‘Modern Family’ Star Ariel Winter Shuts Down the Body Shamers Again

The original photo posted by Ariel Winter. (Photo: Instagram)

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 ARE BEAUTIFUL.”

Ariel Winter’s Instagram post in response to the body shaming and lewd comments. (Photo: Instagram)

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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