Ariel Winter's bikini photo: Modern Family star blasts body critics for saying 'she is asking for it'

American actress/singer Ariel Winter has lashed out at body critics on Instagram. The Modern Family star slammed body shamers who criticised a picture of her wearing a bikini on the photo-sharing website.

The 17-year-old actress, who underwent breast reduction surgery, said that a person should not be judged on clothes. She wrote: "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!!!!!!" she added.

Meanwhile, Winter, who plays studious Alex Dunphy in the hit show, recently made headlines for reducing her breasts from 32F to 34D. She told Glamour magazine: "On [red carpets], I just said to myself, 'You have to do your best to look confident and stand up tall, and make yourself look as good as you can in these photos,' because everyone is going to see them. I definitely seemed confident; I'm an actress, that's what we do. But on the inside, I wasn't feeling so happy."

She revealed that large breasts caused her a lot of physical pain. Winter added: "It was so painful. I had a lot of back problems. I really couldn't stand up straight for a long period of time. It started to hurt so bad that I couldn't take the pain. My neck was hurting so bad and I actually had some problems with my spine. I had been discussing my chest with doctors for many years, but when I finally said, 'I'm thinking of doing this,' he said, 'Your back is going to thank you so much.'"