What We Can’t Neglect When We Talk About Our Thin Privilege
Recognizing personal advantage is crucial, but it’s not enough.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve described myself as someone with thin privilege or someone who exists in a thin-privileged body (easily several hundred).
From the first time I uttered those words to the most recent, the feeling I’ve gotten is equally unsettling — and I know precisely why.
Proclaiming my “thin privilege” underscores my immunity to the fatphobic society in which I reside. And as someone with a dark past battling bulimia and body dysmorphia, and who now spends her days helping others find body peace as a certified eating disorder recovery coach, I can’t help but take pause knowing my privilege comes at the cost of so many others.
Of course, recognizing my privileged body is important — I’d be ignorant to not do so. Unfortunately, that recognition doesn’t do much more than position me as a straight-sized woman who isn’t totally oblivious to the upper hand she holds in an anti-fat world.
To make a true difference, those of us aware of our thin privilege mustn’t start and end the commentary with a single statement of self-recognition. Here are a few additional steps we can (and should) take as friends and allies of those…
