let me draw from my vast well of experience :v thin privilege is never being judged for your choice in groceries. i had some really decadent cookies in my basket at trader joe’s, and the thin cashier held them up to joke that i would have to “work these off”. since then i have been afraid to buy “too many” sweets at that particular trader joe’s, which only adds to the list of stores where i have to judge the ratio of sweet to savory in my basket. for the short time i was thin i never felt the judgement i do as my usual fat self if i put ice cream that doesn’t say FAT FREE or ~Skinny Cow~ on the belt. a thin person buying desserts or junk food is assumed to be buying for friends, for a party, or otherwise gets a pass; a fat person is assumed to be planning a lonely binge because fatties can only be sad and alone, comforted by Heath Bar Crunch and hamburgers/fries.
anyway that was kind of a tangent! let me get back to more succinct privileges:
- thin privilege is being able to shop for clothes in peace, without being eyed by sales associates and other customers who whisper to each other “what are they doing here?” and “ew, they can’t wear that!”
- thin privilege is not feeling like you have to cover up your body for the sake of other people, lest they feel nauseated by the sight of you.
- thin privilege is not having your weight be the determinate factor in ANY part of your health—i have personally been told that weight loss would cure me of clinical depression, and without even trying to give it a scientific slant like “working out and eating better will release endorphins!” no, i was just told that being thin would make me feel better.
- thin privilege is not living in a society where looking like you is considered not only disgusting, but something to be feared—and this assumption is considered normal. it was only a couple of weeks ago that a classmate a few feet away, oblivious of my existence, kept shouting about how terrified she was to ever become fat, and of course nobody thought this was weird.
- thin privilege is never having your achievements diminished or dismissed because of the shape of your body.
that’s all i can articulate for now, but i am so sure i could come up with more.
as a disclaimer, though: yes some of these could be applied to very thin/underweight people, but is much less prevalent, so i hope no thin people will hijack this list. it would be a good discussion to have about the fetishization of the super-thin that manifests as socialized jealousy, which in turn manifests as shaming, but this is not that discussion.
What we have in our society is bullshit that people feel the need to monitor the appearance of women anywhere anytime! As we can all see from the ridiculousness that Angelina Jolie faces for her weight — you can be too thin, you can be too fat, but the perfect weight… does it exist? Is there ever a time when a womans appearance will be non-threatening enough that it is not something that people will feel the need to remark on it…
I do find that there is so much back-stabby women-hating around physical appearance - I don’t know the root - competitiveness? Self-hatred? All I know is that it is bullshit the policing I feel about my weight — like people are so concerned for my fucking health when that causal relationship has been disproved and you have no idea what my body works like or what it needs…
Let’s agree to shut the fuck up about what each other looks like unless you are saying DAMN GIRL YOU ARE GORGEOUS TODAY… because you are!
(via domesticnoise)
THIS IS GENIUS! I love this idea - current office has rad teal carpet but I will def’n need something in the future!
