Former The Bachelor star Amanda Stanton is used to being the subject of online criticism.  The petite blonde has not only appeared on Ben Higgins' season of The Bachelor but also on two seasons of Bachelor in Paradise, leaving engaged after her first appearance to Josh Murray. Stanton recently received a rash of negative comments online, but this time it had nothing to do with her love life or recent tell-all book but instead, it was over a picture of her 5-year-old daughter.

Stanton shares 7-year-old Kinsley and 5-year-old Charlie with her ex-husband and recently had to fight off mom-shamers when she posted a selfie that Charlie had taken while wearing a bikini. The picture captioned "getting ready for a beach day" showed the young girl pouting for the camera as she snapped a shot of herself in a bikini before heading out to the beach for the day. Stanton posted the picture and was quickly forced to defend herself.

"I have 2 daughters 10 and 16. Lets teach confidence and body positivity without this type of an image...Amanda I like you girl but this is a bit too much," wrote one commenter. Stanton herself was quick to chime in writing, "i don’t see how this isn’t teaching body positivity and confidence. If anything, I think it is! And why I think it’s so cute. She is 5 and has a cute little belly and doesn’t even know it and feels confident in her swimsuit about to go to the beach. I don’t get why everyone is making a huge deal of this post JUST because it’s a selfie rather than a parent posting a photo of their child in a swimsuit at the beach which I see all the time, you know?"

Another commenter was quick to chastise the mom of two for posting the picture writing "You are going to get people looking at this and judging this poor girl and get a bunch of creeps looking at her. Neither of which is right but it is going to happen and you know it which makes you incredibly irresponsible for posting this of your daughter." Once again Stanton replied. "I get what you’re saying but I can’t control what a sick person might be thinking. We were at the beach today and there were kids running around naked, people post photos of their kids in the bath or at the pool, etc. I understand there are sick people out there and I do everything in my power to protect my kids and keep them safe but I can’t let it take over my life to the point where I’m scared to post a cute photo in them in a bathing suit..."

Still, others couldn't help but comment that Stanton made a poor decision when she posted the photo. Another commenter seemed to understand wanting to post the adorable picture but had mixed feelings about it. "Ummm I’m not sure how I feel about this picture. I mean it’s adorable for you to enjoy but sadly we live in a sick world. I don’t think I would go posting it on the internet," she wrote. Another seemed to agree writing "Shes cute, but, Cant decide If this is cringey or not."

While many were critical of Stanton, others came to her defense and commented on how much they loved the picture. Southern Charm star Kathryn Dennis commented, "ADORABLE," while Married at First Sight star Jamie Otis wrote, "All that lighting. I’m in loveeee." Another person defended Stanton writing "The people saying we live in a sick world and it’s a pedophiles dream?????? You’re the ???? One ???? Sexualizing her?????? GTFO."

Stanton seems happy with her decision to post the photo and has kept it up for her fans to see. Do you think there's anything wrong with posting a photo of a child in a bathing suit?

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