has chosen to fall into the bigoted trap of believing Eurocentric, blue-eyed beauty standards are somehow the standard and not just a very loud potential dog whistle for eugenics, she’s also uplifting the idea of this white beauty standard all over social media when in reality beauty is literally so subjective and often has loads more to do with personality than looking like what the outdated controlling image of a supermodel or the prettiest of the pretty used to be when they plastered it all over billboards and magazines.

She doubled down and made some questionable statements.

“I’m pretty and I know I’m pretty. The thing is, I do have an ego. I do have a superiority complex. ‘Cause why would I, the only person who lives in my own universe and has been there through every moment, every experience, every conversation, believe that somebody else is on my level? I don’t know you the way I will ever know myself. I don’t know how hard you work. I don’t know how well you treat people. I don’t know how much you focus on becoming the best version of yourself. So why would you ever be in the same playing field as I view myself?”

“You are something special. You should believe you’re pretty. You should believe you’re amazing because you choose the kind of person you are. So no, nobody should ever come close to the level you view yourself because you don’t know them and you never will. I love you girls. Love yourselves. Fall for more.”

Now, she’s walking this fine line between a naive twenty-two-year-old offering self-help without much life experience to back that up and straight-up trolling that is almost up to interpretation, like a piece of fine art, girl.

“Why is no one talking about how hard it is to not have a job? Do you know how hard it is to have to figure out what you want to do every day? My calendar is empty, yet I have to set things every single day, make sure I get up, make sure I make it to my workout. Do you know how much harder it is to be productive when you don’t have somewhere that you need to be?”

“Nobody’s talking about this. It’s just like, ‘Oh my god, I want to be a stay-at-home daughter.’ You don’t know what it’s like to be a stay-at-home daughter. You act like it’s all fun and games. It’s so easy ’cause you don’t have to have a job. But it’s not.”

I genuinely don’t care about her opinions. We’re just all existing at the same time, whether we love that or not. There’s just no way that I would take full-throated life advice from someone devoted to self-obsession in the loudest way possible.

It’s worth mentioning that Talia’s parents are quite literally TikTok famous themselves, with over 200,000 followers and 7 million likes for their viral posts promoting their law firm. Honey, we got lawyer money. I hate it here.

“My parents are multi-millionaires, and these are the quotes they repeatedly make me say. Control the controllables. What’s the most important decision you’ll ever make in your life? Who you marry. Activity is the healer of all anxiety. Show me your friends, I’ll show you your future. You are the five people you surround yourself with the most. Here’s a good one: You get what you allow. All boys are rotten. I’m not kidding. They say that.”

Yeah, it’s a family business. Even her sister, Kaya, is an influencer with 2 million followers. I mean, allegedly. Okay, don’t come for me, Mom and Dad. We’re just having a giggle.

“I have a whole new load of hate comments today, which makes me so excited. Comments are coming from this video where I approached a group of guys. They’re like ten years younger than us, but they’re super cool. And the point of the video is to inspire girls to reach out to people. Take your shot. Shoot your shot. Go meet new people. Don’t be afraid to approach strangers. But I guess some people didn’t take it like that.”

Talia has definitely been busy carving out her own niche.

“You’re so lucky to be a stay-at-home daughter. Shut the f*** up. What the f*** is wrong with you? How ignorant of a thing to say when you don’t even know what it’s like. You don’t know my struggles. You don’t know all the things that I’ve been through. Literally, how dare you? It’s pathetic. It’s loser behavior because you judge things before you know what it’s actually like, and you minimize the pain. Seek to understand. Ask questions. Don’t always just think you know everyone and you’re seeking to be understood. Be curious because life is not sunshine and rainbows. What the f***?”

Now, with videos like that which clearly are just rage-bait trolling — I don’t know how to see it any other way than this is intentional rage-bait trolling — I can’t help but wonder: should I be offended by this girl trolling people and playing in our faces?

I think I’m in a place where I’m just more interested in what the hell our government is doing with the whole war thing, the financial crisis caused by literal billionaires, and what the ever-loving f*** is happening with the Epstein files to have energy to be like “this is the most serious terrible thing on the internet.” Because it’s just not.

I get that it’s very obnoxious to a lot of people, and we’re going to have a conversation. I think it’s more important about the “pick me” thing later on. That’s what I was more interested in. Who the hell knows anymore? Nothing is real. We’re all just living in an AI simulation at this point.

Now, some people were ringing the alarm bells and making think pieces on Talia’s point of view.

“Maybe the reason that people are looking at you in public is not because of how you look, but rather because you are just loud. My apologies, but if I am out and about and I hear a loud scream, a loud laugh, something that jolts me, I’m going to turn around. I’m only saying these things because I do not want girls to think, ‘Oh, if I go out in public and I don’t get stares and I don’t get attention from men, it’s because I’m ugly.’ No, that is not the case.”

