“Star Wars: The Force Awakens” breakout star Daisy Ridley is using kindness to fire back at online body shamers.
In two Instagram posts, Ridley responded to a fan who posted an image of the actress from the blockbuster with a speech bubble saying she set “unrealistic expectations” for other women and that “real women have curves.”
Ridley’s first post said, “‘Real women’ are all shapes and sizes, all ethnicities, all levels of brave, have families, don’t have families. I am a ‘real woman’ like every other woman in this world.”
She deleted it, however, as it included the original sender’s Instagram handle and led people to send cruel messages to that person.
“Guys it was not my intention for anyone to send messages to that poor person that posted the original picture,” she said in a follow-up post. “My whole post is about being kind to each other, so please refrain!
Ridley posted another image shortly thereafter, calling on people to be kind to one another and to celebrate strong women. “People who relate to something in Rey they haven’t found in a female character before. People who’s daughters now think they can do things without the aid of a man, but who wouldn’t be ashamed to ask for help,” she wrote.
“Kindness isn’t going to cure the world of all its awfulness but it’s a good place to begin,” she concluded.