Why is everyone obsessed with ‘Hawk Tuah’ girl?

Social media last week was ablaze with memes about “Hawk Tuah” girl, the nickname given to a young woman in a viral man on the street video who got awfully candid about oral sex.

Hawk Tuah girl, whose real name is Hailey Welch, was asked, “What’s one move in bed that makes a man go crazy every time?” She replied, “You gotta give him that ‘hawk tuah’ and spit on that thang, ya get me?” The clip has been viewed millions of times and Welch has since appeared onstage with country singer Zach Bryan for his “Revival” encore, appeared on influencer Brianna Chickenfry’s podcast and is selling merch and planning to start her own podcast.

The video admittedly made me laugh, mostly because of how unexpected her answer was and how confidently she delivered it. Then I thought about her family seeing it and it made me cringe. I imagine her parents are probably not super thrilled about their daughter becoming famous for talking about her sex life in such a flippant and… illustrative, perhaps… way. I know mine would be quite disappointed!

This got me thinking about why it is Welch so quickly became this summer’s viral icon, much like Chet Hanks did in 2021 after his “white boy summer” comments. I think it has less to do with the promiscuity being expressed and more to do with the fact that Welch is an attractive young woman out having a good time with friends and willing to say something a little politically incorrect in front of a camera when an age where everything we say, particularly on social media, is hyper scrutinized. Hate it or love it, “Hawk Tuah” girl seems to represent a simpler, more carefree time.

Influencer shames celeb’s modest wedding gown

In other less graphic news, a TikTok influencer who has built a fan base by providing her opinions on celebrity wedding dresses offered a nasty comment about former Miss Universe Olivia Culpo’s chosen gown. Kennedy Bingham who posts under the account “Gown Eyed Girl” essentially took issue with the fact that Culpo wanted to wear a modest gown for her church wedding. 

Culpo just got married to San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey. In a Vogue profile, Culpo explains that she wanted a traditional and modest gown for their ceremony, which was held in a chapel. “I didn’t want it to exude sex in any way, shape, or form,” she said, adding,  “I never felt more beautiful than when I was in my ceremony dress and under my veil — I really wanted the simplicity of each component to harmonize perfectly.” She added that she wanted the dress to look as serious as she takes the “covenant of marriage.” Kudos to her! 

Her dress was lovely (as was her drop veil, although I am biased). Bingham said Culpo’s dress, however, had the “absence of personality.”

In her caption, she also referred to Culpo as a “pick me,” an insult targeted at women that implies all of their behavior is done with the motivation of attracting men or being “not like other girls.” She also falsely accused Culpo of trying to tell other women how to dress at their own weddings and accused Culpo of hypocrisy for dressing in a more sexy manner in her day to day life (spoiler alert, most people are going to dress more modestly in church than they might in other venues). 

Bingham additionally takes issue with Culpo explaining that McCaffrey finds her most beautiful when she is “timeless, covered, and elegant.” She described the comment as “icky” and complained that instead of “marketing herself,” like most celerities would, Culpo was marketing a “conservative agenda.”

“It was not a wedding, it was a conservative campaign.” Bingham said, as if Culpo and McCaffrey didn’t actually say their vows in a church and that the entire affair was cosplay. How insulting and offensive to people of faith. 

Although celebrity weddings are often sold for public consumption, it’s actually a breath of fresh air that Culpo places such emphasis on the union she is undertaking with her husband and actually cares about his opinion.

Other social media posts and Reddit threads similarly went off on Culpo for her comments about her wedding and dress of choice. 

Amid all of the come-and-go celebrity marriages that threat weddings like giant parties rather than a lifelong commitment, why is it such a problem that we have one woman who is willing to acknowledge the seriousness of the day?

To their credit, McCaffrey and Culpo responded to the TikTok, calling Bingham’s comments “evil.”

“What an evil thing to post online,” McCaffrey said. “I hope you can find joy and peace in the world, like my beautiful wife does.” 

I agree. It’s one thing to critique someone’s dress — it’s another entirely to question the motivations behind the choices they made on their wedding day and smear them as some kind of conservative bigots for not wanting boobs or ass out in a church.

Bingham wasn’t trying to give an honest review of Culpo’s dress, she was trying to deinfluence other women who might have wanted to take a similar approach to their own nuptials. Only someone who can’t stand to see others happy would do something like that.