“The last thing I want to touch on is her screaming at us that she’s so very pretty. I’m all for self-love. I think that everyone should be obsessed with themselves. However, I don’t think that we should be screaming it at people like, ‘Oh my god, I love myself so much. I think I am so beautiful.’ I’m trying to give her the benefit of the doubt here. Maybe it’s like a mantra, and she is trying to speak things into existence. But even then, I think you should do that in front of a mirror alone by yourself. Unfortunately, it’s not giving what I think she wants it to give. Confidence is quiet, and insecurity is extremely loud.”

Now, I agree to an extent that confidence is quiet and insecurity is loud. But also, if we look at that from another perspective — and I’m sure many of you know where I’m going — I could make a case for that idea about being more quiet being heavily rooted in patriarchy and misogyny. The sentiment that in order for a woman to be liked, successful, and confident, she has to be quiet about it. While men who are loud about their achievements get praised as being confident kings. “Way to go. He knows exactly what he wants.”

If we go one layer further for just five seconds, historically, people including women have especially labeled Black women as “loud” anytime we talk about our achievements or dare to acknowledge, “I might feel pretty today. Is that okay for me to say?” This is literally the reason why for years I was constantly self-deprecating in my content. I would make fun of myself. I would almost demean myself and downplay my intelligence, my appearance, the awards I’ve won, what I’ve achieved in life, in my career.

And there are literally still some loser troll to this day in the comments that can’t stand the fact that I’ve worked hard and that I’ve achieved great things in life that I’m very proud of, which is just so hilariously embarrassing for them. Like, why do that to yourself? Why be so bothered that someone has achieved something good? It’s weird.

But yeah, calling Black women “loud” has historically been used to shrink us, silence us, punish us for taking up space. When I see it happen to other people or in comments, I’m reminded of how good it feels to know that I have free will and critical thinking and get a giggle when I see someone crashing out on their last brain cell trying to hate on talented Black women.

In many ways, that level of barnacle-brain degradation isn’t exclusive just to Black women. It’s very much a facet that affects us as a form of misogynoir. But women of every color and every background and every experience are often being told to smile more and say less. I’ll be at the grocery store checkout aisle, and some man will turn around — buying groceries — “Are you going to be weird? ‘Cause I feel like you’re going to be weird.” He looks at me and says, “Why don’t you smile?” And I’m just like, “Why don’t you shut the f*** up and put the apples in the bag, sir?”

But if we go with the theme of that last think piece — the concept that insecurity is extremely loud, which can have merits for sure — look at Andrew Tate. He might be the most insecure man I’ve ever seen on the face of this earth. And he will not shut up. And I wish that he would shut up. Oh my gosh. Please shut up.

If insecurity is loud, then Talia is currently the loudest of them all. Followed secondly, according to her sister, by all the outraged strangers on the internet.

“And one of the biggest things I talk about is how our reactions to things are a reflection of us. And so what I find so interesting from all of this controversy is how the people hating on her are actually way more insecure than her. For someone to comment, ‘You look like this. You’re ugly. You’re not even pretty.’ What is making you react like that? What makes you so mad?”

It’s absolutely wild to me that you got two sisters who both routinely refer to their content as empowering and confidence-building when they simultaneously routinely rip apart women specifically about their looks, their bodies, their dating lives, their careers, how they choose to live their lives. There’s a lot — I’m not posting a bunch of it in this piece, but there’s a lot of different videos that are slut-shaming, body-shaming, education-shaming, poverty-shaming. That doesn’t sit right with me. It doesn’t sit right with a lot of people.

“You’re all a bunch of fing losers. There, I said it. This world is full of losers. And I’m not even saying that to shame you. It’s just like, are we all brainwashed? Am I the only one awake? Where the hell have you been? Watching society scares the s out of me because I’m the crazy one for not believing in hookup culture or smoking and partying and vaping and drugs and drinking. Like, sorry, you’re insane. Not me. You’re pathetic for that. And then I’m so crazy for being authentic. Like, no. I know you’re not doing those things because you really want to. You’re probably just going along with it. And you never stop to think like, does this actually fulfill me? Does it? Do I love this? Is it making me feel good? You just never stop to question it.”

Speaking of proud, Talia seems to be super proud of all the hate she’s received, which — okay, go girl. “I love how mad it makes people when a pretty girl knows she’s pretty or when someone with followers knows they have followers. Stay mad and miserable. Stay mad.”

Now, one thing I noticed is that some of Talia’s content, whether she realized it or not, actually tends to contradict itself. Lots of content around men, the idea of men, getting a man, how to get a man, how to keep a man — all of that, which isn’t very Brat Summer of her.

