I was reading earlier in lmao pics and heard of something called thin privilege. I decided to look it up and while reading got intrigued what other peoples views of it where.
This article basically explains what it is and some examples.
[url]http://fiercefatties.com/2010/06/03/thin-privilege-yes-it-does-exist/[/url]
[url]http://shutupsitdown.co.uk/2009/08/19/fat-phobia-and-thin-privilege/[/url]
What are your views on "thin privelege".
I personally think thin privelege is absolutely true but for good reason.
Using some examples given I'm sure you can put up both sides of a good argument because I would like to hear this from both sides. I used to be a fairly chunky man and now I have lost quite a bit of weight
- If an airline requires you to buy a second seat due to your size, is this fair? Personally, I think yes due to the fact that if you cannot fit into a single seat the customers surrounding you would be forced into an uncomfortable position.
- Part of obesity is genetics, but it is your choice (for the most part exempting special cases) to let your body go, but should companies be allowed to charge more or less based on space taken up?
- Should stores be forced to carry clothes in all sizes or should they be allowed to cater to specific sizes such as a size maximum or minimum? Part of the arguments I've read is that many stores will not accommodate for larger people.
- Do you personally judge people based on weight? as in if you see a small and large person both eating the same unhealthy item or doing unhealthy activities do you see them the same way?
These are just a few questions to think about in developing your arguement. I would love to hear what everyone has to say on this subject.
I know there is another thread on obesity but this is more on the topic of do you believe that thin people should be allowed to do more or be given special privileges (or larger people having privileges taken away).
[editline]8th September 2012[/editline]
To post a yes or no answer for myself, no, I do not believe in thin privilege. However, I do believe that businesses have the right to charge for whatever they need to to accommodate their needs. If someone takes up twice the space, charge them twice as much. If you dont want to manufacture clothing for a small audience (or in america, rapidly growing), it is the choice of that company. I do not believe you should be judged based on your weight though I do believe that if you decide to let yourself get to a condition where you are overweight, you should accept any consequences that are associated with that problem. Such as smokers having to find designated areas to smoke.
I wouldn't really call those things mentioned in the OP "thin [I]privilege[/I]." If you are enormously overweight, you are going to be a hindrance to services that people of normal weight would have no issue with. Somewhere along the line people accept that they are incredibly obese and they don't make the permanent lifestyle changes to fix it, it's not fair that other people need to be hindered because somebody doesn't have the willpower to deal with their extreme weight issues.
It's not so much "thin privilege" as it is "fat privilege," if you inconvenience everybody for your own choices or circumstance. That's basically the exact definition of what "privilege" is. Though it ultimately depends on what the situational context is.
However, I do think that there may be a general bias toward slightly overweight (chubby) people. Needless to say a bias based on appearance is never a good thing.... but to really extreme scales (350+ pounds) I can see why people mind not want to work with or deal with people, simply for the fact that their condition is a major burden.
Thin privilege. Really. If you're overweight, you're overweight. If you can't reign in your obesity to a manageable level, then you shouldn't complain about it.
As someone who is overweight, there's no such thing as thin privilege. I mean, I've never encountered problems with seating or anything, but if someone did, I don't see why the company or other people should be disadvantaged because of it.
I'm sorry, but being overweight is a choice. Genetics plays a part, sure, but for christ's sake it's YOUR body.
If you're so fucking huge that you're actually inconveniencing other people, that's not some "skinny privilege" which gives them the right to complain or something, it's just that you're fucking huge.
[editline]8th September 2012[/editline]
Honestly I think this is an excuse for fat people to just be lazy and blame their problems on other people.
I mean seriously:
[quote]Things that thin people take for granted that are actually Thin Privilege…
I can go into any restaurant and not worry about whether the seating will accommodate me.
I can plan an airline trip without worrying about anything more than my carry-on fitting in the overhead bin.
If I lose my luggage, as long as I have a credit card, I can pretty much go anywhere (even an airport gift shop!) and grab something to wear to replace what I packed.
[B]I can go into any store in the mall and pretty much be guaranteed that I could find something to wear.[/B][/quote]
:wtc:
As a thin person those perceptions cut both ways.
I [B]CAN NOT[/B] get pants in my size. My waist is thin and my legs are long. Also if I get stuff that's bagging it looks weird.
If I get a lot of food people will think that I'm starving. Too little and they think that I have an eating disorder. Don't get me started on eating something healthy like a salad.
Also in crowded areas people literally think they can push me around. I'm always accommodating for others in public. If I'm walking down a sidewalk, most of the time I have to give the person walking towards me the right of way. Also I'm often chosen to sit next to on the bus since I give the impression that they'll have more room and they often overlap on my seat.
I don't have any resentment towards anyone based on their weight. It seems like there's a bit of "grass is greener" perspective here. There's downsides to both.
I am fat. Not 'two seats' fat but I'm a double XL
I think that this sort of shit is a non issue till you're literally huge since I've never been 'discriminated' against and neither have any of my fat friends / relatives. I've been called a fat ass before but that isn't discrimination, The ass was indeed fat.
This shit ain't a thing.
Nice to see the extreme skinny side of it too, thanks clarke.
