Selena Gomez posted an Instagram photo of herself on the cover of V Magazine as the racy topless picture of her went viral Tuesday.

A photo posted by Selena Gomez (@selenagomez) on Feb 17, 2015 at 6:40am PST

"It's here! Stay tuned to @vmagazine for moreeee next month! and thank you @carlynecerfdedudzeele @inezvinoodh and @jamesfrancotv," she captioned the photo, only to get a backlash from the public saying she looked a little girl or Lolita at a beauty pageant.

Fans are upset that Gomez was styled to resemble a young girl with a bow in her hair like Minnie Mouse, Yahoo! Celebrity reports. Some have said she looked like a 13-year-old and resembled Lolita, a young character from the classic Vladimir Nabokov novel.

Lesile Goldman, body image expert, said V magazine purposely designed the shoot for Gomez to look like a young girl.

A photo posted by Selena Gomez (@selenagomez) on Feb 17, 2015 at 6:58am PST

A photo posted by Selena Gomez (@selenagomez) on Feb 16, 2015 at 12:58pm PST


"It was purposefully provocative," she said. "And that's what sells magazines. That's what gets people talking about publications like that. It's just like the Kim Kardashian naked butt cover."

Although the former Disney star is a 22-year-old woman, Goldman is concerned about the message the racy photo sends to underage girls.

"Young girls right now are bombarded with hyper-sexualized images of women. From a very young age, they are growing up thinking, 'Oh, this is what I am supposed to look like. This is what I'm supposed to do for guys to like me.'" Goldman explained.

"But they don't understand that Gomez is 22 and of age," she added. "These girls look at her and they want to be just like her. They want to be as beautiful as she is."

The topless photo is the first image Gomez released that speaks against her clean Disney child star image.

"She's not the only person doing this," Goldman said, referring to stars like Miley Cyrus and Brittany Spears. "We don't need to necessarily vilify Selena Gomez. We need to just learn from these types of situations."

In the issue, the "Heart Wants What it Wants" singer also shared details about her failed relationship with pop singer Justin Bieber.