#thin privilege

[thisisthinprivilege]

"The fatties just want to self-insert" as the romantic lead

Saw a thing on how including a non-thin actress in a major series playing its romantic lead was a ploy by the writers to get money so that "the fatties could self-insert."

"The fatties" are more than 60% of the population. Our love stories constitute the vast majority of actual, real-life love stories. yet the stories we see on TV feature the thinnest 5% of people. Thin people are swimming in self-insert scenarios, far beyond their population representation.

The real question is, why does this much smaller part of the population want to hoard all the fictional love stories for themselves?

It's almost as if the only thing you need to be lovable as thinner is your thinness, while fatter people need to have, like, a personality or be interesting or to not be a terrible person. And some thin people really don't want to have to make the effort to have personalities or be interesting or improve their moral qualities and so don't want fat people competing with them for the default romantic lead on TV.

I see you, thin-privilege-dependent-gremlins 👀 😆

-ATL

[thisisthinprivilege]

Thin privilege is being able to see your clothes modeled by a human posed to seem interesting, cute, or have some kind of other humanly characteristics. I.e., thin privilege is having your humanity respected and preserved relative to fat people, who have it constantly disregarded or stripped away.

-ATL

Well I was about to get excited and tell people about another new item that Hot Topic is again for some reason releasing for Steven Universe in the year 2025 but I got distracted by how irritated I am about the presentation.

This new star ringer baby tee comes in straight sizes and plus sizes (for uh five bucks more). Anyone who's ever tried to buy plus sizes is used to seeing the fat tax, and I get that some people offer explanations like "they need more material tho" and "they're not as in demand." Whatever, I'm not a marketer. But I do wanna know why Hot Topic is now doing the Headless Fatty thing.

Look at the difference in how these products are presented.

Straight-size model gets several cute shots with their face as part of the presentation. Plus-size model has their face cut off in ALL shots. (And I checked--if you blow these up, you still can't see a full shot of this person.)

One thing you'll learn if you ever check out how heavier people are presented in news stories (usually with alarming voice-over about the obesity epidemic) is that when they film fat people, they cut off their heads and just show their body. It's pretty dehumanizing and weird.

I'd love if the product photos on Hot Topic's site could do a better and more consistent job of showing what plus-size clothing they have in a way that's similar to how they present their straight-size clothing. Especially since there are many, MANY people who need the plus sizes that I know in these fan communities and would probably love to give Hot Topic their money if they stock the right sizes. I've been so delighted to keep seeing new designs and things for Steven Universe coming out from Hot Topic and it just really a let-down when I see stuff like this.

(And though I know I don't know this model's story and do not in fact know whether they asked to be anonymized, it's generally unlikely most of the time that someone who is a MODEL doesn't want their photo out there, and the "headless fatty" phenomenon is a thing regardless of whether an individual example fits the typical profile.)

[fatphobiabusters]

That person the other day who said they love seeing photos of thin people holding up 3XL jeans to show all of the "hard work" they put into living "the life they want," there's so much I could say about that.

I could explain that any fat person you see has almost certainly put in that same amount of "hard work" to become thin and then watched as their body refused to stay that way.

I could explain basic, unbiased weight science proving that weight loss is only temporary for the 4 millionth time.

I could explain that fat people are human beings who deserve to be treated with dignity, respect, and humanity, again for the 4 millionth time.

I could explain and explain and explain, but I'm tired of explaining to people who don't listen and pull their views out of their ass. So instead, I think we should applaud photos of fat people holding up the jeans they temporarily wore as a thin person.

Let's celebrate the fat people who once were a size small. Let fat people hold up their old tiny jeans in celebration of:

Beating an eating disorder

No longer experiencing food insecurity

Recovering from an illness that had caused weight loss

Accepting their fat body instead of abusing themself to become thin again

Leaving an abusive family/living situation where they were starved and/or forced to conform to prevent abuse

Having the genes of ancestors who survived famines

Knowing that there is not a single scientifically-proven method of weight loss

No longer wasting time fighting their body's weight gain from health conditions that cause weight gain, like PCOS

Accepting their body that changed due to pregnancy

Accepting their body that changed due to puberty

Accepting their body that changed due to transitioning

Allowing themself to take the medicine they need to treat mental or physical illness no matter the weight gain side effects

Not listening to harassment from bullies, friends, family, or anyone else who demanded they be thin to deserve peace from mistreatment

Literally just getting older and having a body that has changed with time

Loving themself despite the entire world believing that fat people do not deserve love

Existing, because fat people do not need to justify their body and existence to anyone

And so much more

-Mod Worthy

[chronicsymptomsyndrome]

Some people will get soooo offended if you say they are privileged ???what’s the deal with that

privileged=undeserving? it’s morally ambiguous?? privilege=malice??? evil intent?? no!

