*Disclaimer: as a “thin” girl, this article is not to erase anyone’s experiences, only to shine light on a subject that is often ignored.
What do Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny, and skinny-shaming have in common? None of them are actually real.
Now, before you get upset, hear me out. As a concept, “skinny shaming” is definitely disgusting, uncalled for, and overall just wrong; however, in the same way that white people dominate the system over people of color, and straight people dominate the system over LGBTQ+ folk, thin people do hold privilege over people who are not. There is a very carefully constructed system in which fat people are oppressed, whether it includes them being denied entry to places and jobs, or simply being negatively portrayed as morbidly unhealthy, lazy, and unattractive. The fact that the word “fat” is often seen as an insult and “skinny” is not should be enough of an explanation for the difference in treatment.
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Let’s not ignore the facts, the beauty industry has been profiting since the beginning of time off of women’s insecurities. Shockingly, most women actually are not built like Naomi Campbell, and the industry combined with media platforms and improper representation have made sure to let everyone know that being thin is what’s in and always will be. This has also led to the false and widely accepted notion that skinny is synonymous to being healthy. Not only does that contribute to the erasure of eating disorder victims (who come in all different sizes, by the way), but also assigns the whole “unhealthy” attribute to anyone who is not a size 4.
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Let’s break down the differences of fat and skinny shaming a little further. When you tell a fat person that they need to go to the gym, eat less, etc., you are assuming that you know all about their line of genetics, diet, and daily routine. You are implying that they have no willpower, are lazy, and spend their free time eating. When you tell a skinny person “you need to eat a burger,” or something along the lines of that, you are at least implying that they deserve to eat. Let that sit for a moment.
Here is the bottom line: Yes, skinny people can be ridiculed for their size, which is absolutely wrong, but in no way does it really have the same effect as ridiculing somebody that is fat. Skinny people are never kicked out or denied opportunities for something solely because of their weight, are never represented negatively in media, have no issue shopping for clothes because every store caters to their body type, are not automatically labeled unattractive, and simply are never reduced to just what their body looks like. We cannot sit here and pretend that this system does not exist.
Photo courtesy of Bust Magazine