Thousands Inspired by How Lady Deals with Bullies Mocking Her Appearance

• A 37-year-old Zambian woman almost broke the internet when she posted a random self-care photo online
• People were stunned by her appearance and made fun of her prominent African features, so she had to learn to love herself
• She later posted a video that touched many, where she explained how she came to terms with her looks and blocked out the hate

Naomie Pilula, a 37-year-old Zambian woman, went viral online after posting a random selfie in late June 2025. Her post was inundated with over half a million hateful comments that mocked her physical appearance.

Pilula was confused by the hate as she had been on social media for a while without receiving negative comments. It took a while for the Zambian lady to fully understand that she had become the laughing stock after reading a few messages from strangers.

After seeing a thread of mean comments, one of them struck a nerve. A user suggested the woman got a rhinoplasty to “fix” her nose.

The unsolicited advice angered Pilula, who sent an inflammatory response to the internet user, but later deleted her harsh words. After calming down, she called her sister for some advice on how to deal with the uncontrollable hate from online strangers.

Naomie Pilula deals with online hate gracefully

The Zambian woman had a chat with her big sister, who made her understand that her reactions are a reflection of how she truly feels about herself:

“The focus here shouldn't be on what people say because people will say what people say, but the focus here is: Why is it upsetting you? Because another comment wouldn't have. So there's something about this that upset you!”

Pilula realised that even after years of loving herself, she was still not healed. As her first step to appreciating herself wholly, the Zambian woman refused to delete the mocked photo and kept it up on her Instagram in protest.

She remembered that her prominent features, especially her nose, came from her father, and learned to appreciate her looks. She was teased about her nose throughout her teens until her late twenties and learned to love herself through the hate:

“It's my father's nose. Why would I want to remove a feature that identifies me with my father? It doesn't make sense.”

More about Naomie Pilula and her life

Pilula is a Zambian-based lawyer who enjoys fashion, getting her nails done, and attending church. She experienced a lot of criticism in her country for not fitting the desired beauty standards.

She explained that in Zambia, curvaceous women are held to a different standard. As a tiny woman, she was constantly told to eat more.

She finally got a chance to breathe when she moved to Australia to further her studies. Pilula had less pressure to fill out her body and focused on other things.

A woman on Instagram, @muchomoma, wondered how Pilula learned to love herself and asked:

“Can you share or point me in the direction of your content on your journey to liking yourself? I want to like myself too.”

Pilula answered:

“Unfortunately, I don't quite have that content. It was over years from around 2012-2016. But the biggest turning point was 2014. I themed my years with a focus on my relationship with God, and that year the focus was that "God is love". It was one of my hardest years ever. Also the year I got clinically diagnosed with depression. But I came out of it with such a clear conviction of God's love for me that feeding off that, it was easy to love myself, and then like myself.”

Watch the Instagram reel below:

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Source: Briefly News