Justina Sharp (born October 2, 1997) is an American fashion and beauty influencer, blogger, journalist, advice columnist, and social justice advocate. She is a

fashion influencer A fashion influencer is a personality that has a large number of followers on social media, creates mainly fashion content and has the power to influence the opinion and purchase behavior of others with their recommendations. Brand marketing, Bran ...

who has collaborated with fashion and beauty brands such as Smashbox, American Eagle, and

IKEA IKEA ( , ) is a Multinational corporation, multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in Sweden that designs and sells , household goods, and various related services. IKEA is owned and operated by a series of not-for-profit an ...

through her blog ''A Bent Piece Of Wire''.

Early life and education

Sharp was born October 2, 1997, in

Sacramento, California Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat, seat of Sacramento County, California, Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento Rive ...

to John and Heike Sharp. Sharp is

mixed-race The term multiracial people refers to people who are mixed with two or more races and the term multi-ethnic people refers to people who are of more than one ethnicities. A variety of terms have been used both historically and presently for mul ...

, and has identified herself as German-American. She was homeschooled until she graduated high school at age 16. Sharp previously studied at

American River College American River College (ARC) is a public community college in unincorporated Sacramento, California. It is part of the California Community Colleges System. History The college was opened in 1955 as American River Junior College (ARJC), on the ...

in Sacramento, and is currently a

junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Aircraft * Ekolot JK-05L Junior, a Polish ultralight aircraft * PZL-112 Junior, a Polish training aircraft * SZD-51 Junior, a Polish-made training and club glider Arts and entertainment Characters * Bowser Jr., ...

California State University, Fullerton California State University, Fullerton (CSUF or Cal State Fullerton) is a public research university in Fullerton, California, United States. With a total enrollment of more than 41,000, it has the largest student body of the California State ...

Career

At 13 years old, Sharp founded and has served as editor of her fashion, entertainment and lifestyle site A Bent Piece of Wire since 2011. Her site is best known for its fashion and beauty content, interviews with up-and-coming and established figures in the fashion and entertainment industries, including Laura Brown,

Rebecca Black Rebecca Renee Black (born June 21, 1997) is an American singer, songwriter, YouTuber, and DJ. She gained extensive media coverage when the music video for her 2011 debut single "Friday (Rebecca Black song), Friday" went viral video, viral on You ...

, and R5. as well as extensive skincare reviews and travel coverage. Justina is active on social media, especially

Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

and

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

, with an estimated 60,000 followers across platforms. She has been featured in ''

Teen Vogue ''Teen Vogue'' is an American progressive online publication, formerly in print, launched in January 2003, as a sister publication to '' Vogue'', targeted at teenage girls and young women. Like ''Vogue'', it included stories about fashion and ...

'',

Vogue Italia ''Vogue Italia'' is the Italian edition of '' Vogue'' magazine owned by Condé Nast International. In publication since 1964, it has been called the top fashion magazine in the world. The publication is currently edited by Francesca Ragazzi and ...

, NPR, Buzzfeed, the Huffington Post, and more. Her weekly advice column is published to her Instagram and focuses on relationships and self-help. Sharp has also written on relationships for other platforms, including Oakland-based YR Media. Sharp is also the adult director of a residential

summer camp A summer camp, also known as a sleepaway camp or residential camp, is a supervised overnight program for children conducted during the summer vacation from school in many countries. Children and adolescents who attend summer residential camps ...

Northern California Northern California (commonly shortened to NorCal) is a geocultural region that comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California, spanning the northernmost 48 of the state's List of counties in California, 58 counties. Northern Ca ...

Controversy

Sharp first gained national attention after her article "I'm A Barbie Girl, In The Real World" was published by the ''

Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers ...

'' in February 2014. She also defended

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...

's decision to run a feature on

Barbie Barbie is a fashion doll created by American businesswoman Ruth Handler, manufactured by American toy and entertainment company Mattel and introduced on March 9, 1959. The toy was based on the German Bild Lilli doll, Bild Lilli doll which Hand ...

, saying "Barbie is the doll that shaped the childhood of millions, including mine". Sharp guest-wrote a follow-up op-ed piece for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' and appeared on the

Today Show ''Today'' (also called ''The Today Show'') is an American morning television show that airs weekdays from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on NBC. The program debuted on January 14, 1952. It was the first of its genre on American television ...

. Sharp has been the target of online harassment relating to her views on

abortion Abortion is the early termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. Abortions that occur without intervention are known as miscarriages or "spontaneous abortions", and occur in roughly 30–40% of all pregnan ...

, race discrimination, and

gender inequality Gender inequality is the social phenomenon in which people are not treated equally on the basis of gender. This inequality can be caused by gender discrimination or sexism. The treatment may arise from distinctions regarding biology, psychology ...

References

External links

A Bent Piece of Wire blogspot
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sharp, Justina American bloggers 1997 births Living people