not trying to start a fight here but just a point...

sofaking6

I have a feeling that a lot of people mean "you're too skinny" as a compliment. Nobody ever said, "You can never be too rich or too fat".

Iwishyouwell

From what I've noticed:

It's still far more socially preferable to be on the thinner side.
It's still far more socially offensive to comment on a person being fat.
It's still far more socially acceptable to comment on a person being thin.

"Thin shaming" does exist. But since thin/fit/lean/ripped/etc is still the accepted preference, many people feel perfectly comfortable taking jabs, or having mock "concern", for thinner people and just expect them to take it. Why? Because the "privileged" class is expected to be so happy to be the preference that their feelings can't really be hurt.

So if a fat woman comes up to a thin woman and says "you need to eat a cheeseburger" it's not thought of generally as insulting as the thin woman rebutting "you need to eat a whole lot less cheeseburgers".

Of course thin people's feelings can be hurt. But fat people, in general, come up so ashamed and embarrassed about our bodies that many of us really didn't imagine that a thin person could be hurt by having their thinness, often the object of our envy, called out.

A) being thin/fit is not a privilege, as it takes hard work and dedication for most. being told I need to be forcefed cheeseburger is as insensitive as me refuting that someone should eat less of them. Both are wrong. Both hurt and just because I may appear to have it all together, because I am priveleged to look the way I look doesn't mean I don't have feelings. I too can and have been embarrassed by things people lob at me for my appearance. Its a two-way street. We should all learn that its simply not ok on either side of the spectrum. Instead, we should encourage one another to be happy with ourselves and not try to make ourselves feel better by putting others down.

I'm not sure why you decided to quote me, but you're preaching to the choir.

I highlighted some of the reasons why "thin/fit shaming" happens, and why it's not widely thought as a problem, but I find the notion absurd.

saraj9999

I may be in the minority here, but I think the whole trend of labeling any personal comment anyone makes as 'shaming' has gone way too far. When did the world become a place where no one ever expected to have to deal with comments they find unwelcome? Just as on the playground, there will always be mean people - and I do not claim to understand how the circumstances of their lives have unfortunately molded them to be so. It just has to be dealt with. There is NEVER going to be a time where we manage to PC out of existence every single comment about race, size, socioeconomic status, etc. If that is what you are looking for, you are doomed to disappointment. Even if it could be so, I would not want to live in a world like that. Want to know why? It is 100% fake. Just because people don't say something does not mean they are not thinking it, judging you, and slotting you into a certain category in their mental framework. I would absolutely rather know what people honestly think of me than have them pretend to be nice because of ever-increasing societal pressure to keep silent lest they hurt my special snowflake feelings.

I think the whole PC movement in general is doing us a much bigger disservice than it is helping. Well intentioned people are nervous now about discussing meaningful topics because they may possibly offend someone, somewhere. If honest discussion can't comfortably happen, then the root of interpersonal problems will never be reached and worked out. We will all just play nice and only say 'acceptable' things and never really get to know each other. That creates a group-think atmosphere that I find WAY more disturbing than a few people calling me fat. I would rather have to work at salving my ego than resign myself to becoming one of the Borg.

This is obviously not pertinent to the FB memes, car shouters and food throwers - because, in general, the only cure for *kitten* disease is time.

cj778449

Same here ... I haven't noticed. However I have noticed if you are skinny, you are more accepted in the world ...

It is? Not that I'm aware of.

I have to agree with this. Being thin, generally speaking, is more socially acceptable. Being fit or thin is still the standard of beauty so it's not socially acceptable, on a large scale, to be overweight or fat.

AliceDark

I may be in the minority here, but I think the whole trend of labeling any personal comment anyone makes as 'shaming' has gone way too far. When did the world become a place where no one ever expected to have to deal with comments they find unwelcome? Just as on the playground, there will always be mean people - and I do not claim to understand how the circumstances of their lives have unfortunately molded them to be so. It just has to be dealt with. There is NEVER going to be a time where we manage to PC out of existence every single comment about race, size, socioeconomic status, etc. If that is what you are looking for, you are doomed to disappointment. Even if it could be so, I would not want to live in a world like that. Want to know why? It is 100% fake. Just because people don't say something does not mean they are not thinking it, judging you, and slotting you into a certain category in their mental framework. I would absolutely rather know what people honestly think of me than have them pretend to be nice because of ever-increasing societal pressure to keep silent lest they hurt my special snowflake feelings.

I think the whole PC movement in general is doing us a much bigger disservice than it is helping. Well intentioned people are nervous now about discussing meaningful topics because they may possibly offend someone, somewhere. If honest discussion can't comfortably happen, then the root of interpersonal problems will never be reached and worked out. We will all just play nice and only say 'acceptable' things and never really get to know each other. That creates a group-think atmosphere that I find WAY more disturbing than a few people calling me fat. I would rather have to work at salving my ego than resign myself to becoming one of the Borg.

This is obviously not pertinent to the FB memes, car shouters and food throwers - because, in general, the only cure for *kitten* disease is time.

You're not in the minority. Or maybe you are, and I am too. The stupid FB memes irritate me, but so what? I can handle being irritated. Someone was snarky to me on the internet?? Oh noes! That doesn't mean that it's socially unacceptable to be skinny, it means that some people are kind of tactless. My friends who are fat, overall, hear way more cr@p about their bodies than I ever have about mine. (Of course, most of my friends, regardless of their size, don't have to be criticized about their bodies at all, because thankfully most people don't suck. When it comes up, though, it's unfortunately the larger girls who hear it more often.)