15 June 2023 , 12:15
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A model known for her body positivity campaign has shared some of the vile comments she receives from vile trolls on a daily basis.
Sophia Hadjipanteli, 26, who founded the #UnibrowMovement to encourage people to accept things about themselves that society tells them not to, says trolls tell her to die because of her eyebrows.
The Greek Cypriot American model, who gained attention in the UK in 2017 when she appeared in fashion shows during London's Fashion Week, is trying to normalise having a unibrow – but not everyone has been accepting of her mission.
Sophia now has over half a million followers on Instagram, and has worked with fashion brands all over the world, from Jean Paul Gaultier to Christian Louboutin and Hugo Boss.
Sophia is known for her iconic eyebrows (Dave Benett/Getty Images for EE)
She is a model who has worked with huge brand names (Getty Images for Temperley)Despite being a huge success, Sophia has admitted she gets "hate comments every single day".
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The model, who now lives in London, admitted in a chat to Daily Star that she doesn't keep track of them anymore, but she thinks the reason they do it is because they aren't used to seeing "someone accept and flaunt something that they believe is 'textbook unattractive'".
She said: "I think for many trolls, it bothers them to see me do something they could never do because of how conditioned they are to one form of beauty. People tell me to die so many times online, which is sad.
"Still, ultimately if I am normalising something like having a unibrow, then hopefully one day future generations won't receive as harsh of criticism as I do now because it will be more common.
"I don't do this for attention; I do this because I like how it looks. I don't think it is anyone else's place to try to disrespect me into changing."
She says she doesn't do anything for attention (Getty Images)On the contrary, Sophia feels the trolls encourage her to do more, because she wants to "give them something to be annoyed about".
She's now become "desensitised" to the insults, which she thinks is partly because she was bullied at school, which she described as stinging a lot more than any vulgar words she is sent online.
Even with all the trolling, Sophia has been blown away by the support for her movement, which she is "so proud" of, as are her family.
Sophia credits her mum and dad for her iconic eyebrow look, and she is determined to keep showing the world that "you don't have to fit in to be cool".
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