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We are constantly redefining our own perspectives, and therefore tend to write a lot about our personal experiences. Many followers and contributors are living with anorexia, bulimia, body dysmorphic disorder, depression, and a variety of other body image disorders or mental illnesses, so please be respectful and remember that health applies differently to everyone. Any and all potentially triggering content will be prefaced with a trigger warning.
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This is bullshit.
I’m fat, but extremely skinny people are discriminated against a huge amount too.
Literally, you have to be perfect to not be discriminated against.
I’m not saying skinny or fat people have it worse, but clothes are made for people with curves, skinny skinny people do not have curves and clothes hang off them, which is not considered a good look.
I’m sorry but this whole post is stupid.clothes are made for people with curves? what fucking stores are you shopping at? because I can never find anything that fits me just right.
fuck off with your bullshit. you’re wrong about everything ever always.
I’ve been incredibly lucky to find clothes that look good on me and that make me feel confident but it took a lot of fucking work and time and tears in the middle of a dressing room as yet another dress or pair of pants fall into the “no” pile.
When I can walk into any store and find cute clothes in my size, let me know.
When skinny people don’t design fat people clothes, let me know.
When clothes made by those skinny people aren’t frumpy or shapeless or look like my grandma’s nightgowns, let me mother fucking know.
Well, when you take pieces of what I’m saying out of context, my words can certainly be misconstrued as blanket statements. The things you are quoting me on are part of a discussion and a way of working through thoughts.
When I said “Skinny bodies are not discriminated against”, I meant by society as a whole - not by other people in general. Of course all kinds of bodies are capable of facing discrimination and all feelings and experiences tied to those types of unjust treatment are valid, regardless of body size.
Fat bodies face unjust oppression and discrimination on a daily basis (fueled by the media, the government, in the workplace, at the doctor, etc). Fat shaming is a catalyst for this oppression.
Thin bodies experience privileges from society that fat bodies do not. Thin shaming exists and is never okay, just as any kind of body shaming is never okay, but it is not a catalyst for the same kind of hate and mistreatment found in fat discrimination. That is where the most significant difference lies. It has nothing to do with which group “has it worse” and everything to do with which group is honestly oppressed more than the other.
It is important to acknowledge these things - “Denying the impacts of oppression is in itself harmful to oppressed groups. Similar to racism, the individual experiences of white people can be acknowledged, while recognizing that people of color are the ones who are structurally oppressed.
None of this implies that it is okay to ignore an individual’s pain, but it does re-focus and re-center the discussion on the groups who experience the most harm (whether people of color or fat people).” (source)
Let me just be clear, once again: Body shaming in any context, against fat or thin bodies, is NEVER EVER okay. But I will continue to acknowledge that fat bodies face more oppression. Because that is a fact, something I and other fat bodies like me experience every single day, and it deserves to be fought.
oh my god are we really still having this discussion
I have been so hesitant to get involved in this but feel like it’s time to “collect my people,” as the saying goes
If you were actually paying attention to the discussion at all you would stop talking because you would realize how wrong you are
I cannot talk about the experiences a fat person goes through but let me tell you about what us thin people go through and what thin privilege is
Thin privilege is crying in a dressing room because a certain garment you want doesn’t fit, and not because nothing in the whole mall fits
Thin privilege is hearing mean comments about your body while you are out in public and having those comments be about your body and not about you as a person
Thin privilege is being able to fit into booths at restaurants, seats on planes, and rides at amusement parks without any trouble or having to pay extra for a larger seat
Thin privilege is walking into a job interview with the same or fewer qualifications than a fat person and being hired over them because you fit the image of the company more
Thin privilege is having a day where you feel really terrible and feel super ugly but can still walk by a magazine stand and see every magazine’s cover telling other people how to look like you
When thin people are shamed for our bodies it is because of just that—our bodies
When fat people are shamed for their bodies they are told they are bad people for being fat. The emphasis is on their failing as a person.
No one is saying that body shaming of any kind is good. It is all bad. But when thin shaming happens it occurs on an individual basis. Fat shaming occurs on a systematic level that permeates every aspect of our society.
They are both bad, but one is worse.
A thin person can buy clothing that they love and that looks good on them and wear it whenever they want. A fat person who is able to even find clothing they love and that fits them struggles because society has told them they have to be ugly and they should not take pride in their appearance because they are fat.
How do I know this if I’m not fat? Because unlike you I have paid attention to what has been said on this blog and others instead of whining about how hard I have it as a skinny girl
And if you really cared about redefining body image you would too
This is not a contest to see who has it harder when it comes to being body shamed, but even if it was, us skinny girls would still not win. So sit down, shut up, and listen, or get out because there is no system in place telling you that your body is bad.
Seriously, all of us skinny girls need to stop claiming we have it as bad, or worse than, our fat sisters. We don’t. We benefit from the system which is currently in place. We have privilege. We are not oppressed. We are not discriminated against. So shut up.
Well, when you take pieces of what I’m saying out of context, my words can certainly be misconstrued as blanket statements. The things you are quoting me on are part of a discussion and a way of working through thoughts.
When I said “Skinny bodies are not discriminated against”, I meant by society as a whole. Of course all kinds of bodies are capable of facing discrimination and all feelings and experiences tied to those types of unjust treatment are valid, regardless of body size.
But fat bodies face unjust oppression and discrimination on a daily basis (fueled by the media, the government, in the workplace, at the doctor, etc). Fat shaming is a catalyst for this oppression.
Thin bodies experience privileges from society that fat bodies do not. Thin shaming exists and is never okay, just as any kind of body shaming is never okay, but it is not a catalyst for the same kind of hate and mistreatment found in fat discrimination. That is where the most significant difference lies. It has nothing to do with which group “has it worse” and everything to do with which group is honestly oppressed more than the other.
