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Ariel Winter is taking a stand for women everywhere!
The "Modern Family" star opens up about her experiences dealing with body-shaming in a new interview with Stylish.
During the candid conversation, Winter reveals what it was like growing up under the microscope of the public eye and how she's learned to deal with online bullies.
"I was called every name in the book: fat, a slut, trashy, ugly," she tells the site. "Right after I started developing, I automatically started getting all this hate. I developed these boobs and a butt, and everything changed."
"And as I got older, it only seemed to get worse," she reveals.
Today, Winter is using those same negative experiences to help other women learn to love themselves with Dove's Self Esteem Project -- a campaign hoping help women to appreciate and understand their bodies.
"What I think is really amazing about it is that we're empowering young women to love themselves, to be comfortable with themselves," she explains. "And it's not just about [liking] what they look like, but loving who they are."
Ariel also hopes that by helping fellow women understand their bodies, they'll be able to avoid some of the growing pains Winter has had to deal with.
"We're teaching them … so we can change the scape, so they don't have to grow up the way I did," she says.
The 18-year-old beauty -- who underwent a breast reduction surgery in 2015 -- says that hearing fellow women's stories about learning to love their own bodies has really helped her with finding her own self-love.
"I read a lot of the stories young women will send me about their body positivity and their body journeys, and that really helps me. There are a lot of young women who are going through the same thing that I went through, and I think it's important that we all empower each other. It makes it easier," she declares.
What do you think about Ariel's new project? Sound off below and check out the gallery above to see more child stars then and now!
