My life changed over the course of a summer. I came back to film season 3 of
Modern Family, and I knew that I looked totally different than when we’d wrapped season 2. Suddenly, I was just over 5 feet tall and was an F-cup.
Women are already over-sexualized, and I grew into my body so young. I was 13, 14 years old, and I looked 19. Suddenly, people didn’t want to talk about my job—they just wanted to talk about my cleavage. I’d go to awards shows and the next day see everyone on the Internet telling me I shouldn’t look like this and dress like that.
The conversation became about my looks instead of my talent and work—everything that I didn’t want. I even started getting messages from older male fans, and let’s just say they were gross.
Sometimes, it felt like even my work was defined by my body. I was offered a lot of older roles because I wasn’t able to play “younger” anymore.
It’s really difficult to be such a small girl and have so much weight on your chest. You physically hurt. You can’t find clothes that fit right. I couldn’t find a cute bathing suit.
Everything looked like I was trying to be “sexy.” It didn’t help that I didn’t look like any of my friends my age.
"I mainly did it for myself," Winter said at the Teen Vogue Young Hollywood party in Beverly Hills, California. "
Yes, I had many comments, and it bothered me that that was kind of what I was known for. And that was kind of what people were commenting on my photos. That bothered me, but it wasn't the main reason I did it."














