This weekend, 17-year-old Modern Family actress Ariel Winter was body-shamed for posting a photo of herself with her two nieces on a boat. According to HelloGiggles,
the image, immediately received “a ton” of lewd and disparaging
comments, including ones telling that that she was “asking for it” and
that the bikini was inappropriate for a 17-year-old. Winter responded
with a second Instagram
with a photo of a women’s leg with marks to exemplify the meanings of
the length of hemlines.
“It sickens me to think at 17 years old, a photo
of myself with my nieces is suggesting that I’m ‘asking for it,’” she
wrote. “[T]his is for the girls who are constantly bullied whether it be
online or at school.. You are not asking for anything because of what
you are wearing — you are expressing yourself and don’t you ever think
you deserve the negativity as the consequence to what you are wearing —
YOU
The
original image has garnered over 56,000 likes and 1,000 comments,
including many that are supportive. This isn’t the first time that
Winter has encountered body-shaming and lewd commentary about her body.
In August 2015, she told Glamour
that she felt more confident about her breast reduction surgery because
of the headlines that appeared on the red carpet about her breasts
instead of her work on Modern Family. “It’s hard when you’re a
teenage girl and you already have a lot of ridicule and then you pile on
more, and it’s kind of…it just gets too much,” she told Glamour.
“That’s pretty much all I was known for and that upset me. It made me
feel really uncomfortable because as women in the industry, we are
totally over sexualized and treated like objects.” It should be noted
that Winter, a teenage actress, is not trying to sexualize herself —
she’s wearing the same types of dresses and swimsuits that other girls
her age are wearing. The sexualization is coming from other people who
are blaming her for it.
Earlier in November 2015, Winter stood up for Ariana Grande
who was being shamed for being a “stick” by a commenter who claimed to
prefer Winter’s body. “I especially believe in today’s world we all need
to stick together. I believe in EMPOWERING other women and not putting
them down,” Winter wrote on Instagram. It’s hard enough being a growing
teenage girl — and being a famous teenage girl like Winter, whose body
is scrutinized all the time by the public, is even harder on the self
esteem. “Celebrate you and don’t let anyone’s comments allow you to
think less of yourself,” she added on Instagram.
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