Phrases like thin privilege seem weird to me. and I noticed that leftist sre quicker to assume are sctionarcy skinny.

I whould have thought it have been the opposite? outside the west arent the poorest people skinny? not saying that weight determines you as privileged or not.

  • Crowtee_Robot [he/him]
    ·
    10 months ago

    It's US Protestant brain in full overdrive. Fatness is seen as a sign of personal failing. People are fat because they don't make healthy choices. The reality is that being fat is the result of many factors that are biological, material, and socio-economic in nature that extend well beyond someone's personal locus of control. Genetics, food deserts, and pollution are some prime examples.

    Thinness on the other hand is seen as the result of hard work, dedication, and access to better health and wellness care. Look at any advertisement from the last hundred years and you'll see the inevitable message that thin equals beautiful and desirable. Entire industries are built around this premise. Fat people are judged by employers, doctors, police, and random schmucks on the street.

    There is also a very real racial dynamic. Black and brown neighborhoods are more likely to be cut off from access to healthier food and better healthcare. Earlier I mentioned food deserts and pollution. These factors disproportionately affect minorities.

    We're in this transitional space where we still have images of greedy fat catscapitalist-laugh but are also learning fatness is not some cut and dry indicator of a person's character or even class.

    The irony in the US is that MOST people are fat for some or all of these reasons.