Thin privilege means going to any doctor you want and actually being treated for whatever ailment you came in with.



Thin privilege means getting a wellness check-up where your doctor does not immediately start questioning a borderline high blood pressure, and is willing to excuse it as “white coat” jitters. Thin privilege is not having “white coat” jitters.



Thin person, you are blessed enough to be able to go to any doctor in this country and not have the first question out of your chosen medical professional’s mouth be about your weight and what you’re doing about it. You don’t have to fear LONG, epic conversations on what you do eat, what you don’t eat, how much you exercise, what kind of exercise you’re doing, what you’ve tried, what you haven’t tried, and your complete lack of willpower. You don’t get to listen to your doctor drone on about how your weight caused/contributed to/is more important than the medical complaint you came in with.



You will never have a doctor assume that something with “congenital”, “early onset”, or “juvenile” in the name (congenital liver disease, early onset dementia, juvenile diabetes) happened because you are currently fat.



You will never be refused treatment for an issue completely unrelated to your size until you lose weight. Some real life examples include seizures, broken bones, psoriasis, and weak dental enamel.



You will never be denied a diagnosis because you cannot fit inside of the testing equipment.



You will never have to worry about a doctor being afraid to touch you because of your size. The “no touch” approach to gynecology means that fat women are way less likely than our thin sisters to be receiving life saving screenings and treatments.



My thin sister, you will never be forced to have a trans-vaginal ultrasound (a rod that goes inside your vagina) because the equipment is too outdated to get a good image of your uterus and ovaries in any other fashion. You will never feel the technician’s angry glare because he or she is forced to touch your genitals. You will never be fat-shamed (and physically violated) due to ancient, useless imaging equipment.



Thin privilege means not hearing nurses gossip about “that whale in room 4” because you passed the nurses’ station to get a drink of water.



Thin privilege means you are less likely to be receiving public health care, and more likely to have access to size positive doctors.



Thin privilege means not paying extra for private insurance.



And thin privilege hurts thin people, too. Society, and our doctors, tend to see thin people as healthy. Doctors may neglect to order further testing for thin patients with symptoms of illnesses that are traditionally seen as “obesity-related” (e.g. diabetes, hypertension, thyroid conditions, heart disease, high cholesterol).



Thin privilege is bad for everyone’s health.

(submitted by Stephanie de Haven)