More
Why Ariel Winter chose a dress that showed her breast reduction scars.
Ariel Winter had breast reduction surgery. And she's not ashamed of it.
02.02.16
In January, Ariel Winter rocked the red carpet at the Screen Actors Guild Awards in Los Angeles.
You might know her as studious middle child Alex Dunphy on the hit ABC series "Modern Family."
Winter was there to celebrate her show's two big nods — for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series and Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series (shoutout to her TV dad, actor Ty Burrell).
<h2>Unfortunately, chatter started soon after Winter's red carpet appearance when photos revealed scarring from a medical procedure.</h2><p>The 18-year-old had <a href="http://www.people.com/article/modern-family-ariel-winter-breast-reduction" target="_blank">undergone breast reduction surgery</a> in summer 2015 — a decision, she told People magazine, that she's "extremely happy with."</p><p><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xOTUxNTEzOC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTU5MDUwMjE5NX0.NO2nXq_c139yjjK9n691MiKtIQ6P5Hi_Z6IXZEwniJ4/img.jpg?width=980" id="cfe03" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="6c9a48b92ef37f79d0adde8f65174a12" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image"></p><p class="image-caption">Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP.<br></p><p><span class="redactor-invisible-space">Not only had the size of her breasts been causing her pain, but she hated that her body had become more of a conversation topic than her acting chops.</span></p><p><span class="redactor-invisible-space"><strong>"It made me feel really uncomfortable, because as women in the industry, we are totally over-sexualized and treated like objects," </strong>Winter told <a href="http://www.glamour.com/inspired/blogs/the-conversation/2015/08/ariel-winter-breast-reduction" target="_blank">Glamour</a> last August. "Every article that has to do with me on a red carpet 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.'"<br></span></p><h2>As a human being with free will, Winter certainly shouldn't feel ashamed of her decision to do what's best for her and her health. </h2><p>And on Sunday, as tweets began rolling in, she made that very clear.</p><p>Winter shared a <a href="https://twitter.com/arielwinter1/status/693935643223683072" target="_blank">message on Twitter</a> clarifying her decision to strut the red carpet the way she did.</p><p><img _="" all.="" an="" and="" are="" ariel="" ashamed="" at="" class="tweet-placeholder" cover="" data-content="Guys there is a reason I didn" data-tweet="https://twitter.com/arielwinter1/status/693935643223683072" effort="" i="" january="" make="" me="" my="" not="" of="" part="" scars="" src="/assets/tweet-placeholder.png" t="" them="" they="" to="" up="" winter=""></p><p><em>Yes</em>, Ariel!</p><p><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xOTUxNTEzOS9vcmlnaW4uZ2lmIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyMTIyMDczN30.RYNdkke9b0_B4QjGzf9KJgyY8vR2jjxScnqEHH-3rLg/img.gif?width=980" id="44391" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="54502952e9c0645fe09e2618819dcb9e" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image"></p><p>I mean, for real.</p><p><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xOTUxNTE0MC9vcmlnaW4uZ2lmIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTU5NDU1OTA0OH0.cJpJMAJ9d1Ygte1y_81VBAbG4sX4Ks9gFcZrBiT3VV8/img.gif?width=980" id="2b79f" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="a1f8e9a88957e319392851b11f53c65f" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image"></p><p>Let's just take a moment and let it <em>out.</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xOTUxNTE0MS9vcmlnaW4uZ2lmIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTU5NDMzODg1NX0.oVQEzPFPhT4Y1m_LlQWXTcBvw2p9YKrw_zLFMZ80Slc/img.gif?width=980" id="a3adb" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="0af276cdfd4bb316b8520e15507abce4" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image"></em></p><p>Why <em>should</em> Winter feel ashamed? Bodies come in all shapes, sizes, colors, and genders — and yes, plenty have scars, too. What's there to hide?</p><h2>Winter has become an outspoken social media badass, joining other young female stars like Amandla Stenberg and Rowan Blanchard.</h2><p>Beyond promoting major body positivity on Twitter (her tweet after the SAG Awards has been Liked <a href="https://twitter.com/arielwinter1/status/693935643223683072" target="_blank">more than 1,400 times</a>, by the way), <strong>Winter <a href="http://mic.com/articles/132373/ariel-winter-blasts-vine-star-nash-grier-for-past-homophobic-and-misogynistic-videos#.ya2Ci8ZBr" target="_blank">made waves</a> last month for slamming misogynistic homophobe Nash Grier</strong>, whose popular Vine account bolstered him to Internet stardom in recent years.</p><p><img class="tweet-placeholder" data-content="#FavNashVid that one time when he was just super homophobic and ignorant? #whydoyouhavefans— Ariel Winter (@arielwinter1) January 10, 2016" data-tweet="https://twitter.com/arielwinter1/status/686079459342983168" src="/assets/tweet-placeholder.png"><br></p><p>Upon getting backlash from Grier's fans for the tweet, Winter penned a <a href="https://twitter.com/arielwinter1/status/686272145249320962?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank">poignant response</a> explaining how he's used his platform to promote dangerous rhetoric for quite some time, harming women and the LGBT community along the way (<em>that</em> tweet got a cool <a href="https://twitter.com/arielwinter1/status/686272145249320962?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank">27,000 Likes</a>, FYI).</p><p><strong>When Winter's not slaying Internet celebrities for ignorant comments, she's supporting cool groups with awesome missions</strong> — like, say, <a href="http://amysmartgirls.com/" target="_blank">Amy Poehler's Smart Girls</a>, which helps empower young women to follow their dreams.</p><p>She <a href="https://twitter.com/smrtgrls/status/693610235525607424?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank">chatted with them</a> at the SAG Awards about why she'd prefer to fast-forward to the future than meddle in the past:</p><p><img class="tweet-placeholder" data-content="Smartie @ArielWinter1 talks about the future! 🚀🚀 Thanks @_julianapinho #SmartGirlsAsk #SAGawardshttps://t.co/vca9WwIYee— AmyPoehlerSmartGirls (@smrtgrls) January 31, 2016" data-tweet="https://twitter.com/smrtgrls/status/693610235525607424" src="/assets/tweet-placeholder.png"><br></p><h2>It shouldn't be a big deal that Winter showed off her scars on the red carpet. But in today's world, it still is.</h2><p>When so many of us might cover up our insecurities in order to be <em>red-carpet-ready</em>, it's nice to know at least one star is comfortable in her own skin — scars and all.</p><p><img class="tweet-placeholder" data-content="Embrace all that you are ❤️ pic.twitter.com/rjF2kxXlvG— Ariel Winter (@arielwinter1) February 2, 2016" data-tweet="https://twitter.com/arielwinter1/status/694548416265789441" src="/assets/tweet-placeholder.png"><br></p>
Keep Reading
Show less