[Days of Broken Arrows]

On the sanctimonious Role/Reboot Web site ("Making Sense of Men and Women" --gag) there is an article called "Let's Talk About Thin Privilege."

Unfortunately, it's not takedown or parody of the concept. It's an overlong, morally preening explanation about why "thin privilege" exists. It's hard to pull out a quote to show how ridiculous the article is because the piece is so unfocused. But here is a sample:

"A Man of Color (SIC) can experience racism and still benefit from his male privilege. An able-bodied woman can experience sexism and still benefit from her able-bodied privilege. A poor white farmer can experience classism and still benefit from his white privilege.

A person with an eating disorder can experience ableism and still benefit from their thin privilege.

Being marginalized in one area doesn’t negate your privilege in another."

I left a comment saying the writer is the modern day equivalent of the Medieval-era people who went around whipping themselves to atone for their sins. But I was thinking this article --- in fact, this whole site --- is long overdue for a ROK invasion, esp. since you can comment using Disqus.

And the writer? Here is her bio:

Melissa A. Fabello, Editor of Everyday Feminism, is a domestic violence prevention and sexuality educator, eating disorder and body image activist, and media literacy vlogger based out of Philadelphia. She enjoys rainy days, Jurassic Park, and the occasional Taylor Swift song and can be found on YouTube and Tumblr.

[Hotwheels]

Thin privilege is very real.

Hotwheels has zero time for fat fucks and no amount of shaming nor convincing will change his mind.

Don't like it? Go on a diet and find a treadmill.

[The Beast1]

There is very much an athletic and thin bias. People (myself included) don't want to work or be led by someone who is fat and has an attitude. Their body language speaks out about their inner health and it sucks.

On a side note, when women complain that they've been given the shorter end of the stick (they get uglier as they age, men get more distinguished). I remind them of the fact that society has been handing them things for free since puberty. The world is yours between 11- 33. Use those days to find the best husband you can. Once they're over, they're over.

I didn't start getting respect until 22. Most girls wouldn't take me seriously. Now the game is turning. I don't feel bad for women because of this. They get their cake first, but I eventually get mine later and it lasts longer.

[Days of Broken Arrows]

(11-23-2013 10:51 AM)frenchie Wrote:  

There is very much an athletic and thin bias. People (myself included) don't want to work or be led by someone who is fat and has an attitude. Their body language speaks out about their inner health and it sucks.

On a side note, when women complain that they've been given the shorter end of the stick (they get uglier as they age, men get more distinguished). I remind them of the fact that society has been handing them things for free since puberty. The world is yours between 11- 33. Use those days to find the best husband you can. Once they're over, they're over.

I didn't start getting respect until 22. Most girls wouldn't take me seriously. Now the game is turning. I don't feel bad for women because of this. They get their cake first, but I eventually get mine later and it lasts longer.

Yes, but the idea that thin people have to "check their privilege" around fatties is repulsive. Thin people should not have to think about this at all. It's the fat people she should be talking to -- about losing weight. I see the problem with this as the admonishing of thin people to begin with.

[Suits]

The use of the word "privilege" is inappropriate. Being white does not come with privilege. There are plenty of white people who barely have the basic requirements of survival. Being white doesn't even guarantee you survival, because even white people have died untimely deaths due to lack of ability to afford proper nutrition, medical care, etc.

If you are not white, you might be disadvantaged due to the effects of racism. This does not mean that simply being white gives you an advantage. Some white people are privileged (those born rich, etc), but not all white people have privilege, since some are barely clinging to basic survival. Therefore, there is no such thing as white privilege.

As an example, a black man might be stopped by police just for walking down the road carrying a TV. A white man in the same circumstances might not be stopped. Does this mean that the white man is privileged? No, it just means that the black man is disadvantaged. The black man might have a harder time succeeding, but this does not mean that the white man therefore has an easier time succeeding.

You could make the argument that a white man has a relative gain because the black man is kept down. But this only means something if the relative gain is significant enough to lift the white man up to some sort of privileged status. Since the majority of white people in America live paycheck to paycheck anyway (correct me if I'm wrong), this isn't privilege. It's just the ability to survive. That isn't a privilege.

[bacon]

[kbell]

Why does nobody talk about fat privilege? The privilege to insult thin people by calling them anorexics and skin and bones without reprimand. That everything must bend to fit your own gravitational pull to avoid hurting your feewlings.