The Internet is great for things like new lipstick trends and clever satire accounts, but one downside that is becoming increasingly annoying is Internet bullies. These dark, cruel and woefully ignorant commenters body shame women like Gigi Hadid for her curves and Ariana Grande for being “too thin.” Recently, they set their sights on Ariel Winter who, we should remind you, is only 17 years old. The Modern Family star posted the most innocent picture wearing a bikini on a boat, with her young nieces and bullies attacked her in the comments. They made lewd remarks about her body, claimed she was “asking for it” and called her a “slut.”
To her credit, Ariel didn’t back down. She addressed her trolls directly in a thoughtful and courageous Instagram post. She published an image of a woman’s leg with markers that labeled her as “proper” or “provocative” based on the length of her skirt.
The caption reads: “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!!!!!!”
We couldn’t have said it better ourselves. Kudos to Ariel for calling out slut-shamers and for using the opportunity to encourage victims of bullying everywhere.
