TW: childhood weight, ED

Thin privilege is letting your child participate in their loved activity without agonizing over the decision.

My daughter is 4 years old and loves to dance. I mean, she LOVES it. She has so much natural talent I often tear up when I watch her dance. She is ridiculously powerful and can contort her body into all sorts of positions. Starting at the age of 18 months she’s consistently conveyed the desire to pursue dance.

She’s also very short and solid. Her whole life she’s been ~40th percentile for weight and >10th percentile for height.

I am terrified to let her attend dance classes. I watched my naturally thin sister-in-law develop an eating disorder due to being involved in ballet and modern dance, and I never want that happening to my daughter. I also know that sometimes support in the home isn’t enough to cancel what she might hear in the world.

Thin privilege is not having to worry that your daughter is going to starve herself to death if you let her participate in her passion.