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Skinny Shaming Is Not The Same As Fat-Shaming. At All
If you ask me…the concept of skinny shaming is not real. The only reason people want to make it real is to invalidate the body hierarchy & to continue to center thinness. Do people not understand the systematic violence that fat people face due to fatphobia? Maybe they do. Sometimes I think that people don’t care. Some people are intersectional when it benefits them and that it.
The skinny shaming collective (as I like to call them) wants to be deep so bad, but they don’t mind taking up space as the poster children for power, beauty, success, love, parenthood, health, luxury, self-esteem, and athleticism.
This is one of the reasons why I divested from body positivity.
Unlike the body positivity movement, the fat liberation movement is not about self-love. It is about the ability to have our basic needs met and not be hindered by anti-fat politics.
Body positivity implies that self-love is the answer and not the systematic issues that plague fat people every day. It results in violence or even death because fat people are not seen as human.
“Skinny Shaming” Is Another Way People Center Thinness and Villianize Fat People.
Thin people have the most representation in the world as well as the most size privilege but the argument is that skinny shaming is so detrimental because the “people who are trying to lose weight feel envy” and body positivity has made “fat” the standard.
Whew, the lies!
If you ask straight size people if they want to be fat, the answer would be no.
In fact, studies show that people would rather lose a limb than be fat. I don’t have to say “at least you aren’t fat” because the reality is, most thin people are glad they aren’t fat because they don’t want to be treated like fat people.
The impact of discrimination is pervasive and occurs in all arenas of everyday life. Discrimination’s adverse effect on maintenance of healthy weight and well-being is virtually as pernicious as its effects on employment and income.
William A. Darity Jr., Samuel DuBois Cook Professor of Public Policy, African and African American Studies
It seems like thin people are using fat peoples’ movement to end systematic body oppression to discuss how someone’s feelings may or may not get hurt from body shaming.
This is a classic case of erasure.
It is, however, my belief that people shouldn’t body shame anyone and everyone needs to mind their own bodies. Body shaming for all bodies could result in eating disorders, mood changes, suicide, isolation, depression, and more. It’s something that we all need to practice.
However, it would be dishonest to compare the two.
Yes, your feelings can get hurt as a thin person when someone makes a comment about your body. Unfortunately, thin people will still have access to public resources that fat people will never have.
Whenever fat people discuss systematic fatphobia, they are told to lose weight and all will be well. Do people realize when they tell us this that they are saying until you lose weight, you will not have access to quality healthcare, housing, jobs?
Where are the thin body positive advocates when fat people are fighting for the right to exist and have access to public goods and services? That silence itself is a privilege.
Whenever I see a post with words like “skinny shaming is just as bad as fat-shaming”, a fat shamer is usually the one who made the quote. Whenever skinny shaming goes viral on the internet, I am reminded of the lessons that Monique taught me as a young child, “Skinny Bitches are Evil”.
And those who are trying to normalize skinny shaming as a term are doing the work of the enemy.
About the Author
Hi,
so first of all, I agree. All kinds of body shaming are bad and no one should be judged by their weight.
However, skinny shaming is the same as fat shaming. We’re not talking about “being a little skinny/normal weight”, no, we’re talking about being very underweight. Maybe it used to be the beauty standard but not anymore. Especially on social media skinny people get so many hate comments, just like fat people. As I said, both is equally bad and can cause eating disorders. When a skinny person goes to get a burger at a restaurant, people are staring too. So please don’t say “thin people are trying to steal the spotlight”, because that’s definitely not true and skinny shaming is real.
While comparing skinny shaming with fat shaming is not at all comparable, it is a fallacy to say skinny shaming does not exist. What you are doing by this article is ignoring the fact that some women have serious health issues where they can’t gain weight no matter how they try. Case in point: I had to see over a dozen doctors before I was finally taken seriously that I didn’t feel well. Turned out I have a battery of chronic conditions and I am not able to digest certain foods, so I was literally starving to death even though I was trying to eat. Why was I ignored? Because I was of a “normal” weight (according to their standards) and didn’t look ill. There are also people struggling with serious eating disorders.
So yes, while the issues are different, you can’t assume that skinny people “don’t mind taking up space as the poster children for power, beauty, success, love, parenthood, health, luxury, self-esteem, and athleticism”. That assumption is absurd and fallacious. You are making WAY too many assumptions about people’s health and well-being based on how they appear.
FACT: No one needs to have their body shape commented on by anyone else no matter if they’re small, large, or somewhere in between. Full stop.