Seems like so far most people have the same idea. Choosing to let your body go is your own fault and you should accept the consequences and once someone accepts that their new weight is the norm they should expect to have to cope with it.
[editline]9th September 2012[/editline]
I can view it easily from the health and wellness side as I am in the Air Force and we are required to maintain our weight and physical status.
I guess I can add another idea to this, should members of social service such as firefighters, police, medical personnel be required to maintain high physical standards to perform their job?
I think Thin privilege is non-existent. To me it's a concept that just does not make sense. First of, if you're overweight, it's your problem and people should not change the way they behave to fit your condition. Second, being thin does not bring you any sort of privilege, it just prevents you from having certain issues but also gives you others.
I'm as thin as a twig (8 stones/48kg for 5.5ft/165cm), and I often face problems linked to how skinny I am. People tend to push me around or physically ignore me on the street, it's hard to find fitting sizes for clothings (for instance whenever I have to choose a jacket I have to pick the smallest size and only wear stuff that has elastic wrists, or else the sleeves will just cover my hands), people often don't bother ask me for help because they think I can't handle a little bit of effort, and more than often I leave unfinished meals which is an issue when I eat at someone's place. Back when I was in highschool, sports classes were adapted to people that were more fit than me, and while overweight people could avoid class or got less exhausting exercises, I had to go with the regular stuff which coupled to my heart problem would almost make me collapse in exhaustion. So I don't really see how being thing brought me any sort of privilege. Let alone people's view on me, who often see me as an unattractive, physically sick skeleton. I even got verbally despised because of it.
And as a very skinny guy, I really can't say I care about all this. At least, I really don't blame anyone for abusing a "fit privilege" or anything like this. This is how I am, I could be different if I tried any harder, and I know my physical condition is entirely of my behalf. Blaming people for not adapting to my very common, benign condition sounds almost offensively entitled to me.
Hahaha.
Fat people complaining.
The whole idea of 'privilege' is that it's something you're born with that can't be earned. The idea of 'thin privilige' is fundamentally ridiculous.
I think using the term "privilege" is wrong, a bit misplaced. If someone is so overweight that a person takes away so much space than something is wrong with him. Although you have to take into account the various diseases that increase weight. Nevertheless if a person is literally so fat, it is his fault and it does not concern the other people around.
Having less weight is a benefit in a lot of ways, so is being a bit overweight.
I am skinny as hell and has always been in my life, it is relativily easy for me to say such things.
Dear god, I think that most people who've been trying to institute this "Thin Privelege" bullshit are the people who're born skinny, and through a sheer morbid lifestyle, have gotten themselves fatter than anything.
My friend who weighs 250 pounds, naturally larger than all of us, and has more fat than any of us aswell, is a wall of brick, because he's built that way, that's genetics, I don't see people who've been born as an endomorph complain at all, primarily because they're built that way and not living a gratuitous lazy lifestyle chock-full of foods that got them there.
These people are laughable, we as a society [I]should[/I] help them out, let them get slim again as it's healthy, and only if they request it. If they instead tell us that we should respect our rights and our "Privelege" that we were born into, that they grew out of, then what the fuck? I cannot comprehend it. You got yourself into this mess through your "luxurious" lifestyle, and you want to maintain it yet still garner the same respect as someone who's been living healthy and watching their weight? please.
Medical reasons to where you've grown obese is excluded however, as it is not their fault.
People are different. How about "low" privilege? I'm a tall guy, and I have problems!
If I was a small person, i could...
- Walk into a mob and be sure I couldn't be seen
- Walk through doorways without worrying about whether I might hit my head on something.
- Buy smaller cars
The list goes on! But come on, I'm fine with it! At least fat people have the chance to DO something about it.
I think "physical attractiveness privilege" would be a more defensible position
Being fat is an option, and you have the power to change it. Even if you have a glandular disorder or whatnot, if you exercise and eat correctly you can stay within healthy bounds.
So no, thin privilege does not exist.
There are definite social and mental health implications to being overweight.
A lot of our society doesn't accept looking fat and as such there are consequences for people who are/look fat.
Here is a publication on it and I will also point out some specific points.
[URL]http://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/pdf/10.2105/AJPH.73.2.171[/URL]
This first part that I quote talks about how people will perceive themselves to be overweight even when it doesn't affect their health, because there are social stigmas against being fat.
[QUOTE=Effects of Being Overweight Paper]More people perceive they are overweight than we objectively defined as overweight, especially women.
Thus, many people appear to be using a stricter standard for their own weight than is required for good health.
Such standards, however, may be required for good appearance and seem to be more stringent for women than for men, for younger people, and for people with higher incomes and smaller families.[/QUOTE]
This next few quotes deal with the fact that even though being moderately overweight has almost no effect on physical health, it does however have mental health issues because being overweight isn't generally seen as acceptable.
[QUOTE]First, being moderately overweight has not been consistently demonstrated to be an important risk factor for premature mortality.
But 28 percent of moderately overweight people have limitations in personal functioning, compared with 19 per cent for normal weight people.
Being moderately overweight also results in substantial amounts of pain, worry, and restricted activity.
