Privilege can affect your health

I mentioned last week that I want to address how to deal with thin privilege. 

Privilege is when, for a reason that is out of your control, you have an advantage. Thin privilege refers to the privilege that people who are considered thin have. For example, I am white and middle class. In the world I live in, this provides me with advantages that I might not have if I was not white or middle class. Thin privilege specifically refers to people the advantages one gets just for being thin. 

In last week's post with Melissa Fabello, she lays out the definition of thin privilege pretty clearly. Click here to check it out. 

(Disclaimer: I benefit from thin privilege. As such, I know that I am not the expert on living with a body that does not have thin privilege. )

The real problem with thin privilege is that it elevates one body type while silently disadvantaging another type. If you feel discriminated against, it's hard to feel good in your body. It's hard to fit it in when you physically can't fit in. 

People feel size discrimination in a visceral way. 

It turns out that it's not great for your health if you struggle every time you try on a dress or sit in a chair. It's not great for your health if you can't find a date on the most popular dating app. It's not great for your health if someone looks down on you every time you order french fries.

This everyday experience of straight-up discrimination can be rough. In fact, research shows that disempowerment leads to poor health. 

I learned this recently on a new podcast. created by Caroline Dooner, creator of the Fuck it Diet. She interviewed Linda Bacon. Linda Bacon is the brilliant researcher behind Health at Every Size and Body Respect. Everybody loves Linda Bacon because she is the go-to source for all things Health at Every Size.

In Linda's conversation with Caroline, she emphasized the effect privilege has on health. 

She says social positioning in the world really has the most impact on health. She points out that people who feel disempowered often struggle with staying healthy.  

She remarks that even the CDC says that behavior plays less than a 1/4 of a role in health outcome. The biggest contributors are race, sex and money. The more resources and support you have in the world, the easier it is to live a healthy life. 

She mentions a study about diabetes. In the study, they gave people with diabetes and were lower income housing vouchers. This alone reduced diabetic symptoms. This means that changing a person's social environment has an enormous impact on that person's health. 

People talk about the war on obesity as if it's so simple. They make it sound like it's just calories in and calories out. It's not. 

The CDC says that behavior only affects health outcomes less than 1/4 of the time. This means that the best way to fight thin privilege is to not treat people who don't have it like they don't deserve it. 

Instead of jumping on another diet, the best thing to do is create a culture where people have more resources and support.

And you can do your part by joining this list or sharing it with your friends! 

Check Yo' Privilege

Sometimes,  to change the way we feel about our bodies, we have to understand WHY we feel the way we do about our bodies. 

Last week, I talked about how smart and successful women struggle with their body image. This struggle is not just a result of female hysteria or any nonsense like that. There are REAL ways in which being thin is to your advantage in this world. 

Another word for advantage is: privilege. 

I'm going to let Melissa Fabello explain what thin privilege is. 

Next week, I'll talk about what to do about it. 

Weight is for real

I'm hoping you listened to the This American Life episode that I posted last week. 

If not, spoilers ahead. 

In it, Ira Glass, the podcast host, discusses what it means to be fat. He talks with fat activist, Lindy West. Elna Baker tells her story of actively working to stay thin. Then, he speaks with famous feminist and activist, Roxane Gay. Roxane Gay discusses her struggle with accepting her larger body. 

The most striking story to me was Elna's story. She ends the story by admitting that she misses the person she used to be when she was fat. She felt this person was optimistic and good. She believed the world would be good.  Elna knows she is not necessarily a better or healthier person at a lower weight. And yet, because she knows that her life has been unjustly easier in a smaller body, she continues to pursue it. 

Elna's story breaks your heart. 

She highlights her plastic surgery to get rid of the loose skin from her rapid weight loss. After the surgery, one cut ripped open up her leg and she was not mobile enough to stop the bleeding. She mentions at the end that she still takes diet pills that prevent her from sleeping. She notes her new husband wouldn't have noticed her in her old body. 

Her story resonates because it's not just some insane thing she's decided to do. She rationalizes everything because she saw the world both ways. She experienced the world as the same person before and the only variable she changed was her weight. It changed the course of her life. 

I am struck by this story because I think it puts to words the real reasons why we all want to lose weight. 

The stakes are so high because it affects us. It affects our career. It affects our finances. It affects our romantic prospects.  

It's why we are willing to sacrifice so much for this goal. We give up money, time, family, friends, or happiness. 

 We fear being fat because there are REAL consequences for being a different size. 

I'm a big fan of Roxane Gay. So, I love Ira Glass for bringing her on to talk about living in a fat body. I loved her honesty in her conversation with Ira Glass. She joked that it's a lot easier for women who are "Lane Bryant fat" to accept their body. Lane Bryant has clothes that go up to a women's size 32. 

Roxane Gay admits that she wants to accept her body. She says she tries really hard to accept her body but she can't. 

Again, this was striking to me because this woman is brave, amazing, smart and funny. Even with all her accolades, she still struggles with all the bullshit of being a larger woman. 

This successful and smart person STRUGGLES. 

It's because we don't make clothes or furniture for her size. The world was built for people who are smaller. 

I think this is true of the world for other people too. Without the "right" skin color, genitalia, or sexual preference, people STRUGGLE a lot. 

STILL, I believe all people have a right to human dignity. I believe we shouldn't have to STRUGGLE just because we were born looking a certain way. 

It shouldn't matter if people are smart, healthy, wealthy, ugly, pretty, fat, skinny, short, tall, black, white, gay, straight, or whatever. 

It's why I'm passionate about this work. It's FUCKED up that our answer to people who just want to exist in the world is, "Change who you are. Or, at the very least, TRY to change who you are and we will finally accept you."

I'm not okay with that. I don't think it's healthier for people either.

We all deserve love, success, and equal opportunities. We're all human after all. 

Listen to this!

Hope your summer is going really well!

It seems that Ira Glass is gettin' hip to the Health at Every Size movement. 

It's an AWESOME episode of This American Life. 

Listen to it on the blog!