I’ve been reading TiTP for a few months, and while I agree with most posts, up until now nothing has happened that I felt was worthy of posting about (that wasn’t a duplicate of what it seems many other posters everywhere experience).

What has happened to me has me confused, and scared, and I feel like I’m in a situation to lose most, if not all, of my current circle of friends and possibly face a painful backlash.

Over the summer I got into playing an online game that I’ll not name, for obvious forthcoming reasons. I met some people and I’ve made a handful of friends I thought I could really get along with. We’ve chatted extensively, joked about tons of things, gamed together, and even agree on most social issues. They’re all male, and when they talked about themselves they revealed most of them were fat, if not quite fat for their height in some cases. I’ve always been shy about my weight because of bullying by my mother and doctors, and shy in general, so I held back a lot when they were talking weight. They knew I was a girl, but didn’t ask much else, I guess to try and be polite. I never dreamed they’d have a problem with my weight, especially when they were sharing their own stories of weight discrimination, and I started to feel like maybe I could really be myself with them, like they’d understand what life is like for a fat girl because they’re fat themselves.

And then the other night someone cracked a “fat girl” joke. And they kept coming. And they got worse and worse.

I asked them if they’d hate me too if I were fat. Some actually said “yes”. Another said I was “too nice to be over 180lbs”. One said he would stop gaming with me if I “…end up being some glib fat bitch.”

I guess I can’t tell them what I’m really like. I can’t even tell them what my life is like.

Thin privilege is not having to hide who you are.

Thin privilege is being able to be yourself with people you enjoy being around.

Thin privilege is not losing some of the best friends you’ve ever had because of a fucking number on a scale.