Ariel Winter slammed back at Instagram commenters who suggested she was “asking for it” by posting a bikini pic on her account.
“Who knew that an innocent photo with my nieces would turn into this? The height of a girl’s skirt or whatever she is wearing for that matter, does not imply what she is asking for. It sickens me to think at 17 years old, a photo of myself with my nieces is suggesting that I’m “asking for it”. I typically never give power to the mean things people bravely say behind their computer screens on the Internet, but this 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 ARE BEAUTIFUL. Celebrate you and don’t let anyone’s comments allow you to think less of yourself. Us girls have to stick together!!!!!!” the Modern Family star captioned a photo of a hemline, with various labels attached to a bevy of lengths.
The photo that drew Ariel Winter’s slammers, features her in a bikini–and by today’s standards it was a rather modest two-piece–along with her two nieces.
“✌?️✌? #mynieces #lovethem #fbf,” Winter captioned the innocent shot.
Ariel Winter slammed back at her haters because she wants to help others who may have also been shamed or threatened via social media. She is no stranger to that shaming, either. In October she underwent breast reduction surgery, which she was very vocal about–in hopes that she might help others by sharing that struggle, too.
“I mainly did it for myself. Yes, I had many comments, and it bothered me that that was kind of what I was known for,” the actress told Entertainment Tonight at the time, adding later, “There’s so much in the media [telling people] you have to look a certain way. People feel so pressured that if they don’t look this way, they’re not going to be beautiful.”
Ariel Winter shuts down shamers with one powerful Instagram: https://t.co/amgjt3GfwY pic.twitter.com/071FOcWRCW
— ELLE Magazine (US) (@ELLEmagazine) November 16, 2015
Kudos to Ariel Winter for slamming her haters and body shamers–but even more so for encouraging other young women to disregard the negativity that is so prevalent on all forms of social media.