Trigger warning: Possible intersections with racism and eugenics

Thin privilege is not being discriminated based on your family and your genetics.

Sorry if this gets a bit rambly, but I am a crying wreck right now and just typing this is an emotional release.

So I am a pretty shy girl and a small fat at 5’2 and 190 lbs. I felt that my weight has really held me back in terms of being confident enough to try to get into a relationship, but ever since finding HAES and TITP, I have been working to own it, stand up for myself, and get out of my shell for a really long time.

This semester at my university I met this boy in one of my classes when we were grouped together for an assignment. We got to know each other pretty well. I thought he was really cute, really funny, and we had a lot in common. I really thought there was some mutual interest and chemistry there. I read on the internet that guys like girls who take charge and ask them out so I mustered up all my courage and did just that.

Well guess what. He rejected me. But that isn’t what this post is about.

Him: It;s just that I want someone who is as interested in fitness as I am. (aka: I want a thin conventionally attractive girlfriend)

Me: Well, first of all, I go to the gym about 9 hours a week. I bust my ass on the ellipticals. I only eat fresh fruits and veg and lean proteins. And by the way, when I was trying to get thin and starving myself to only 500 calories a day, I still didn’t lose weight. My whole family is like this.

Him: *Started going into that bullshit calories in calories out argument*

Me: Well, my mom is fat. My dad is fat. My sisters are fat. And I am fat. And we eat only healthy things everyday. None of us were able to lose weight permanently by going on diets. This is just the way our genetics works.

And then he said the most fucked up shit I have ever heard:

Him: Well, I want to find a partner to raise healthy kids with, and so I’m not sure we would be a great match based on your family’s genetics.

The fuck ?!

Especially as a POC, this was essentially a cis thin white dude telling me that he didn’t want to muddle his ‘pure’ genetics with mine. What is this, the 1920’s?! What kind of backward ass person says that kind of stuff?!?!?

Thin privilege is knowing that your family’s genetics, things outside your control, won’t be used to discriminate against you.

Mod note: Just wanted to expand on the opening statement to note that there are many folks with thin privilege who are also discriminated against based on their genetics and family. As per usual with intersectional discrimination, often it’s the worst of both bigotries. -ATL