What does thin privilege mean?

[MrsAnamCara]

I've seen a few posts on social media about it, what does it mean? Is it related to the health at any size movement that I've heard about?

Is it about societal created standards and a real thing or theory?

TIA

It refers to the fact that not being thin is another thing stupid people use as a reason to bully and discriminate against others.
Most of the time, whether another person is fat or thin is no one's business but theirs, yet people do harass and judge the others - fatter people are seen as stupid, lazy and greedy, and often get refused jobs that would involve dealing with the public because eurgh, fatties! They'll put off the customers. Fat people who eat anything in public are aware that some tosser or other is going to feel entitled to comment on what they are eating, whether they appear to be enjoying it, what they should be eating, how 'sensible' of them if they are eating fruit or vegetables...

'Thin privilege' is a pair of words that I hadn't heard until this thread but definitely make sense. Like 'tragedy vampire' - I hadn't heard that until a couple of days ago when that poor young woman was murdered in a branch of Aldi, but it perfectly describes the sort of 'Ooo I went to a branch of Aldi only the day before just think it could've been me' chatter that we've all heard on the internet.

I think a lot of the responses on this thread are really telling. There have been several comments about how weight can be changed or about how hard people work to be thin. The unspoken end of those comments is ‘so I deserve my priviledge’ compounding the general unspoken and sometimes unconscious belief that fat people are somehow less worthy. Your thinness only owes you an advantage if it is for example in a job that involves modelling swimsuits. Your weight does not make you more worthy of a job we’re both applying for, or better service at a restaurant.

Its something some fat people made up in their ridiculous victim mentally to make themselves feel better

I must be the wrong type of "thin" then. Combined with my lack of height, the overall effect of my petite build is of a 12 year old

I don't think I've been privileged to be flatly ignored in bars for a prolonged period while the people around me get served, or every time a colleague has asked where the teacher is because I blend in amongst the year 7s.

It's just another way people can stack you up and compare you in the very trendy game of Privilege Top Trumps.

I've misunderstood the meaning, sort of gotten it the wrong way around. I thought it was referring to rich women tending to stay thin. The explanation given on here makes more sense!

It's a made-up load of bollocks that allows fat people to project their bitterness and self-loathing onto those that they envy while also absolving them of any culpability for the state they've let their bodies get into.

Because poor me, wah wah wah, it's not my fault, I have a condition, 'real' women have meat on their bones, mmmm cheeseburgers.

How thin do you have to be to acquire full thin privilege?

Is there a sliding scale?

The easiest way to deal with other people saying or implying that you have a privilege of any kind is simply to remember this: your opinion of strangers is of no interest to them. If, for instance, you see a fat person, do not mention that person's weight, do not comment on what that person is eating, do not stare at that person. Do not, ever, approach a fat person you do not know to give that person tips and suggestions on how to lose weight. The person does not want to know what you think. You do not matter to that person.

Anyone have a link to the weekend with slim people thread?

I've been heavier and lighter and have noticed a difference, but in my case I feel confidence does play a large part.

SGB In my experience it's never thin people offering their unsolicited opinions/advice/judgement to fat people.

It's always the other way around.

'You could do with eating a few pies'
'Ewww what's that you're eating, looks gross.'
'I'd rather be clinically obese curvy and know that men want to shag me than be skinny'.
'Don't you like food then?'
'Go on, you just have to eat this nutritionally devoid shite that I've brought to work.'

A lot of chips (plus a lot of mayo) on a lot of hefty shoulders.

Thin bias is not the same thing as privilege

Privilege is something afforded you by accident of birth and unattainable to others

Except in a very few cases thin privilege is achievable by anyone hence it is not a privilege at all

Is it not a hangover from those society women who were named social x-rays in New York etc?
You have a private chef 24/7 and the best trainers in the world - not to mention not having to lift a finger so being skinny is a doddle and seen as aspirational.
I might be - and probably am - wrong, but I thought this was to describe the richest in society. It's not saying slim privilege or healthy-looking privilege - it's saying thin.
Am delighted to be corrected as I am really not sure. Might have dreamt it.

