A twenty-year-old girl who found herself in the centre of a controversy following an interview with the New York Post, has hit back at claims that she is promoting paedophilia.
New York based blogger Eileen Kelly has amassed more than 200,000 followers on Instagram, where she regularly posts selfies and sexually-charged images.
However, following an interview with the New York Post which was headlined: “I fuel fantasies of men who want sex with young girls, and I’m fine with it.”, Kelly has found herself forced to defend the motivation behind her photos.
Speaking to Cosmopolitan, she explained how she felt when she saw the article:
“Literally, when I saw the title, I freaked out.
“Doing that is hurting me, and a bunch of other young women who have voices on the Internet.”
“I post those photos for myself.
“I’m body-positive, and I like my body, so why not? I have all these young girls who follow me and are like, ‘Oh, you helped me with my body image.'”
Eileen, whose blog deals with issues of sex, puberty and coming of age, posted a response in the wake of the article, saying that her words were twisted and the post contained little or no truth.
She wrote:
I think what’s appealing about me is that I’m a normal 20 year old from Seattle. I don’t have famous parents. I went to a random high school in Seattle, and yet I’ve gained this following on social media. I’m relatable. I’m human! Humanizing myself to the thousands of young girls that look up to me. Yes I may not be the perfect daughter or girlfriend. Or your parents’ image of the perfect 20 year old. I’m not currently in college, I don’t work a 9-5. But I do love myself and I do make mistakes and I GROW from them. And I’m willing to share my experiences with people so they know they’re not alone. Shaming has gone too far, in every sense of of the word.
Read Eileen’s full response here.