[keyki421]

This is what I mean when I say fat people get made fun of regardless of what we do. Here we have a fat guy riding a bike which is great exercise. Yet, he is still being made fun of. Fat people get attacked for not exercising and then when we do exercise, we are still attacked for it.

I hear all the time about how these situations are only in my head, yet the internet is filled with videos of overweight people at the gym, being mocked.

PS: This shit always comes from accounts with no profile photo.

[bigmouthlass]

Thin privilege is never wondering if your loved ones shy from physical contact with you because their trauma history has rendered them touch-adverse, or if it's because they find your fat body so disgusting no amount of love can make touching you bearable.

[crazycatsiren]

Thin people aren't allowed to complain because there literally isn't systemic oppression of thin people.

Are you able to fit in one seat on a train or plane without issues and struggles?

Yes? Then STFU.

I, a midsized person, may be somewhat uncomfortable because I just happen to be tall with long legs. But I can manage, albeit a bit cramped the whole time for want of more leg room.

But I've seen fat people who have to buy an extra plane or train ticket because the seats are just too fucking narrow.

This world favors thin people and hates fat people. The end.

[bigfatdenial]

Deserve sex? Love? Healthy relationships? What kind of incel logic is this? Fat or thin - the universe doesn’t owe you SHIT. You get what you give, respect included.

Autonomy over medical choices? You gave autonomy up when you blamed being 300+ lbs on “condishuns” instead of choices.

Gurl.

[moirazz]

I fucking hate skinny people. I got on my local bus service today, and noticed a teenager sitting in the disabled seat with an old lady. I kindly asked them to move, but they said no, so I had to sit on a single seat. When they got off the teenager gave me a disgusted look, thin privilege, am I right?

[thelightfluxtastic]

I saw your post on weight stigma and trans issues and I was so excited and then I read a lot of the reblogs...

What are your thoughts on 'skinny privilege' or 'thin privilege'? As someone who has been labelled underweight for my entire life despite being a healthy weight for my race and who has many friends who have been labelled fat, I have searched far and wide for where I have privilege and I worry I'm not looking in the right places or that I'm looking in vain...

(Not saying your post was about that at all. Just, a lot of the reblogs were so I want to make sure I understand the post)

If you want to learn more about thin privilege, a simple google search might have found you more articles, summaries and resources than a random tumblr blog. My original post didn't focus on thin privilege, but it is a real phenomenon.

Assuming this question is in good faith: like many privileges, thin privilege isn't necessarily about how nice people are to you, or things you might notice on an individual level. Privilege is often invisible, rather than overt (e.g. white people aren't likely to notice all the times they *aren't* pulled over, men might not see all the sexist comments they *aren't* getting).

Thin privilege can look like (these examples are not exhaustive):

-Seeing your body type in media, and not just as a joke -Being able to find clothes in your size in most stores -Being able to fit most standard seats (e.g. in waiting rooms or on airplanes) -Having medical equipment suited to your size and weight -Not being stereotyped as dirty or lazy -Having medical concerns being taken seriously by doctors, rather than blamed on weight -Generally better medical care from doctors (here's a NIH article on the subject, just as a start, and one from the APA.) -For trans people, not having to face BMI based limitations on gender-affirming care -Being more likely to be hired, or treated better at work (one source of many)

This list is not exhaustive. I am sure you would be able to find more resources on weight stigma, fatphobia, and thin privilege. I hope this helps as a start.

[maturespeakertothedead]

controversial q -- would ppl like harrow if she wasn't skinny? if harrow was full on fat.... would anyone still like her? tazmuir is so obsessed with harrow's smallness and it makes me sad. i know there's a way to 'explain' why harrow is small etc but cmon guys, media literacy here. in a severely fatphobic world it really makes me wonder if harrow's beauty (because nona and therefore she is canonically beautiful) and thinness are prerequisites for the reader's willingness to grant harrow mercy, humanize her, and read her as generously as the fandom does. (and do NOT come at me with 'but coronabeth is fat!! we are not talking abt crown right now!!)

[thisisthinprivilege]

Privileging thinness is about sapping our power

The amount of fat and not-so-fat folks who I've seen in comments or who have messaged me saying that fat positive content has made them more confident proves that privileging thinness is about destroying our confidence and sapping our power.

Imagine if we felt as powerful as we actually are. Women's bodies are policed and primarily their weight in order to sap their confidence and destroy their power in all spheres of life (sexual, romantic, scholastic, professional, etc etc).