“Don’t you just think the whole ‘keep having a Brat Summer’ thing is a bit cringe?”

“It’s all cringe. Good to go again.”

“Hookup culture is a low-IQ activity because I think you might actually just be stupid. Because if you actually think about it, it literally has no benefits for you, especially as a woman. You’re literally giving this guy exactly what he wants and then begging to basically be played.”

One of Talia’s niches is her commentary on hookup culture and modern dating that takes on a borderline Hannah Pearl Davis trad-wife vibe — but, you know, make it girly pop. “It’s not about you. And that’s our problem. Social media has made us women live in this complete delusion and narcissism.”

But here’s where I think the trolling with Talia ends and the b******t takes over. Talia openly shames women for choosing what to do with their own bodies as yet another way to trigger the engagement train. So fun.

“You like the game of him giving you absolutely fing nothing. There’s no bar anymore. I actually think it’s a reverse bar because you want to be treated like s. But it’s all a fing brainwashed lie. Okay? Life is better when you actually set high standards, and you’re like, ‘I’m not going to accept that. Who the f do you think you are to treat me like that? I’m a princess. I’m a queen.’”

Now, I would say that commentary like this is giving Andrew Tate’s dream. It’s giving alt-right pipeline in ways where she’s pushing these very traditional values without the intelligence or willingness to understand that her worldview — which it’s a free country, you’re supposed to be able to have your worldviews and live your life how you want — isn’t a one-size-fits-all concept for all women or all humans or all people. We are not a damn monolith.

And worse, while some of these sentiments have merits in some settings, it also perpetuates the f***ing idea that if a woman chooses to spend time with a man and that man winds up mistreating her or not valuing her or doing something worse, that somehow that’s her fault for being so stupid and low-IQ to let a man do that to her. And I very much hate it here.

“Do one thing that’s fing around and making it seem like you’re not taking me seriously — bye. What the f? I don’t need you. I’m good. If you will add something to my life, great. If not, great too. Bye. I already have everything. And that’s the brat mentality. That’s really the mindset you have to have. I’m going to accept nothing less than the fing best. So sayonara, ah**, if you can’t give that to me. You’re welcome. And watch me have the most perfect husband ever. So I would recommend following my advice because I’m ready. Love you. Bye. Fall for more.”

By saying things like “watch me have the best husband ever,” I think she reveals the foundation of her whole shtick. Yes, spoiler alert, she is likely insecure. Honestly, most all of us are. I have yet to meet someone who does not have insecurities. It’s just part of the human experience. We just f***ed it up, okay, as a species. Insecurities are going to come with that.

She centers her opinions and actions and thoughts and life advice on what she believes she needs to do to get a husband, a man. It’s all about being pleasing to a f***ing man in this economy. Are we kidding here? She beats people over the head with how very pretty she believes she now is as a form of superiority simply because her parents had the money to buy her a new look. I’m assuming her parents bought the look.

She’s got this approach that you’re a loser if you hook up with a man because women couldn’t possibly just enjoy casual encounters the way men do. Meaning she’s potentially insecure about having only kissed one guy — those are her words — and therefore feels the need to shame any woman who has more dating or sexual experiences than her. She deems that as low-IQ because she maybe sees other women as competition.

She seems to focus a lot on getting a perfect husband. And I’m just like, imagine believing that the perfect man exists in this economy. There’s literally no perfect person, period.

“Girl world. Halloween is the one night a year when a girl can dress like a total slut and no other girls can say anything about it. The hardcore girls just wear lingerie and some form of animal ears.”

“This is for the girls planning on wearing a slut ass Halloween costume. Listen up. Number one, you really shouldn’t be dressing like that. It’s such a form of self-disrespect, and you’re showing how much you value yourself. Number two, I know you think that you’re getting all this attention from guys, but it’s not the right attention that you want. Every girl just wants to be loved, valued, appreciated, find her soulmate, the guy who’s going to show up at her door with flowers, take her out to fancy dinners, on trips, all these things. You don’t want these guys to look at you and be like, ‘Oh my god, she’s so hot. She’s so bad.’”

Okay, so the queen of self-confidence preaches that her whole attitude is the perfect way to land the perfect husband while also telling women not to dress in ways that make them feel good. And I think it’s worth remembering again: she’s twenty-two, and I think she’s doing a rage-bait trolling thing. I think she might believe a lot of this, but also she’s laying it on extra thick to try to piss a bunch of people off.

Now, while her vibe check about men sexualizing women is very, very valid — oh my gosh, is it valid — the reality is that women are sexualized no matter what we wear. Literally, no matter what. But somehow she places the shame on women, the responsibility on women, when it happens — when women are, by and large, the vast majority of the time, literally just existing.

Can we just exist without it being all about a man? That’d be great.