SGB In my experience it's never thin people offering their unsolicited opinions/advice/judgement to fat people.

What an absolute pile of shite.

Ilovetolurk - good point.

Jesustapdancingchrist I envy thin people in much the same way I imagine you envy those with a shred of empathy.

I think it’s interesting how many people have felt attacked for being thin. Weight really just another stick provided for women to beat each other with. Although what’s being described sounds more like those who feel insecure trying to build themselves up by putting others down. I don’t think however that it’s quite the same as the point being made here.

I think things like being able to buy clothes that fit in any high street shop (rather than plus size range) is thin privilege, also generally society tends to think overweight people are lazy/greedy/inferior to thin people (I’ve heard colleagues/friends talk about fat people with sheer disgust) - these are things thinner folks take for granted.

Christ there are some unpleasant people on this thread. As this thread demonstrates I think thin privilege is just more pomo divisive bullshit designed to get women fighting amongst themselves and not addressing the real issues which are patriarchal beauty standards and the idea that a woman's worth is tied up with how decorative she is.

I do think that women who conform to beauty standards are rewarded by society in some ways but I'm not sure this is really privilege. It's like being a house slave in pre civil war America. I mean sure, it's better than picking cotton but you're still not free. It obviously fades with age as well- look at all the female presenters losing their jobs etc.

The more I think about it the more I'm convinced that thinness is only a small part of the behaviour that is 'privileged' in this way. I mean yes we all believe that being thin is a part of being attractive but is a woman who is stick thin but 'ugly' really treated better?

TLDR

We should stop slagging each other and start dismantling the idea that a woman's worth is bound up in her attractiveness to men.

thestoic so you know for a fact that the poster you quoted is lying about their experience? 😂

I think things like being able to buy clothes that fit in any high street shop (rather than plus size range) is thin privilege,

Most highstreet ranges go up to a size 18. How is that “thin” in any way?

so you know for a fact that the poster you quoted is lying about their experience

I don’t think he/she is lying, no!

Well Shirley, ok but that means that 6-14 sized women can get clothes in pretty much any shop right, 16-18 in some places too - although the ranges are never as wide - but how about 20+?

So wouldn’t you agree that it’s easier for smaller women to buy clothes than larger women? There’s just more choice, therefore that’s a privilege/advantage thinner women have over fatter.

One more comment to say is it really 'privilege' to have more shop ranges available? I mean the shops have to make a profit and the very large sizes, like the very small sizes are just not in as much demand. I mean yeah it's a shame but it's not exactly structural oppression.

I have been as big as a 24 and as small as a 10. Whilst it is fun to be able to buy a wider range of things, and to be able to wear more vintage and secondhand finds I do sometimes miss plus size shopping. I find too much choice overwhelming and it was good to be able to go through all the dresses on asos and pick my faves. Can't do that anymore there are too many (and so much of asos ordinary range is really short or has unexpectedly high slits!)

I have seen the way a colleague has been treated differently following changes in her weight.

Thin = lots of positive interaction, focus on her highly sought after professional qualifications, positive attention from senior management
Overweight- obese = questioned, ridiculed, bullied. For senior management she is no longer a professional but just The Fat Girl.

Some very nasty posts upthread show that there is still a lot of moral judgement attached to weight. Awful.

"There’s just more choice, therefore that’s a privilege/advantage thinner women have over fatter."

Nope. It's called a consequence of your choices. Choose to eat yourself to an unnaturally large state, expect less availability of clothes that fit and to pay more for the excess material it's taken to make it.

I've been fat, I've been thin. I've seen it from both sides. Bleating about thin privilege is nothing more than a refusal to accept the consequences of your own actions.

It isn't privilege that's made me "thin" and healthy. It's hard fucking work, sacrifice and sensible choices based on wanting a long, healthy, active life. However much you whinge, you can't make it my fault that you don't have the same willpower or resolve .