That’s Liz Wolfe, a regular writer at Reason.
Why would anyone present themselves to the world and strangers with a pose like that? (I am going to try to ignore another bias in this post, otherwise attractive people who wear nose rings, which I regard as the equivalent of deliberately having a booger hanging out of a nostril.) I’m a stage director: interpreting and evoking facial expressions and body language is what I do (and well, by the way). I would direct an actress to use that pose and expression if she were playing a character who was arrogant, defiant, remote, contemptuous of the world and hostile.
Someone who presents themselves in such a manner in real life is either so insecure that she is trying to keep everyone at a safe distance, or arrogant, defiant, remote, contemptuous of the world, hostile, and proud of it. This is a form of visual incivility. “Why should I waste time with you, peasant?,” that look says to me. And my response to that look is, “Oh, bite me. Get over yourself. Grow up.”
Ethics Alarms 
You can wear a nose ring if you’re East Indian, since it’s traditional for them, but that’s about it. She DOES look like a pompous, arrogant so-and-so.
I also think this is website malpractice. Does “Reason” want readers to see that image of their reporters and writers? I’d say, “Liz, for heaven’s sake. Look friendly. Look welcoming. There’s no rule that says looking like a nice person means you’re not smart.”
It strikes me as someone who is just too damn lazy / disrespectful to have an actual picture taken, so she just uses the camera on whatever i-thingy she is using at the moment….
And I will guarantee that those who wear nose rings are desired Apple customers..
When I see a nose ring on a human, I think of the reason a farmer uses the nose ring on cattle is to restrain cattle for safer handling. I then wonder why the human wearing a nose ring needs better handling and obviously can not restrain themselves and needs someone else to guide them. Because of remembering what the nose ring is used for in raising cattle, and if I was a business owner, this is someone I would not place in a position that greeted the public and clients. As a customer, when I go to a store and see an employee with a nose ring, whether wearing the ring or not at the time, I go elsewhere because I have lost confidence in how the store manages the business.
Your comment, in line with Ernest below, are exactly what I think when I seek the septum ring piercing. I wonder, “do you realize the septum ring is used to control farm animals and just might declare your independence and personal autonomy?” The nose ring or septum ring, more specifically, makes me think the person intends to be lead around on a string, nicely restrained from taking any risks.
jvb
I grew up on a farm that raised pigs. We put nose rings on them to prevent rooting. So the presence of a nose ring on a pig meant that the animal had a proclivity to root up muck.
I think the pose is intended to present her as a fierce chick. A currently popular type. It says, “Don’t fuck with me.” A contemporary Betty Davis. Too smart for school.
I think it’s also considered sexy as hell. Which it may be. Maybe all girls these days have to compete in terms of their looks with Only Fans chicks.
This may also be a function of everyone having a profile on dating apps.
Smiling crinkles up your face and makes a lot of people look like they have a double chin. Resting bitch face smooths out the skin and makes you look thinner. People used to only get their self image warped by photoshopped pictures in magazines, but now you have to contend with the entire social media monstrosity soaked in fake filtered images. My guess is the expression on her face just happened to be the one she happened to have in the picture that made her feel the least shitty about herself after taking dozens of different pictures and comparing how she looked in them versus all the other images floating around the Internet.
“I am going to try to ignore another bias in this post, otherwise attractive people who ear nose rings…”
I’m not a big fan of nose rings either but at least she doesn’t have those ear gauges. How people think having a oversized disc embedded in your ear lobe is cool or attractive is beyond me.
(I need a new keyboard for real, now: I’ve noticed the w and two other keys aren’t registering reliably…)
Regarding the nose ring. They mean different things to different people and cultures. Their meaning can run the gamut from signaling virtuosity, promiscuity, or individuality. They are quite common in India. Like tattoos, I find them a turnoff. That said, given her age and mine and my lack of a net worth that makes the age difference irrelevant, I doubt I would be in her dating pool. So, my opinion may be irrelevant to her. Younger men may be more accepting of them than me.
I never understood why attractive people detract from their natural beauty with artificial adornments. Of course, clothes, necklaces, rings, and a single earring in each ear are artificial adornments that are perfectly acceptable to me. So, I guess it could be a cultural thing.
Regarding her pose, it depends on what image she is looking to project, perhaps a hard-hitting investigative reporter. If you Google publicity photos for Lauren Bacall, Katherine Hepburn, and Betty Davis you get varying degrees of smiling from virtually none to mostly.
Jack,
WordPress does not like me again. Please help
Weird. Rescued!