'Bachelor in Paradise' star Amanda Stanton slammed for 'sexualizing' 5-year-old daughter by posting photos of her in bikini
'Bachelor in Paradise' star Amanda Stanton has come out to defend herself against trolls who claimed she was intentionally sexualizing her young daughter after posting a snap of the girl in a bikini on her Instagram page this week.
Stanton, 29, an alum of 'Bachelor in Paradise,' had uploaded what she thought was a harmless image of her five-year-old daughter Charlie Emma in a two-piece floral bikini. Emma can be seen posing with a phone while sporting a pout in the picture which was captioned, "Getting ready for a beach day."
The photo, however, drew the wrong kind of attention. "I have 2 daughters 10 and 16," one fan wrote. "Let's teach confidence and body positivity without this type of an image... Amanda I like you girl but this is a bit too much."
Amanda quickly hit back at the commenter, replying, "I don’t see how this isn’t teaching body positivity and confidence. If anything, I think it is! And why I think it’s so cute. She is 5 and has a cute little belly and doesn’t even know it and feels confident in her swimsuit about to go to the beach."
However, her response was not to the satisfaction of her critics who continued to claim that the photo sexualized the young girl too much. "Are you not worried about people sexualizing this photo or pedophiles/predators?" one wrote.
The 29-year-old said she understood those concerns but insisted one should not be deterred from sharing wholesome pictures of their children just because they were worried about how a "sick" individual would perceive it.
"I get what you’re saying but I can’t control what a sick person might be thinking," she responded. "We were at the beach today and there were kids running around naked, people post photos of their kids in the bath or at the pool etc."
"I understand there are sick people out there and I do everything in my power to protect my kids and keep them safe but I can’t let it take over my life to the point where I’m scared to post a cute photo in them in a bathing suit..."
Quite a few of her followers seemed to agree with her reasoning. "The people saying we live in a sick world and it’s a pedophiles dream?????? You’re the ???? One ???? Sexualizing her?????? GTFO," one wrote.
Another supporter commented, "So according to the comments, every parent should live their lives around the potential creeps out there? She’s a child going to the beach. If you turn it into something more, maybe you’re the one with the issue!"