Men's bodies are policed and while not primarily about weight definitely about fatness as an "unappealing" softness in order to prop up a toxic masculinity where men are chiseled protectors and where social power is generated by might, not right. This is to destroy the power of men who advocate for non-patriarchical moral value systems.

Privileging thinness and framing fatness as disgusting, diseased, and deviant is a not-so-artful social fiction to distract us from our true power by convincing us that our bodies are our source of power. Society and technology has long progressed past the point where our bodies determine who and what we can be. The only people who benefit from keeping us focused on our bodies are those who stand to lose by us realizing our true power.

Reject and revolt against all moral value systems based on bodily characteristics. They are distractions meant to destroy your power.

-ATL

[fatphobiabusters]

It says a lot about society that a beach towel that actually fits me is labeled "oversized" on the packaging so that thin people can know which of a select few beach towels will make them feel all warm and cozy and small.

I already buy beach towels to dry myself off with because it's easier than looking for bath towels that fit me, so labeling a beach towel "oversized" because this world is made solely for thin people is just added cruelty. I've been using beach towels to dry myself off with even when I was in the low 200s weight range.

What's fucking wild is that 99.999999% of thin people are blissfully ignorant of what the world is like for fat people. They have no clue what it's like to have to check the weight capacity of a chair on a website before buying it or seeing everything that's the perfect size for you being labeled "oversized." They don't know what it's like not being able to find clothes that fit you at a regular store, thrift store, online store, or even those plus size stores that only go up to a 3XL and just resize thin people clothing.

They don't know what it's like being thankful to learn online that Plan B doesn't work for most fat people before you bought and assumed in a post-roe world that Plan B will be effective. They don't know what it's like to live in a world where everyone freely hates and discriminates against you without even having backlash from progressives and people who claim to support equality, because oppressing you is just accepted fact even to the people who fight for the rights of all of your other oppressed identities. They don't know what it's like to live in a world where hating you is so expected and normalized that it's ingrained into your own people to the point that you literally cannot trust that

anyone you meet

not a single person

who looks like you will share solidarity.

None.

Whenever a thin person suddenly becomes fat, that is the closest we have to a person realizing they've been living in the Matrix. The most intense epiphany you'll ever have is rapidly becoming fat and then seeing how this world changes for you almost overnight.

-Mod Worthy

[darkshrimpemotions]

I really hate the extent to which any conversation about fatness and ending fat phobia and fat acceptance always turns into managing the emotions of thin people.

Like you have to manage the emotions of thin people in the comments who insist that they also experience discrimination against their bodies because somebody told them once they were too skinny. You have to manage the emotions of thin people who feel like they deserve to publicly air their own anxieties about ever looking like we do. You have to manage the emotions of thin people who don't know the difference between systemic oppression faced by fat people and their own self-image issues.

And then you have to manage the emotions of thin people who are existentially terrified that if we as a society acknowledge that it's okay to be fat, they will no longer be able to view being thin as an accomplishment instead of like a fucking luck of the draw, genetic accident and then they will have basically tormented themselves for nothing.

And then we have to manage the emotions of people who are convinced that somehow the actual goal of fat acceptance is to take their diet away from them. When, in fact, literally nobody within fat acceptance cares what you're doing with your body. The point is that we should be able to live in the bodies that we are existing in and be given the same dignity and healthcare and pay and opportunities as everyone else, and shouldn't be discriminated against because of what our bodies look like.

Like we have more important shit to do than manage your anxieties around whether or not somebody's gonna find your diet problematic. That is not fat acceptance's concern. That's something you need to journal about or talk to your therapist about. But that is not any fat activist's concern what you do with your body, what diet you're on, what exercise regimen. Nobody fucking cares.

And then we have to manage the emotions of the thin person who's offended that nobody fucking cares. Or the person who's mid-sized and gets mad that their voice isn't amplified enough within a space that's not really for them. And they feel shamed and left out because they're not being given the platform in a fat activist space because they're used to the hierarchy of the world that prioritizes thin people. So the fact that they are within the space, a thin person, but not being prioritized feels like an attack on them and then we have to manage those emotions too, and I'm just...

It's fucking exhausting. It's like I'm tired of managing the emotions of thin people when I'm trying to do fat activism. I have better shit to do I have more important shit to do!

[keyki421]

Thin Privilege strikes again.

How is this girl gonna complain about the small percentage of Plus Size stores, when she can walk into literally any clothing store and find her size. She can even thrift shop if she wanted to. I hate it when thin people complain when plus size people get offered something. We aren't the minority, but in fashion and clothing we are still treated like the minority.