Fitness trainer Victoria Dariano has been tormented by one little part of her body since she was a teenager: her butt dimple.
In a love letter she posted to Instagram last week, Dariano finally said #fuckthedimple.
"Dear Butt Dimple,
I remember the first day you appeared," she wrote. "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."
Her dimple impacted what she chose to wear — she would avoid certain swim bottoms and even some of her favorite leggings because she was worried about what other people might think.
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"I would never feel confident in a bikini because I thought everyone was staring at you. I would never wear my favourite leggings because again I always thought people were starting [sic] at you. Long shirts were my go-to as it was a way I could cover you up and have a moment of peace within my mind as no one would be judging you."
Her butt dimple also influenced her behaviour, Dariano wrote.
"I would exercise extra hard in hopes you would go away. I would eat better also in hopes you would go away. I even considered cellulite treatments so you would finally just go away. You never did, you still haven’t."
She remembers hours of looking at the dimple in the mirror, baffled why she had a dimple when other girls her age didn't.
"You took a lot of joy away from me, you caused a lot of stress for me, you made me insecure and took away my confidence," she wrote. "I could never feel in shape as you were always there."
This letter was her way of finally getting over those insecurities.
"I am writing you today to tell you I have finally stopped letting you win. You will no longer make me feel unworthy, not good enough or not in shape because of you. I will no longer be afraid to wear certain bathing suits or leggings because of you. I will no longer hide you," she wrote. "You are what you are and I have finally come to peace with that. I have finally accepted you."
She ended her post asking her followers to not let something as simple as a butt dimple impact their lives the way it impacted hers.
With this message, Dariano joins an ever-growing movement of women who are throwing up their middle fingers at the "imperfections" that have plagued them for years. Cellulite, stretch marks, size, scars, and especially what other people think about any of those "flaws" shouldn't keep you from a happy life or from wearing whatever you want.