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It Would Be Great If a 17 Year Old TV Star Didn't Have to Be This Skilled At Shutting Down Trolls

By Vivian Kane | Celebrity | November 16, 2015 |

By Vivian Kane | Celebrity | November 16, 2015 |



This past Friday, Ariel Winter of Modern Family did a totally normal teenage girl thing, and posted a picture of herself in a swimsuit alongside her two young nieces to Instagram.

✌🏻️✌🏻 #mynieces #lovethem #fbf

A photo posted by Ariel Winter (@arielwinter) on

Sweet picture, right? I’m going to urge you all very strongly not to go to read through that picture’s comments yourself and just trust that a ton of them are disgusting. They would be disgusting directed at anyone, but keep in mind that Winter is a 17 year old child. The comments (especially early ones) are full of people saying she’s “asking for it” by posting such a provocative picture, or that she’s definitely having underage sex with her boyfriend and is therefore a horrible person. Winter isn’t new to the experience of strangers being awful toward her. She recently underwent a breast reduction surgery, in part because of the creepy way the media talked about her body and clothing choices. As she said back in August,

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. Every article that has to do with me on a red carpet always had to do with ‘Ariel Winter’s Crazy Cleavage!’ Or ‘Ariel Winter Shows Huge Boobs At An Event!’ That’s all people would recognize me by, not, “Oh, she does great work on Modern Family.”
Another factor that played into her decision was her lack of choices with swimwear. How depressing that post-surgery, this is still what’s bringing out the assholes.
I went to a swimsuit store with my cousin a few months ago and couldn’t find a bathing suit that fit me. I really felt bad about myself. I didn’t feel happy. I just kept saying, “What am I going to wear? There’s nothing for me to wear at the beach, at the pool.” I can’t go to a party with my friends and wear the same thing as them. I have to be completely covered up otherwise I’ll look a certain way that I’m not intending to look.

In an ideal world, a 17 year old girl would never have to defend her body to a horde of anonymous strangers on the internet. But at least in our world, Winter is really damn good at it. Later that same day, she posted this photo by artist Rosea Lake that went viral a couple of years ago, along with a thoughtful tirade, saying “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!!!!!!


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!!!!!!

A photo posted by Ariel Winter (@arielwinter) on