thisisthinprivilege:

Thin privilege not having your four year old cousin asking why you’re so fat and your mom defending her by saying that she should because you’re so fat

No, this isn’t thin privilege! I’m so sick of the examples that people keep posting that are supposed to be examples of privilege, but aren’t. They don’t help fat people.



Privilege, for the purpose of these types of conversations, means special rights or benefits assumed to be standard for everyone, but in reality are enjoyed by one group while being denied to another group.



We often use the word privileged to mean something good when we are in possession of something that benefits our lives in a positive way. We may be privileged enough to meet someone we admire, to live in a part of the country we adore, to travel the country in an RV, to have easy pregnancies & births. When compared to people in other parts of the world, we’re privileged to be able to get water out of a spigot, rather than have to walk 5 miles with buckets. But the kind of standard treatment that some citizens enjoy that maybe denied to others is what I think of as privilege. The whole point of uncovering it & acknowledging it is to be aware of the inequities in our system so we don’t perpetuate them in our system; we want to put down institutionalized oppression.



But we still have differences, and those may mean advantages and disadvantages. Things will never be exactly the same. When you are fat, you have a different sized body than many people. No matter what people say about the obesity or how fat people are the majority, when I’m out and about, or in a group, I’m often the largest person there. Living in a fat body and experiencing it differently than a thin person, but every single time you experience the world differently as a fat person, it’s not an example of thin privilege.



If you are fat enough that you can’t physically do something, it’s not thin privilege in the political sense of the word when someone smaller can. If I walk around on two legs while someone else must ride in a wheelchair, I certainly might feel privileged to have this ability, but I’m not denying someone rights by using my legs unless i insist the world is fine the way it is designed for standing people with two legs, and the other people shouldn’t have those rights because they shouldn’t exist. What happens a lot of time with fat people is that we are denied the right to live in the world in our bodies because the idea is we don’t have this right and we shouldn’t be permitted to exist as we are; only through denial of routine experiences and services will we feel inspired to lose weight.

It’s disheartening to read a sentence that says, “Thin privilege is _____” and having it be something that thin people might experience. This type of thing completely undercuts the message. I also think it’s important to note that there is size privilege where people on extremes of the size spectrum can experience being called ill, untrustworthy and said to be in denial, and this is part of the whole size discrimination problem.



If something happens to me that could happen to a thin person, it’s not an example of thin privilege. I find it especially difficult when talking about family dynamics and children because you can be a target of fat hate & bullying within your own family. It’s not necessarily thin privilege as much as it is that children are generally powerless and without protections other than those given to them by adults; societal prejudices play into this and exacerbate the bullying and abuse, but when I see some of these stories, often the first thing I think of is the adult child relationship and how these other prejudices play out.



However, the situation above isn’t really even about bullying or abuse. All I see is a 4 year old child asked a fat person why s/he was fat, and the mother defended the child by saying that the question makes sense because the person is fat. Many of us have experienced small children observing the world and asking questions based on what she sees. I understand the child is already forming biases and prejudice, but children will ask about things constantly as they learn about the world.



Not to understand that and to want it punished is adult privilege. And then to say the mother “defended” the child as if this is a question of guilt or innocence, well, I don’t get it. It’s not thin privilege because we don’t live in a world where we are exempt from people, especially 4 year olds, asking us questions about ourselves. We respond, one way or another, saying we don’t like it, saying the question isn’t polite or trying to answer the question in a way that is fat positive.



If it’s a situation where the person who posted this is also a child, then I see it more as a bad family dynamic, a non-dysfunctional family type of privilege. People aren’t exempt from others making comments about their bodies, unfortunately or possibly fortunately. It’s thin privilege if fat people are not allowed to respond factually to comments, or their truth is questioned and their credibility maligned. It’s thin privilege if there is a strict family policy not to comment on bodies, except if the person is fat.



Kids comment on my size, they comment on my crooked teeth, they comment on my glasses or my feet or what have you. Does the bias towards fat people play into some of these comments? Undoubtedly. But my ability to respond and give my message is my own privilege, and I take it.