So again, what seems to be missing from her argument is the possibility that a woman might dress a certain way for herself, or for other women, or for other people, or just because it’s f***ing fun.

“I was dressed like a slut here. Okay, that’s my twenty-first birthday outfit in Vegas. What was I doing? First of all, I was there with my mom, my dad, and three of my friends. So I did feel safe. However, I knew the attention I was attracting wearing that. I knew that guys were going to be staring at me, not because they think I’m so beautiful and want to give me the world, but because I look like a hooker. The truth is, I was seeking attention. I wasn’t wearing that for myself. Yeah, I felt good. I felt hot. I wanted to make all the TikToks and feel good in my body because I just lost a bunch of weight, but I also wanted that validation and attention externally. Going out, especially at these places, it’s almost like a silent competition of how hot can you possibly look that night. You want to put on your best face, makeup, best outfit, do your hair. You want to look good to get guys’ attention. And yeah, you want to feel good for yourself. Shut the f*** up. Yeah, that’s part of it, obviously, but —”

With her deep wisdom instilled by Sir Mix-A-Lot, attorney at law, Talia doubles down with the slut-shaming, which just comes off as possibly victim-blaming to me. Being cool is respecting your body. Yes, I agree. Being cool is respecting your body and respecting other people’s decisions of what they do with their bodies, just like you would want them to respect what you do with yours. I feel like that’s not where this is going, though.

“You’re slut-shaming. You’re slut-shaming.”

“Yes, I am slut-shaming. Yes, I am. Because apparently it’s become cool now to dress like a slut, to have a whole Snapchat roster, and to put your entire worth and identity into what these boys think of you.”

Imagine being so angry, so heated, so riled up about what another woman is doing with her dating life.

“Yes, I am making being a slut a bad thing.”

“Just like growing up, my dad would always tell me and my three sisters, ‘Don’t act stupid. I hate when girls act dumb.’”

What does that mean? When your dad, a man, is telling you, “Don’t act stupid. I hate when girls act dumb.” This sounds like a deeper-root issue as to why she is expressing her feelings like this. Now, she has every right to express her feelings that way, and we have every right to comment on it. She’s going to post this to social media. We have rights to have thoughts and opinions on it.

But it seems like her father is the one who decided what is and isn’t stupid for girls. And I don’t know how I feel about that. I have a lot of feelings. I just don’t have enough information about their dynamic. But if this is based on what a man is telling you that girls and women should do and not do, then —

“So then we never wanted to act dumb. So we did our best to become as smart as possible and appear like it.”

Appear like it. Putting on a little mask, if you will. We want to appear smart because Daddy said girls shouldn’t be dumb.

“I am slut-shaming. I don’t want you to be a slut because you know what happens to girls who act like a slut? They’re treated like that by guys. You teach people how to treat you, especially men.”

There’s so much wrong with that, in my opinion, from my perspective. There are elements of truth to what she’s saying in a roundabout way — that you can in some circumstances set the tone for how somebody treats you, to an extent, sometimes, but definitely not all the time.

And the very concept of the slut itself comes from men bashing and berating and demeaning women. It comes from the patriarchal society that we have. It comes from misogyny, referring to women with these negative derogatory terms that men themselves are not referred to as. It’s a way to have a different power dynamic between men and women. And she is upholding that type of b***shit, beating-women-down power dynamic.

This also just inherently is either toeing the line or fully over the edge of placing guilt, shame, and blame on girls and women for the actions of men. I’m so tired of it. This type of thought process is kind of a pipeline for: the woman gets assaulted or r**** after a party, and the questions are, “Well, what was she wearing? Was she flirting? Was she drinking? How was she behaving?” It’s all about what was she doing, not what was he doing.

So when you have these conversations about “you’re acting like a slut,” then it must be her fault.

“Yes, I have really pretty eyes. Okay, why don’t you ask me about my family or where I’m from or anything else? It’s always my eyes. They make me so uncomfortable on dates. I went on dates, I left crying. I had to call my dad and be like, ‘I can’t do this.’ Because I just feel so objectified. And it’s not even their touch like that. When they hug me and squeeze me, I’m like, ‘Ew, get the f*** off me.’ But when they stare into my soul like they’re in love with me and it’s a first date, it’s like you’re literally love-bombing me with your f***ing eyeballs right now.”

Please say you’re joking. This has to be a damn troll.

“And it’s rude. It’s rude. And I get invalidated. And it’s like, you don’t know what it’s like having perfect eyes. So stop.”

Oh, boohoo. Let me play a sad song for you on the world’s smallest violin.

Part of what Talia is getting at is the very real pain of feeling objectified on a first date or a second date or a third date. But then that real struggle gets washed over with all the complaining about her good looks and leaning into purity culture and entitlement like this.

