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

My DD is underweight at 6st. She's had numerous tests which are NAD and has been seen by a dietician numerous times, who was satisfied she eats a healthy diet and enough calories for her height and weight. DD at a size 4 or smaller, has to order all her clothes online and even then they don't always fit when they eventually arrive. She hates not being able to shop on the high street.
She's faced hurtful comments about being anorexic, when she's most definitely not. She eats more than her sister who is a healthy size 8. DD1 has no body confidence whatsoever and actively wishes she was a couple of dress sizes bigger. I think if I were to tell her to 'check her privilege' she'd be upset!

michael I was exactly like you DD as a teen. I thought I was hideous and would never get a boyfriend because I was too thin.

I’m older now and eventually grew to like my body after spending years wanting to have boobs and look like all the other girls. Not to mention be able to buy jeans that fit.

It’s slightly better now with shops like asos selling size 2 and 4 as well as more shops selling a 4. After 16 I’d filled out enough - just - to be able to wear topshop and the like especially as they brought out the size 4. Is getting harder again now I’m older as I can’t really dress my age as none of it fits !

Where is this mythical high street where sizes for thin women are easy to get? Unless you mean exceptionally well built women who are still very thin in a modern size 8 which are easily available. Size 10- 18 are also easily available, do size 18 women now have to admit to having thin privilege because they can shop easily and fit in normal seats?

micheal try tkmaxx or similar. Designer size 4's tend to be smaller. Ditto for vintage stuff, size 6's from 20yrs ago are smaller than most modern 4's. Or if she's shorter height wise Asian clothing. And find a local seamstress for anything she really likes. If your budget runs to it you can get small stuff from high end designers. Also as a lot of 90's stuff is back in if you know anyone who was a skinny teen then you could ask them to have a clear out.

fishfingers yes she too feels hideous and hates looking at photos of herself. She's 18 now and accepts it's just the way she's made but it upsets her and she'd love to be a size 8.
Agree about 'dressing your age' as well, DD wears children's leggings from Primark, aged 9-10 and I know she's embarrassed by this. So I can appreciate how difficult you must find it too.

Thanks thehogfather, will pass all that on to DD

Try asos. Seriously they are minute. They only time I’ve ever bought something and it was too big. I think I bought the 4 and had to go up to a 6.

Hollister also does small jeans and jeggings. Not sure if they would be quite small enough - sizes don’t seem to match up too well - I’ve got 2 different sizes from there and the supposed “larger” size is the smallest and the best fit.
But they might be worth a try - 00 jeggings might do it. Then jeans maybe not.

I too still have some children’s clothes - usually plain stuff for outdoorsy things. I wear 11-12 now for outer wear I think but smaller in t shirts and so on.

MichaelFabricant It will not be much comfort to your daughter at the moment, but at 43 I take quite a lot of pleasure in not paying vat on most of my t shirts and trainers. Each year I buy my football teams home strip top in 'Youth' and save a fortune.
I do quite well on stuff made in the Philippines and China, their sizes always come up small.
I think womens sizings are really random. At one point I had sizes 8,10 and 12 in my wardrobe and they all fitted me perfectly.

You're welcome micheal.

fish thought it was just me with Hollister. A friend bought dd a couple of pairs, one pair drowned me at size 6 and the larger size fitted dd well who was more like a 2 at the time. We have the added issue of being very tall too, so except for shorts kids clothes aren't any use.

Oh dear, look at me waving my thin privilege all over the internet.

No they really are just bizarre !

weezol

If you're wearing kids t-shirts and Asian brands then I'm guessing you are average height or probably under. In which case you need to check your petite privilege too. I'll conveniently ignore the fact petite ranges are as rare, and no doubt as badly scaled as tall ranges.

My petite privilege is kept in line by store layouts displaying the petite line six feet in the air and arranging the shoes with the smallest sizes on the top shelf.

@sagamartha
I really don't believe fat people are more at a disadvantage than other people in an interview situation
I interview and select candidates for positions where I work.
People are at a (dis)advantage for many reasons.
People over 40 don't always have experience using all of the different software that wasnt necessary for the job 20 years ago.
Mothers who would be perfect for the job but won't be hired because they need to leave at 3 every day and the job is until 5.
People who can't drive.
But somebody's weight has never had an impact on our decision. Really hasn't.

If you have been both fat and thin, you know what thin privilege is. Like other types of privilege, they are things that if you haven't been on both sides, you probably take for granted. White privilege, for example....you might think that your own experience as a white person is just the way the world is....it isn't.

Don't be ridiculous. The vast majority of thin people can't take their 'thin priviledge' for granted because they're continuously dieting and exercising to stay this way.