It is important to acknowledge these things - “Denying the impacts of oppression is in itself harmful to oppressed groups. Similar to racism, the individual experiences of white people can be acknowledged, while recognizing that people of color are the ones who are structurally oppressed.
None of this implies that it is okay to ignore an individual’s pain, but it does re-focus and re-center the discussion on the groups who experience the most harm (whether people of color or fat people).” (source)
Let me just be clear, once again: Body shaming in any context, against fat or thin bodies, is NEVER EVER okay. But I will continue to acknowledge that fat bodies face more oppression. Because that is a fact, something I and other fat bodies like me experience every single day, and it deserves to be fought.
Asked accioarya
When getting into “this is or isn’t as bad as that” semantics, it’s a bit harder to determine where the line is. I think it may be better to say that they are simply not the same, and focus on those differences and why they exist. Fat bodies face unjust oppression and discrimination on a daily basis (from the media, the government, in the workplace, etc). Thin bodies experience privileges that fat bodies do not. That is where the most significant difference lies. It has nothing to do with which group “has it worse” and everything to do with which group is honestly oppressed more than the other. That is where the most significant difference lies.
Yes. Skinny shaming is equally as horrible to do as fat shaming. Fat shaming may be more prevalent, but just because one is more prevalent than the other doesn’t mean it’s okay to shame that body type over another.
Fat shaming is fueled by direct discrimination against fat bodies that is perpetuated by our fat phobic, ~obese~ hating, fat health shaming, entirely misinformed society.
Skinny shaming doesn’t have that kind of discrimination tied to it. The only time I’ve see skinny-shaming happening is among people who are trying to create fat-positive spaces and generally misunderstand the point that just because they are finding power in their own fat bodies does not mean all other bodies deserve hate.
Yes, body shaming in any context is fucking horrid. But it is not the same.
but dude getting shit on for being skinny doesn’t happen because of a hegemonic system of society telling you every day in every way possible that your body is wrong. it’s not the same thing.
when i got picked on in junior high for being too skinny that wasn’t oppression because of my body size actually being marginalized but internalized body hate from society telling those girls their bodies were wrong, so they took it out on me. what those girls did was mean as fuck but it wasn’t oppression. yeah it sucked getting bullied but there’s no fucking way i’d ever call that “skinny shaming”. what i’m trying to say is bad things can happen to you when you’re privilieged, yes, but you can’t be oppressed for your privilege.
ectogammat said it better than I ever could
there is no denying that EVERYONE experiences body shaming but us skinny folk are not held back in society because of it
it’s also my experience that skinny shaming is always delivered with a healthy dose of “it’s not fair that your body conforms so perfectly to society’s idea of beauty so I need to go out of my way to find something wrong with it”
and that is very different from somebody shaming and oppressing another person because they consider something to be wrong with that person’s body
Some more really great perspective on this issue. <3
Yes. Skinny shaming is equally as horrible to do as fat shaming. Fat shaming may be more prevalent, but just because one is more prevalent than the other doesn’t mean it’s okay to shame that body type over another.
Fat shaming is fueled by direct discrimination against fat bodies that is perpetuated by our fat phobic, ~obese~ hating, fat health shaming, entirely misinformed society.
Skinny shaming doesn’t have that kind of discrimination tied to it. The only time I’ve see skinny-shaming happening is among people who are trying to create fat-positive spaces and generally misunderstand the point that just because they are finding power in their own fat bodies does not mean all other bodies deserve hate.
Yes, body shaming in any context is fucking horrid. But it is not the same.
but dude getting shit on for being skinny doesn’t happen because of a hegemonic system of society telling you every day in every way possible that your body is wrong. it’s not the same thing.
when i got picked on in junior high for being too skinny that wasn’t oppression because of my body size actually being marginalized but internalized body hate from society telling those girls their bodies were wrong, so they took it out on me. what those girls did was mean as fuck but it wasn’t oppression. yeah it sucked getting bullied but there’s no fucking way i’d ever call that “skinny shaming”. what i’m trying to say is bad things can happen to you when you’re privilieged, yes, but you can’t be oppressed for your privilege.
Asked quirkykatie
I am sorry you were bothered, but you’re misinterpreting the point. This is not about one being more acceptable than the other. It’s about one (fat shaming) being a catalyst for oppression while the other (skinny shaming), as unfortunate and stupid and hateful and wrong as it is, is not. Skinny bodies are not discriminated against (in the same way).
I’ll just quote what I already wrote like five minutes ago:
“Fat shaming is fueled by direct discrimination against fat bodies that is perpetuated by our fat phobic, ~obese~ hating, fat health shaming, entirely misinformed society.
Skinny shaming doesn’t have that kind of discrimination tied to it. The only time I’ve see skinny-shaming happening is among people who are trying to create fat-positive spaces and generally misunderstand the point that just because they are finding power in their own fat bodies does not mean all other bodies deserve hate.
Yes, body shaming in any context is fucking horrid. But it is not the same.”
Also I should add that skinny shaming happens in a lot of other contexts, but the one outlined above is where I see it most often.
Yes. Skinny shaming is equally as horrible to do as fat shaming. Fat shaming may be more prevalent, but just because one is more prevalent than the other doesn’t mean it’s okay to shame that body type over another.
Fat shaming is fueled by direct discrimination against fat bodies that is perpetuated by our fat phobic, ~obese~ hating, fat health shaming, entirely misinformed society.
Skinny shaming doesn’t have that kind of discrimination tied to it. The only time I’ve see skinny-shaming happening is among people who are trying to create fat-positive spaces and generally misunderstand the point that just because they are finding power in their own fat bodies does not mean all other bodies deserve hate.
Yes, body shaming in any context is fucking horrid. But it is not the same.