“My husband is the luckiest motherfer. Do you know how great my life is? To imagine bringing someone else in. First of all, you better be fing amazing. I know you will be. Second of all, I live the best life. I live in fing Orange County. Do you know what my days consist of? Massages, beach, matcha, happiness. Someone cuts me off, I’m happy. I’m so chill. Everything good happens to me. I’m literally the luckiest girl ever. I’m so caring and nurturing and sweet and so confident. Literally, I love myself and my life, but seeing it through the lens of my husband — oh, and you know the best fing part? I’ve been loyal to you, fer. I’ve been nobody’s girlfriend because I know I’m a wife, okay? I know I am someone’s wife, and I’m honestly jealous that you as a man get to be my husband. You’re fing welcome.”

But for being like a Dr. Phil-level expert on relationships and romance, Talia admits she’s never been in a relationship — unless you count the one with her mirror, which I’d say they’re in a very long-term, committed relationship.

“Twenty-one. I’ve never had a boyfriend. I had my first kiss last year when I was twenty. I don’t participate in hookup culture, none of that. And people are always like, ‘How do you do it? How do you think about it? How aren’t you begging for your soulmate?’ Let me reframe your mindset. If you’re a young girl in your twenties and you haven’t found your person, how many days do we have left with just us? No responsibility, no person to tell where we’re at every single second of the day. You have the entire rest of your life with that person if it all goes right. Ideally, how many more days do you have single? How many more days of the mystery and excitement do you have just dreaming about it, thinking about it, not knowing who they’re going to be, where you’re going to meet them, how you’re going to fall in love. Think about that. How many days left? Appreciate every single moment because once you meet that person, then the mystery is gone. You start building a family. Life just starts to become less and less and less about you.”

In some of her less viral videos, Talia opens up about her recent physical transformations she’s undergone to feel more, as she puts it, confident in her own body. And let me just reiterate — I know I don’t need to say this, I know y’all know, but I’m just going to say it — in no way, shape, or form is what she underwent for her body a reflection that any of you need to do anything of that nature or anything at all to your body. If you feel compelled and you’ve researched and you feel like that’s right for you, then pursue that in a healthy way. But I don’t want clips like these to make you feel like, “Oh, well, I guess I’m not pretty because I haven’t done those things.” Please don’t buy into that. That’s a trap. It’s not good for anybody.

“Trying to find videos to show you guys what I went through — it’s triggering for me. Gaining weight and not being happy in your own body and documenting every single calorie in high school. Growing up, I had so much confidence, and then when I went to college and I gained weight, I just fing hated myself and I hated life because I literally tried everything. Nothing was fing working. It would work a little bit, and then I would gain weight, and I’m like, ‘How am I gaining weight? I’m doing more than I ever have.’ I just remember thinking back to high school and how judged I was for being confident and being loud and outspoken. I told myself, ‘When you lose the weight, when you get a nose job, when you do all these things, be calm. Never apologize for it. Never hold it back for anyone who judges you because they’re insecure.’”

But this revelation is, I think, relevant to her story and what she is projecting and the names that she’s calling people and using this pretty privilege thing as a weapon against literally everybody else. She’s got this newly acquired pretty privilege and her belief that she’s finally meeting her own beauty standard. And it becomes easier to understand why she feels entitled to complain about the perceived changes in how she’s treated based on her appearance, even if it’s incredibly fing bizarre that you would choose to s on people you don’t think fit the beauty standard when you yourself apparently didn’t fit the standard before you had the work.

“People are getting so mad at me saying I fit the beauty standard. It’s not about my race. Like, what? I did not fit the beauty standard before, and I’ve been the same race the entire time. I was overweight. That’s the number one thing. Two, I had a bigger nose.”

One of the most viral and measured responses to Talia’s crash-out reached 1.8 million views, a post by TikToker Fitted Profit, an Emmy-winning TV screenwriter and professor, according to her profile. Way to go for you. Love that. She eloquently breaks down the intersection of money and beauty in our culture and how investing money into your appearance for a desired outcome can sometimes backfire in front of the entire internet.

“Can you imagine how you would feel if for your entire childhood you felt like there were these things wrong with you? Maybe people were making fun of you for these traits that you ostensibly can’t change about yourself. And then once you’re twenty-one — by the way, she strikes me as the kind of person who goes to school with the kind of girls I went to school with who were getting nose jobs for their sweet sixteens.”

It’s got to mess with your psychological development. Especially if you are a young girl, a kid growing up, and your brain is literally still developing and processing. It doesn’t know the full extent of everything in life and what you want. And you’re seeing people around you who are getting nose jobs, getting their tops done or their bottoms done, getting a little booty something stuck in there. It’s a lot. I would imagine that’s a lot to take in at such a young age and lead to deeper feelings of inadequacy that girls already feel.

