'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' Star Daisy Ridley Fires Back at Body-Shaming Instagrammers

“I will not apologize for how I look, ,what I say, and how I live my life," Ridley said.

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Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

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Daisy Ridley penned a passionate Instagram essay in defense of her iconic Star Wars: The Force Awakens character Rey, following the circulation of a body-shaming meme that criticized the so-called "unrealistic expectations" set by Ridley and her character. Though Ridley initially 'grammed a screenshot of the meme with a brief rebuttal, Mashable reports she promptly deleted that post and replaced it with this:

The meme, which Ridley reportedly deleted after realizing the screenshot contained the username of the original poster, added a speech bubble to Rey that read "I can't believe the unrealistic expectations I'm setting for young girls. Who cast me anyway? Don't they know real women have curves?" As noted by Ridley herself, the fact that she was tagged in the derogatory post shortly after getting blasted with misogynistic comments on her International Women’s Day 'gram (see below) is downright maddening.

Sadly, this has been a pretty active week for body-shaming trolls. After sharing an artfully censored nude selfie at the top of the week, Kim Kardashian once again faced the wrath of body-shaming and promptly responded with an equally impassioned essay of her own. "I am empowered by my sexuality," Kim wrote on Tuesday. "I am empowered by feeling comfortable in my skin. I am empowered by showing the world my flaws and not being afraid of what anyone is going to say about me. I hope that through this platform I have been given, I can encourage the same empowerment for girls and women all over the world."

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