It doesn’t matter, in the end, how trendy body acceptance is right now: for some of us, our physical appearances are going to haunt us until we learn to overcome deeply-ingrained societal expectations. One woman, fitness trainer Victoria Dariano, finally came to terms with a part of her body that she’s despised since she was a teen, and she chronicled her journey in an open letter on Instagram.
“Dear Butt Dimple,” she begins, an intro that almost made me laugh out loud. After all, how could something be less consequential? Still, to her, it was.
“I remember the first day you appeared,” her letter reads, “I was 15 years old. Since then you have had a hugely negative impact on my life. Since then you have made me feel less about myself. You not only made me feel fat, but also unworthy.”
She goes on to speak about how she would avoid wearing some bikinis and her favorite leggings because in her head everyone was staring at this tiny, almost imperceptible “flaw.” She would exercise and eat well and consider cellulite treatment to change this part of herself.
She ends her letter on a triumphant note. “I have finally stopped letting you win,” she vows. “You will no longer make me feel unworthy.” She recognizes how “superficial” her concern was and finally embraces her butt dimple for what it is — hers.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BUXEko4Ak0b/
Women are connecting with her viral Instagram, and saying so in the comments:
“This blows me away,” one user wrote.
“This was me today,” another said.
Dariano joins an ever-growing movement of women who are slamming societal body expectations and trying to find peace and self-confidence in who they are.
