In a new interview, the 17-year-old star opened up about Ariel Winter breast reduction surgery. Winter spoke about her struggle with early development, the physical pain she went through, and her decision to have breast reduction surgery shortly after winning shortly after winning emancipation from her parents.
“I was 15 years old with [size] F [breasts],” Winter recounted, for Glamour. “How do you navigate that?”
She described her earlier years in the spotlight–and her earlier hopes for a growth spurt: “It really did happen overnight. I remember being in my sister’s wedding and being so flat and thinking, ‘I just wish I would grow boobs!’ and then overnight I did. But then they kept growing and growing and growing and it didn’t seem like they were going to stop.”
As for the reasons she decided to go forward with Ariel Winter breast reduction surgery, Winter said the physical pain she experienced every day was the primary reason. “It started to hurt so bad that I couldn’t take the pain,” she said, and recalled having to spend a great deal of time hunched over–when she wasn’t required to stand up straight for hours at a time in front of the Modern Family cameras.
Self-confidence was an issue, too. When asked if she always felt comfortable with her body, Winter responded with a definite no:
We live in a day and age where everything you do is ridiculed. The Internet bullies are awful. I could post a photo where I feel good, and 500 people will comment about how fat I am and that I am disgusting. 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….[My breasts were] pretty much all I was known for and that upset me. It made me feel really uncomfortable because as women in the industry, we are totally over sexualized and treated like objects. Every article that has to do with me on a red carpet always 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.”
As for the decision to go from an F to a D cup–and to share her story with the world–Winter said that that part of things was a no-brainer:
I didn’t want to not tell anybody and then have another million stories [say], “What happened to Ariel? She looks so different.” And I also think there’s some good that can come from [telling] my story. It’s something that I did to better my life and better my health and I think that that can benefit a lot of young girls. I have felt more happy with myself than I ever have. I am living a dream that a lot of girls my age would love to be living, and I’m aware of that. I’m really grateful that I’m able to do that and have a voice that I’m able to speak to teenagers. I don’t want to do anything to mess that up.
Winter shared this post-surgery photo on Instagram after the Glamour article came out. It includes a lengthy message of appreciation to her supporters:
In addition, Winter’s sister Shanelle Gray shared this photo last weekend; presumably, it was taken after the surgery, as well. Winter is second from the right:
Family A photo posted by Shanelle Gray (@shanelle_gray) on
Modern Family‘s seventh season premieres on September 23rd.
(Photo credits: Ariel Winter breast reduction via WENN.com, Instagram)