So she’s five years behind, which I’m sure makes her feel bad. And so she was made to wait five years to get her nose job to make sure that she really wanted it. Now she has it, and now she’s on Ozempic — which a lot of people are taking for legitimate health reasons, but based on the way she talks about it, I doubt that she’s taking it for legitimate health reasons.

There are degrees of it that are getting out of control because it is not being done under the guidance of a well-informed medical practitioner who can help people with their process and also understand the risks of it. Doing something like that so young, when it’s likely possibly maybe not necessary for Talia — not medically necessary, but aesthetically something she wanted — could possibly have an impact on her body in the long term.

I think she feels entitled to being treated like she’s beautiful because she paid to be beautiful. That’s an interesting thought. Feeling entitled to people thinking you’re beautiful because you paid for it.

“And I think she’s realizing now that maybe the return on investment isn’t going to be as high as she thought. And I can see how, if you’ve invested not only all of this money but also this energy and this self-consciousness into being certain these aesthetic improvements are also going to improve your life, then you find out that the internet thinks you’re chopped — not chopped — then I can see how that would lead one to crash out on the internet.”

We all carry insecurities about something in our lives. A lot of us carry insecurities about our appearance. I carry a ton of insecurities about my looks. And I have since I can remember. I was ruthlessly, endlessly bullied growing up for my looks, for my skin color, my hair texture, the size of my nose. That obviously has carried into my adulthood now. And then of course, being on social media, people can be really unhinged and stupid when it comes to judging people’s looks online.

To me, it’s just unfortunate because at that age, you don’t have the perspective to understand what makes someone attractive. Perspective.

The beauty standard at this point in 2025 is kind of irrelevant. And I think beauty standards should be irrelevant, period. I think that we should all be able to exist exactly as we are. I think we should be able to be very confident and comfortable in naturally aging if that’s what we want to do, be comfortable and confident in having procedures done if that’s what you want to do. I just feel that this hierarchy, this moral superiority thing based on how somebody looks — “I’m going to be more superior to you because I got work done and you didn’t, or I’m prettier than you and you’re not” — it does nothing for anyone.

So this very solid assessment is also sad because it points to a picture of how future generations may grow up perceiving themselves trapped in a never-ending desire to change who they are. Even if Talia is intentionally trolling her audience with these rants, her content and similar commentary will still influence younger viewers to mirror this behavior, largely because they wouldn’t know if she’s trolling or not. They would just believe this is real and believe that this is what you should aspire to and try to achieve. And I think that can be dangerous for the psychological development of children.

And so you get the rise of brain-rot entitlement that might become irreversible because it’s becoming so ingrained in our society.

“Nobody talks about how hard it is to be skinny, pretty, famous, rich, a virgin. Okay, do you know that everywhere I go, I get stopped because everyone either wants to date me — they’re like, ‘My son wants you’ — or they just take pictures of me because I’m so pretty. And like, don’t get me wrong, I agree. I know that I’m pretty, but it gives me so much anxiety going out in public. I didn’t even go outside today.”

So Talia responded to Fitted Profit’s video by framing it entirely as hate, which is wild, rather than engaging with it as constructive criticism or perspective.

“So this grown woman made a hate video about me saying I’m not pretty and I’ll never be pretty enough. She said that I never will be, and if I even wanted to try, I should have started five years earlier with my nose job and spent more money on procedures and surgeries. She said that I’m on my medication for all the wrong reasons and that it’ll never fulfill me or make me happy. She’s projecting that she doesn’t believe I’m prettier or ever could be.”

“But I already believe I’m pretty. I’m already fulfilled with my looks. And I hope this woman can believe she’s beautiful. And I hope all you girls can. But you don’t get to decide what someone thinks about themselves. And I know that I am pretty, and no one could ever take that from me. Confidence truly does come from within. And no matter what anyone says, they can’t take that away from you. So do the inner work to love yourself because it is the best investment you could ever make. I love you girls. Love yourselves.”

Now, it seems that no matter what anyone else says, Talia is set on casting herself as different from other girls. She’s not like other girls in every way possible. She’s kind of sitting on the fence between girly-pop-coded and pick-me-coded and trad-wife-coded. Which makes me wonder if we’re seeing a return of the misogynistic pick-me-girl paradox where you’re damned if you do and damned if you don’t as a woman.

“Unlike the other girls, I wear Converse. I’m one of the boys. Ew, look at her outfit. All that pink. I would never. I only wear black. No makeup. Wet makeup? I’m not wearing any makeup. I’m one of the boys.”

I think that the phrase “pick me” is a very complex one. I understand its usage in some settings, and I also think that society has taken that phrase and turned it into something entirely else, which often happens with labels. And I think that it can be very damaging.

