Ariel Winter Shows Us All How to Shut Down Trolls in 2019

At this point, trolling is kind of impossible to avoid on social media. Outspoken feminist, body-positive advocate, and all-around cool girl Ariel Winter is no stranger to criticism, and now it's basically a hobby to respond with the most perfect, appropriate, hilarious burn.

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(Image credit: Jean Baptiste Lacroix)

By Katherine J. Igoe

published 3 January 2019

in News

At this point, trolling is kind of impossible to avoid on social media, and beyond hitting the "block" button repeatedly, it feels like there's not much anyone can do to respond. Well, not to worry. Outspoken feminist, body-positive advocate, and all-around badass Ariel Winter has your back. Like her Modern Family costar Sarah Hyland, Winter has grown up in the spotlight and has figured out a way to deal with the heckling and nastiness. Winter's no stranger to criticism: She's fended off critics for her entire professional career, and now it's basically a hobby to respond with the most perfect, appropriate, hilarious burn.

For her cute New Year's Eve Instagram photo kissing boyfriend Levi Meaden, she got trolled twice. First, someone dinged her for drinking champagne even though she isn't 21 yet, to which she responded, "I really just held this because I didn't want to be the only one toasting with water...lol." Then the trolls got real cruel, accusing her of dropping weight, "30 ponds [sic]," by doing drugs.

Winter's response was perfect. "Yup...I dropped 30 bodies of water so fast..." she replied. (Spelling corrections for the win!) "My psychiatrist switched me from my previous antidepressant that didn't work and made me gain weight, to coke/meth! Definitely not a new one that worked and then regulated my metabolism." Amazing.

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Winter explained to Marie Claire in 2016 that it's impossible to avoid the trolls, no matter what she does. "I got hate when I was 11 and super flat and very skinny, and then when my body changed and I got older, it was a whole new thing," she explained. "I was called trashy, ugly, fat, and a slut...everything possible."

"Once I started speaking out about it, I did find that there was a whole community of negative people that followed me and started attacking me, but I also found that a lot of really incredible people started following me and being inspired," she said. "They were doing the same thing that I was and fighting back in a positive way at the people that were hating."

So there you have it. Find a good community of supporters, and beat the trolls at their own game. I'm definitely going to borrow Winter's techniques for 2019.

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Katherine’s a contributing syndications editor at Marie Claire who covers fashion, culture, and lifestyle. In her role, she writes stories that are syndicated by MSN and other outlets. She’s been a full-time freelancer for over a decade and has had roles with Cosmopolitan (where she covered lifestyle, culture, and fashion SEO content) and Bustle (where she was their movies and culture writer). She has bylines in New York Times, Parents, InStyle, Refinery29, and elsewhere. Her work has also been syndicated by ELLE, Harper’s Bazaar, Seventeen, Good Housekeeping, and Women’s Health, among others. In addition to her stories reaching millions of readers, content she's written and edited has qualified for a Bell Ringer Award and received a Communicator Award.

Katherine has a BA in English and art history from the University of Notre Dame and an MA in art business from the Sotheby's Institute of Art (with a focus on marketing/communications). She covers a wide breadth of topics: she's written about how to find the very best petite jeans, how sustainable travel has found its footing on Instagram, and what it's like to be a professional advice-giver in the modern world. Her personal essays have run the gamut from learning to dress as a queer woman to navigating food allergies as a mom. She also has deep knowledge of SEO/EATT, affiliate revenue, commerce, and social media; she regularly edits the work of other writers. She speaks at writing-related events and podcasts about freelancing and journalism, mentors students and other new writers, and consults on coursework. Currently, Katherine lives in Boston with her husband and two kids, and you can follow her on Instagram. If you're wondering about her last name, it’s “I go to dinner,” not “Her huge ego,” but she responds to both.

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