A second possibility [to help moderatly overweight people is to] is to work toward legitimizing being moderately overweight.
Because being moderately overweight does not seem to have clear physical health risks, trying to lose weight and not being successful at it may do more harm than good.
Further, to the extent that pain, worry, restricted activities, and limitations in personal functioning because of being overweight result from the [B]strong value our society places on being thin[/B],
these effects may be minimized by legitimizing being moderately overweight.
[/QUOTE]
That is just a bit of the info that publication has to offer, there is more that can be explored in it aside from what I pointed out.
The crux of my point is that there is a lot of social negativity that goes into being fat that can have adverse effects on the mental health even when physical health isn't affected.
This can lead to a spiral down where they may feel unable to stop being overweight and even gain weight until they actually get physical health issues.
This thread seems to be a microcosm of how society views being fat negatively.
There is a thin privilege, just remember that it isn't a set of positive attributes that people get for being thin, it is a set of negative attributes that people don't have to deal with by not being fat.
[QUOTE=Mr. Smartass;37611058]Being fat is an option, and you have the power to change it. Even if you have a glandular disorder or whatnot, if you exercise and eat correctly you can stay within healthy bounds.
So no, thin privilege does not exist.[/QUOTE]
if you're poor you have the power to change it and become wealthy too, but wealth privilege still exists.
[QUOTE=DainBramageStudios;37613647]if you're poor you have the power to change it and become wealthy too, but wealth privilege still exists.[/QUOTE]
Becoming rich is a lot harder than losing weight. Also, wealth stems from a lot less choice than obesity.
Complaining about "Thin privilege" is like complaining about being poor while buying stuff worth twice your salary.
I believe thin privilege does exist; there is too much shallow people out there who prefer thin women cause the TV says they are cool (which they mostly are not).
As for you claiming becoming obese is still a choice; I found out that even peoples will power is genetic. I watched a documentary how people hunger levels work and how larger people have a weaker drive to let them know they are full.
As for companies charging more for fat people; it is mean and unfair. Just because a company has the right to do something doesn't mean its right. Viacom can try to sue YouTube, but that isn't right.
As for my 2 cents on the whole issue. Fat people have been getting a bad rep unfairly due to TV manipulation. I bet if I rewrote history so the TV promoted obesity (even though there are a few health risks); In the present day we would have "fat privilege" and people would purposely get fat and collect chins. Also the food industry would go through the roof.
It is called overweight for a reason, cause it's above the normal weight.
If your out of the majority in todays society you can't bend it around yourself.
You simply have to suck it up and work yourself down to aforementioned "privilages"
[QUOTE=Radley;37641389]It is called overweight for a reason, cause it's above the normal weight.
If your out of the majority in todays society you can't bend it around yourself.
You simply have to suck it up and work yourself down to aforementioned "privilages"[/QUOTE]
Normal weight is down to interpretation.
[QUOTE=Radley;37641389]It is called overweight for a reason, cause it's above the normal weight.
If your out of the majority in todays society you can't bend it around yourself.
You simply have to suck it up and work yourself down to aforementioned "privilages"[/QUOTE]
Overweight doesn't imply it's unhealthy. If I read correctly, it should be more healthy having a gut than being thin, cause then you have fat depots for when you get sick.
The only reason it's called overweight is because the modelling industry tries to keep control of human vanity.
[QUOTE=Radley;37641389]It is called overweight for a reason, cause it's above the normal weight.
If your out of the majority in todays society you can't bend it around yourself.
You simply have to suck it up and work yourself down to aforementioned "privilages"[/QUOTE]
You can be healthy and overweight.
Why should what is "normal" in society determine how well we treat other people, especially when that aspect that makes the person "abnormal" doesn't bring any harm?
As soon as I hear someone say privilege I can't take him seriously.
[QUOTE=Rex McCoolguy;37647770]As soon as I hear someone say privilege I can't take him seriously.[/QUOTE]
do you believe that privileges don't exist or...?
as for the thread topic, i think it exists as far as thin people having societal advantage compared to overweight people. whether that means anything is an entirely different matter. you can't control gender identity, sexuality, race, and you have the barest amount of any semblance of control over your wealth. nine times out of ten your weight is a choice. to compare it to something like racial privilege is pretty narrow-minded imo. i do believe the social stigma behind being overweight should be dispelled though, because people should be able to live the way they want.
[QUOTE=Secrios;37641863]Normal weight is down to interpretation.[/QUOTE]
You hear that people? BMI?
Total bullshit.
Yeah pal, sure.
[QUOTE=OHNOES;37648444]You hear that people? BMI?
Total bullshit.
Yeah pal, sure.[/QUOTE]
isn't that shit completely skewed if you have any muscle at all
[QUOTE=OHNOES;37648444]You hear that people? BMI?
Total bullshit.
Yeah pal, sure.[/QUOTE]BMI is a terrible index. Bodybuilders sometimes are labelled as extreme fatasses because of it.
Also yeah, I'd rather let the company decide.
[QUOTE=TheHydra;37648644]isn't that shit completely skewed if you have any muscle at all[/QUOTE]
Pretty much, my BMI is all sorts of wrong due to my training.
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