A pick-me is, originally more originally defined — we’ll look at Urban Dictionary — “a girl who seeks male validation by indirectly or directly insinuating that she is not like the other girls. Basically, a female version of a simp.” It was once often used to refer to a woman who shames other women so that she looks better in front of men.

But the term “pick-me girl” gets thrown around a lot these days, and it’s no longer even about vying for the attention of men. Often, I’m seeing it used as just an insult that some people — yes, even women — throw at other women simply because they don’t like her.

Here’s a general example. A woman gets a promotion and shares it on social media. Gets called a pick-me girl. A woman shares how much she loves her new hairstyle or the way her outfit is fitting. Gets called a pick-me girl. A woman posts about her loving, healthy relationship and how thankful she is to have it. Gets called a pick-me girl. A woman posts her accomplishments. Gets called a pick-me girl.

I once got called a pick-me because I shared about a cinematography award that I won. For f***’s sake. I was just like, do you want me to lie and say that I didn’t win the award that I won? What do you want? Why do you care?

So I understand the meaning and intent some people have behind wanting women to not be a pick-me for the sake of being a girl’s girl. But I’ve also noticed that there’s a splitting of that and this other direction where it’s just another way to be misogynistic. Often I see it used to pressure outspoken or confident women, telling them to tone down their achievements, tone down their shine and their talents, out of fear of being labeled a pick-me. And so I think that in turn can promote a lack of self-confidence and shame in women who deserve the right to feel confident and empowered in who they are and what they’re doing.

“No, because this whole Talia Brier situation is further proof that I’ve been right this entire time. I thought we supported being delusional on this app. But I guess what you actually meant is that is only reserved for people who have a degree of insecurity. Like it’s like, okay, let’s support other women as long as she feels like s*** about herself and thinks she’s ugly. If you have a high opinion of yourself, then you don’t have insecurities that can be used against you.”

She said it herself. She was like, “Look, if I got on here and said that I was ugly, everyone would be in my comments telling me I’m beautiful. But because I said the opposite, they’re all trying to knock me down.”

There is very little that the internet collective hates more than someone working on themselves and upgrading their looks.

And then the greater question is: do we call men “pick-me men”? Do we shame men when they’re proud of their bodies or their promotions or their achievements or their dreams or their life goals or their relationships? I don’t really think that we do. More often than not, when we see a man sharing his accomplishments or his pride in his family or life, he’s praised. But I’m seeing increasing levels — obviously I know y’all don’t do this, I’m just saying out there in the wild — of when women are sharing great things that they’re doing, they get shamed or degraded and called a pick-me when it has literally nothing to do with men. And that’s just other people centering men upon other women.

“Calling a girl a pick-me for having a differing opinion is misogynistic. I get told a ton, ‘Oh, did he pick you yet? You’re a pick-me.’ Stuff like that. And it’s usually because I have a different opinion, like, ‘I don’t like this celebrity. I don’t think they’re that hot.’ And the people who are saying that are basically implying that I can either follow along with what everyone else likes or I can do everything for men.”

Yes, being a girl’s girl and avoiding the pick-me thing is supposed to break these systems and lift all women up. But when all women don’t have the same moral compass, then what? There are great people and crappy people, literally of all gender identities. Just look at Pam Bondi. And when bad people are the ones handing out labels like Oprah handed out cars, it falls apart and often winds up being just another means to attack another person who’s trying to make something of themselves.

And therein lies my conundrum with Talia. I hate half of what comes out of her mouth, but she has the right to say it. I think she’s posted a lot of harmful content that perpetuates terribly outdated tropes against women, particularly shaming women for the actions of men. And in the same breath, she also presents at least some confidence that women aren’t always allowed to have out loud.

Deep in the chaos of this story are the performative men going viral for their oh-so-interesting responses to Talia’s viral moment — because it wouldn’t be a conversation about women’s empowerment without a shirtless man using it for the views.

“So this girl Talia Brier — I think that’s how you say her last name — the one who’s saying that she’s super hot and people see her in public and everything like that, and they come up to her. That’s an example of when you give the wrong person a social media platform.”

Listen, I don’t know anything about this guy, so don’t come for me. I don’t care. I just saw this shirtless guy talking about women’s stuff, and I was like, what are we doing?

“Realistically, I don’t even think I should have a social media platform. I’d be saying some of the most stupid stuff ever. But I’m here now, so might as well just keep going with it. I really don’t care. But it’s like, dude, have some — be a little humble. Lower your ego just a little bit. Like, do you really think people are going to find that attractive, where you’re like, ‘I am so hot’? Nice. Now you just made yourself like a two out of ten automatically.”

Ladies, I think the word he was looking for is “humility.”

Now, while we can ultimately tolerate Talia talking about herself however she wants, there is one more aspect of her journey that is sus — because it wouldn’t be the chaos without a course.

