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Original poster

What does thin privilege mean?

230 replies

MrsAnamCara · 26/12/2017 11:51

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

OP posts:
TheRottweiler · 27/12/2017 10:55

What the fuck is 'white privilege'???

Serious question.

Is it the same as 'white supremacy'?

JacquesHammer · 27/12/2017 10:59

What the fuck is 'white privilege'??

Being born with all the advantages that having white skin brings

WorraLiberty · 27/12/2017 10:59

Meanwhile, my blonde, 1.80 and 50 kg work colleague gets a shitload of compliments and preferential treatment. Not sure when it has become the norm to be SO skinny you can barely stand. Sad.

Who says it's the norm? Confused

If my maths are right, that makes her around 5ft 11" and about 8st.

If that means she can barely stand, she obviously has a health issue there, doesn't she?

TheRottweiler · 27/12/2017 11:03

Worra

I agree about Maltese kids - I go to Malta a fair bit and the kids are indeed overweight. They do seem to 'lose' the weight by the time they are teenagers though.

TheRottweiler · 27/12/2017 11:07

This reply has been deleted

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Rebeccaslicker · 27/12/2017 11:08

I had a half Maltese half Sicilian flatmate in my halls at uni. I have never seen anyone eat like he did - seriously the dude ate an entire pack of spaghetti in one sitting, and when we went to the all you can eat Pizza Hut buffet, he had about 23 pieces of pizza. He was a bit soft but not fat. Last I heard of him, he'd gone seriously thin, but still ate like that!

WorraLiberty · 27/12/2017 11:08

They still have a higher adult obesity rate than the UK though TheRottweiler.

I didn't realise Latvia had such a problem too. It's definitely become a very wide spread (scuse the pun!) issue.

Rebeccaslicker · 27/12/2017 11:09

As for thin privilege, well, it depends where you read it. Read it on a HAES website and it's about people being treated better because they are thinner, and others being treated worse because they are fatter. Read it on a fitness website or somewhere like Reddit and it's fat snowflakes whining rather than putting down the fork. Context is everything!

Greensky89 · 27/12/2017 11:10

People judge on first impression that's why and GUESS what! The thing you see first is the way they look
Then they ask you name then GUESS what! More judgement comes.

JacquesHammer · 27/12/2017 11:11

@TheRottweiler

Seriously? You need to do some reading surrounding historic and ongoing white privilige.

Greensky89 · 27/12/2017 11:11

I think a lot of people associate fat= laziness.

DomesticAnarchist · 27/12/2017 11:33

Being aware of various privileges doesn't mean you have to feel guilty about them.

Being aware means you can catch yourself colluding in them and change your behaviour/attitude.

As for saying it's ok to bully fat people because a person can change their weight (not verbatim, but it's a clear theme of the thread) - we all know that weight is an incredibly complex thing. If it was so easy for people to lose weight (and keep it off) obesity wouldn't be as prevalent as it is.

To think otherwise is lazy thinking.

MeMeMeMe123 · 27/12/2017 11:34

Great post Lemon

WorraLiberty · 27/12/2017 11:37

I don't think anyone has said losing weight is easy.

Other than that, I completely agree DomesticAnarchist.

BeyondAssignation · 27/12/2017 11:40

I think "weight-bias" (largely lumped in with "appearance-bias") is probably a more fair name. "Privilege" comes from a position of a historical and current system of oppression, and that isn't really the same as current fashionable bias/discrimination.

Obviously both conscious and unconscious discrimination against people because of their weight (both extreme lows and extreme highs) exists, but it isn't a systemic oppression. A proper sociologist can probably explain this better than me though Grin

JacquesHammer · 27/12/2017 11:41

I don't think anyone has said losing weight is easy

At least three PP have said "it's that easy"

juneau · 27/12/2017 11:42

disability, or illness, or medication makes it immeasurably harder

Yes, this is true in some cases, but the vast majority of people who are overweight eat and drink too much and don't bother to take enough exercise. The fat people in my family and social circle aren't on medication or disabled - they just eat too much and don't move enough - but to actually say that these days is considered 'shaming' and 'discriminatory'. I actually think the language around weight is extremely unhelpful. Call it what it is. Be honest. Stop hiding behind excuses. My DM says 'I don't eat that much' and forces us all to eat off side plates, because Weight Watchers told her to do that, but she is the only overweight one at the table. It's not about the size of the plate, it's about what you put on it and how many biscuits you eat between meals and how much butter you put on your toast. But god forbid anyone should actually say that.

WorraLiberty · 27/12/2017 11:47

Ahh ok Jacques, I didn't realise.

I can't think why anyone would say it's an easy thing to do.

DomesticAnarchist · 27/12/2017 11:53

You could be right about the semantics, Beyond. The OP asked about white privilege, but bias could be a better phrase.

There's also complex genetic factors here. There are genes associated with overweight, and genes associated thinness. I know people will respond saying that you can't get fat without overeating, and that you can help, but the ways these genes affect behaviour and satiety is complex and not understood yet.

As the poster on the weekend with thin people thread notes, satiety and behaviour are really different.

As a society we associate overweight with being 'weak' or lacking willpower/self control. In reality it may be that thin people feel fuller sooner, or for longer. We are responding to internal cues which arise differently according to our genetic predispositions.

And then we need to factor in socialisation, epigenetics, and the food & advertising industries we exist with.

Faking · 27/12/2017 11:55

Okay, so I'm black and thin. Being called an Ethiopian, when younger, was certainly not a privilege Hmm

So, I guess one 'privilege' counteracts another Grin

WorraLiberty · 27/12/2017 11:56

There are genes associated with overweight, and genes associated thinness.

If that's true, they would also have been there before the obesity epidemic.

It still (for the most part) boils down to people eating too much food and not burning off the calories.

juneau · 27/12/2017 11:59

Is it really news though that 'looking good' is an advantage in life? No shit! If you look good (which in our society equates to slim and with an attractive face), then yes, people are more likely to be drawn to you and want you around them. That's life and I'm willing to bet it was ever thus (although beauty norms change over time).

DomesticAnarchist · 27/12/2017 12:07

Worra, obviously the effects of these genes are shown only in the context of freely available high energy foods.

It's an evolutionary advantage to store fat to account for seasonal variations in food abundance. Not now, of course, but for much of our evolutionary history. Those genes don't just go away in a couple of generations.

My point is though that those genes don't just make people fat or thin by themselves, they are involved in huge complex internal systems that mean a person is more or less likely to be a certain weight. Genes affect behaviour and psychology as well as digestion.

DomesticAnarchist · 27/12/2017 12:08

This article is a good discussion of the topic: www.bodyforwife.com/stop-pretending-you-know-why-people-are-fat/

Esker · 27/12/2017 12:11

So much unpleasantness on this thread. Whether people dislike the term or not, it is a reality that thin people are treated better in many circumstances. I am thin and very glad to be so. I have a lot of medical problems, and so does my baby son, and I am certain that, if I were overweight, there would be a perception (whether people consciously acknowledged it or not) that my and his health problems are somehow my 'fault'. I think I get more sympathy due to being thin.