Memes can be really fun, but sometimes they can have the power to really offend too — particularly if you are the target. Such is the case for Daisy Ridley, the breakout star from last year’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens, who didn’t find a particular meme about her too funny.
Recently, a meme was posted that mocked Daisy Ridley’s character in Star Wars, claiming that her thin figure set “unrealistic expectations” for young girls. The meme, which Ridley would end up posting to her own Instagram account but later deleting, featured a picture of her character with a thought bubble that read, “Who cast me anyway? Don’t they know real women have curves?”
In response, Ridley posted the meme to her own Instagram account with the retort that “Real women are all shapes and sizes, all ethnicities, all levels of brave, have families, don’t have families.” She ended the post by noting, “I am a ‘real woman’ like every other woman in this world,” but later deleted the entire post after unwittingly opening up the original meme-poster to harassment.
In a subsequent post, she apologized: “Guys it was not my intention for anyone to send messages to that poor person…My whole post is about being kind to each other.” That caption was attached to a note where Ridley elaborated on her earlier claims. Amongst other things, she compared herself to her character in the film, asserting, “I’m a normal girl thrust into extraordinary circumstances, just like Rey.” She also said, “I will not apologize for how I look.” She recalled a recent similar situation, saying, “It seems apt I get tagged in this a day after I received misogynistic comments on my #IWD post.”
Later in the post, Ridley encouraged people to “celebrate each other” and then thanked her fans for their continued support and “social media love.” She ended everything on a hopeful note, stating, “Kindness isn’t going to cure the world of all of its awfulness but it’s a good place to begin.”
See the full post below.
[Via EW]