Ariel Winter Speaks Candidly About Breast Reduction Surgery

Ariel Winter opened up about her recent decision to have breast reduction surgery, citing her physical and emotional discomfort as her primary reasons for going under the knife.

In an interview with Glamour, the 17-year-old Modern Family actress said, "I remember being in my sister's wedding and being so flat and thinking, 'I just wish I could 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. I was 15 years old with [size] F [breasts]. How do you navigate that?"

She continued, saying the media’s focus on her body made her “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 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.’"

Eventually, being unable to find a swimsuit that fit her properly solidified her decision to get breast reduction surgery. She said, "I really felt bad about myself. I didn't feel happy. I just kept saying, 'What am I going to wear? There's nothing for me to wear at the beach, at the pool.' "

Ariel decided to talk about it openly in the hopes that an open conversation might help other girls struggling with the same thing. She said, "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 can benefit a lot of young girls. I have felt happier with myself than I ever have."

Finally, two months after she first had the surgery she says she's confident she made the right decision: "I'm just excited to try on all the dresses! Now I can wear all styles of dresses and all styles of things," she says. "I don't always have to pick the tightest, most formfitting dress I can find. I can pick something else and still feel good about myself. I couldn't do that before. I'm excited to finally actually feel confident and not just appear confident."

You can check out the full interview over at Glamour.