BUZZ CLAP BACK SEASON: Dove Cameron Responds to Criticism of Braless Photo

On Tuesday,  star of Disney's "The Descendants" Dove Cameron posted a series of pictures wearing a white tank top with nothing underneath it, quoting author Trista Hendren in the caption. "Women HAVE a history that has been systematically suppressed. Our collective spirituality has largely been tainted to fit the needs of men and those in power," she wrote. "Our girls deserve better. The time to introduce feminism and woman-centered spirituality to ALL children is now."

In a second post, she quoted another feminist author, Elizabeth Eiler, writing, "However you inhabit and express being Woman, embrace yourself in that way today!"

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“Women HAVE a history that has been systematically suppressed. Our collective spirituality has largely been tainted to fit the needs of men and those in power. This has a profound effect on the self-esteem of girls and the women they become. This influence can be seen in their life choices, partners and financial security for the rest of their lives. It also has an effect on the way their future partners will view them - and ultimately treat them. Our girls deserve better. The time to introduce feminism and woman-centered spirituality to ALL children is now.”

A post shared by ♡DOVE♡ (@dovecameron) on Aug 13, 2019 at 1:00pm PDT

With close to 9 million likes,  at the time of this post, comments ranged from high praise to disappointment.

"This is being a role model," she replied to one critic who appeared to delete their initial criticism, "this is exactly being a role model."

When another follower said they didn't understand how the photo was "empowering or inspiring" -- adding that it's "really not that [deep]" -- Cameron agreed, it shouldn't be, but unfortunately still is.  

"I agree with you in the sense that it is not that deep. or groundbreaking whatsoever. or anything really to talk about. but it's only a big deal because this society is so beyond backwards that they have demonized basic anatomy and are very! up! in arms! about female bodily freedom," she responded.

"They're confused and loud about it. so, technically, it's not a big deal, and it shouldn't be, and the idea behind posting something like this is to normalize it. because a lot of girls feel confused about their bodies and what it means to be a woman (in a surface way, on this specific subject, about sexuality and men and who their body belongs to bc of long-lasting systemic repression)," the 23-year-old star continued.

"So. it's cool to be like, it's whatever. embrace yourself. don't hide, if you wanna, and wear a bra, if you wanna," she concluded, "but don't hide to avoid the backlash. because you don't deserve to have assholes giving you shit about YOUR BODY."

​Dove went on to share messages from other fans showing her support in her Stories -- and even won support from "Riverdale" star Lili Reinhart, who shared a post her mom wrote about all the online chatter saying "Mass shootings are horrible. These are just boobs."

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