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Lili Reinhart And Camila Mendes Have A Powerful Message After Magazine’s Photoshop Fail

'We are fucking powerful, beautiful and strong'

When Lili Reinhart and Camila Mendes see something, they say something. And on International Women's Day (March 8), the Riverdale stars have a message for Cosmopolitan Philippines, after the magazine published images of the two women with significantly slimmed-down waistlines.

The photos were originally used in a U.S. Cosmopolitan cover story, with their (perfect-as-they-are) waists fully in tact and accompanied by an interview with the two women, in which Mendes declared, "If I could go back to before I started Riverdale, I would tell myself to speak up when I felt like something wasn't right. To use my voice and know that it's worth hearing."

It sounds like they both took that message to heart. In an Instagram Story, Mendes wrote that she and Reinhart "feel disrespected and disturbed by the sight of our photoshopped bodies" in the altered images, and they want it known that "those bodies are not ours; they have been distorted from their natural beauty. We prefer to see our bodies the way they actually are. I'm not interested in having a slimmer waist, I'm more than satisfied with the one that I already have."

Mendes then directed her fans to check out Reinhart's Instagram Story, adding that the photos originally published in the U.S. Cosmopolitan "included our natural silhouettes, and we're relieved that they didn't see our waistlines as something that needed tweaking."

Here are Reinhart's powerful, inspiring words, unedited:

Today is International Women's Day. Over the last year, we've seen an unprecedented movement for women's rights, and one thing is clear: our time is now. We are phenomenal, and we will make the world a better place for all women.

But we still have a long way to go. Our fight is not over. For example:

Lili Reinhart/Instagram

Lili Reinhart Instagram

Lili Reinhart/Instagram

Lili Reinhart

Lili Reinhart/Instagram

Camila Mendes

Lili Reinhart/Instagram

Camila Mendes

Camila and I have worked incredibly hard to feel confident in the bodies that we have. It's an every day battle, sometimes. And to see our bodies become so distorted in an editing process is a perfect example of the obstacles we have yet to overcome.

So we cannot stop fighting. Our battle has only just begun. We are fucking powerful, beautiful and strong... we aren't going to hide behind photoshop to conform to beauty standards.

That's why I'm calling out @cosmopolitan_philippines. It's sad that you felt our bodies needed to be slimmed down. But Camila and I are fucking beautiful. As is. And you can't "fix" us. So, like every other day, women....go kick some ass. You are being heard. You are strong and sensational.

And I would like to thank the OG @cosmopolitan for keeping our waists as they are in their magazines. Also would like to encourage celebrities and public figures to stop photoshopping their waists/noses/arms/legs in their photos. It's only encouraging an unrealistic body image. It's adding to the problem.[/blockquote]

Neither actress has shied away from discussing her struggles in the past, with Reinhart vocal about her battle with depression and Mendes opening up about her history with eating disorders. It doesn't come as a surprise, then, that Reinhart would speak up for herself and her friend.

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