Save your spot. Meet your host, Talia Brier. And here’s the bio: “I teach women how to step into the version of themselves they’ve been scared to become.”

Can you imagine? Besides the fact that you’re selling a course and you said a bunch of trash things that I don’t like — but whatever, who cares? There’s worse things in the world. I kind of wish I had this level of delusional self-confidence. What do you mean you’re twenty-two and you are teaching women how to be the versions of themselves? I guarantee you, no matter how much you think that you know yourself now, you still don’t. Life has a way of evolving and giving you different experiences, humbling you at times, and showing you growth, hopefully maturity. This is just the beginning if you’re blessed, if you’re lucky — if you’re a lucky girl.

Next to my elders, I don’t know s. But she’s going to teach you how to become the confident one, the magnetic one, the girl who raises her standards, knows her worth, and walks into every room like she belongs there. “This masterclass is your permission slip. Your wake-up call. Your moment to realize that you can become whatever the f you want to be, and you don’t need anything other than the decision to start.”

And I would argue then, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, if you want women to realize that they can become whatever they want, then that would also mean they have the right to become a slut if they want, right?

What you’ll learn in this masterclass: How to activate your confidence even when you don’t feel ready. How to shift into your high-value feminine energy quickly. “High value” is literally the red-pill language that Andrew Tate, Fresh & Fit, and Myron use. I have done three Swoop docs about the steak-and-eggs, bacon-and-potatoes, Elma and Louise, Bonnie and Clyde as I like to call them. And they just have the most garbage mentality, and they always talk about “high-value man, high-value man.” It’s literally the same language that she’s using here — red-pill language, but make it girly pop and maybe a credit card number at some point in time, I don’t know, allegedly.

So once you sign up for the Brat Mentality Masterclass, you get an email basically hyping you up with a link to a live Zoom session with Talia, which literally just happened. Here’s what the email says:

“You just saved your spot for the Confidence Masterclass, and I need you to know something right now. This wasn’t a small click. This was a choice. A decision to step into the version of you who stops waiting and starts moving. Most girls scroll and hope. But you — you took action. That’s the energy that changes your entire life.”

Says the twenty-two-year-old who knows everything about life. Yes, I cannot wait to have my entire life changed by a twenty-two-year-old stay-at-home daughter — her words, not mine — who calls everyone low-IQ losers. I’m sure I’m going to get so much from this.

Now, the next follow-up email that she automatically sends says the following:

“Girls who stay stuck don’t take action. Girls who stay small don’t sign up for things that challenge them. Girls who stay insecure don’t choose to grow. But you — you pressed the button. And that’s the one choice. And that one choice means you’re already stepping into a new identity. Between now and Sunday, I want you to pay attention to the moments where you almost dim yourself. You almost talk yourself out of something. You almost shrank and instead chose differently. If it helps, hear me in the back of your mind say: ‘You are the baddest.’”

Thank you. I know. You’re welcome. Buy my course.

Clearly, I didn’t attend that Zoom meeting because I have free will. But I just find it fascinating that she already is trying to capitalize on women who don’t think they’re better than everyone else but want to be.

And that becomes a darker issue. This kind of overindulgence of self-praise and posting ego rants that continue to make people more and more isolated does the opposite effect. It can make people feel isolated. It can make them more cruel, selfish, and numb to compassion, care, and kindness. And we truly deserve to treat ourselves and other people so much better than that.

We can get there if we just have a little more perspective. Experience.

Time to step out of the dark waters. That’s what I got.

What do you think of this story? Talia Brier — is she a master troll, a deeply insecure young woman projecting onto everyone else, or something in between? The comments are divided. Some people love the delusional confidence. Some people can’t stand the hypocrisy of shaming other women for the exact same behaviors she admits to doing herself.

Here’s what I think. Confidence is great. Believing in yourself is essential. But when your confidence requires putting other people down — when your self-worth is built on a hierarchy of who’s prettier, who’s more successful, who’s more “high-value” — that’s not confidence. That’s insecurity with a megaphone.

Talia can say she doesn’t care what people think, but she’s posted dozens of videos defending herself. She can say she’s unbothered, but she’s hosting a masterclass to teach other women how to be bothered in exactly the same way. She can say she’s confident, but she had to change her entire appearance to feel that way.

And look, there’s nothing wrong with changing your appearance if that’s what you want. Get the nose job. Take the medication. Lose the weight. But don’t turn around and act like you’re morally superior to everyone who hasn’t done the same things. Don’t build a platform on tearing down the women you claim to want to lift up.

The internet is full of people trying to sell you confidence. Be careful whose advice you buy. Because sometimes the loudest voices are the ones trying to convince themselves, not you.

Anyway, that’s my piece. Stay curious. Stay kind. And maybe touch some grass — away from the mall, where people might look at you.