Did you actually mean to choose your words so badly, or was that inadvertent?

I’ve been fat and thin, never been treated any different either way, feel healthier being thin but not necessarily happier. I surround myself with lovely people and maybe I only hear what I want to hear but no one has ever upset me about my appearance, I have a great job, wonderful DH and many DFriends of all shapes & sizes. Some people are just so superficial and have a superior complex because they are not happy with themselves.

I really don't believe fat people are more at a disadvantage than other people in an interview situation

You then give examples of other people who are at a disadvantage in an interview.

Which is true. People are discriminated against at interviews for all sorts of reasons - which have nothing to do with their ability to do the job but more to do with other reasons. I would imagine being overweight is just something else people see and decide - even subconsciously- to discriminate against.

But somebody's weight has never had an impact on our decision. Really hasn't.

Just because you haven't ever discriminated against someone who is overweight doesn't mean that it doesn't exist.

Like other types of privilege, they are things that if you haven't been on both sides, you probably take for granted. White privilege, for example....you might think that your own experience as a white person is just the way the world is....it isn't

This is true as it describes me. I did take it for granted before reading this thread.
And no I don't exercise.

I really don't believe fat people are more at a disadvantage than other people in an interview situation

They are if the interviewer shares the view, commonly expressed or implied on here, that

a) being thin is more desirable than being fat

b) anyone could be thin if they tried hard enough

and then draws the conclusion, consciously or unconsciously, that a thin candidate has desirable qualities that a fatter candidate lacks. If there is nothing else to choose between them then the thinner candidate has the advantage.

Of course the interviewer could also have the opposite bias, being worried that a thinner candidate has an eating disorder or 'looks ill' but generally society seems to be more accepting of people being 'too thin' than 'too fat'.

sagamartha surely you're not arguing that as you don't consciously and knowingly discriminate against someone in the world of work due to their weight that nobody else does?

Here's an article with links to research showing that it's been evidenced it does happen. So no need to 'believe' or 'disbelieve' in it. It happens.

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/inequality/2017/aug/30/demoted-dismissed-weight-size-ceiling-work-discrimination

Maybe you're the rare unicorn so unaffected by social mores and cultural norms you've never ever discriminated against anyone. Well done if that's the case. Many others do.

Fat people are at a disadvantage socially and professionally. There have been numerous (small) studies that have collerated fatness with the perception that the person is lazy or incompetent or sone such like. Essentially there is prejudice against the overweight that can result in barriers getting hired/promoted. And then obviously some customer/client/public facing roles openly discriminate against people who aren't healthy/attractive/etc. And then the obvious personal life disadvantage when dating and what not.

The expression is a bit whiny. But I think it exists. More by default. I have a colleague who is a voluptuous, glamorous beautiful girl but I see her being treated differently in front of my eyes Daily. I covered a meeting for her the other day and the visiting professional was so rude. I said 'oh hey I'm Jane I'm just covering for Magda today' to which she replied 'well yes I did think gosh Magda has lost an awful lot of weight!!'

That said people also think if you are thin you are very thick skinned. I used to get 'god Jane do you even eat!!' Shit all the bloody time when j was v thin

How are we defining thin and fat?
Do the morbidly obese have permission to call thin privilege when a smaller obese person raises their life experiences?

Does someone plus size get to tell a healthy, but not thin, size 14 they have thin privilege? And completely dismiss any experience of fat bashing/ body hang ups that person may have encountered?

Does someone who diets and exercises to be a slim size 10 get to complain about the thin privilege of those who are naturally skinny and smaller than them?

Imbroglio I totally agree.

A huge amount of responses on this thread reinforce the basic view that fat = bad and thin= good. It is obvious that this worldview will end up conferring disadvantages to the overweight, therefore, default (although maybe unintended) 'privileges', of sorts, to the thin. Clearly, the term 'thin privilege' is problematic, and perhaps there is a better way to express it, but society is - generally speaking - kinder, less judgemental, and more forgiving, of those who are thin. That is not to say that some thin people (as expressed on the thread) have experienced unacceptable rudeness and judgement about their body shape.

I really feel for the previous poster whose heart problems were dismissed, and who felt that she was only taken seriously once her slimmer sister had the same heart problem. As someone who 'consumes' a disproportionately high amount of healthcare (both for my son, and my myself- chronic conditions, lots of hospital admissions) , I do think it likely that we are perceived as more 'worthy' perceived 'deserving' of our health care due to the fact that I am slim (i.e. people don't think I have brought my problems on myself through idleness and greed).

It doesn't mean anything, its just more milennial buzzword bullshit.