William-m

thisisthinprivilege:

I thought you might be interested in an article I wrote about how people treat me differently now that I am a fat man vs. when I was perceived to be a fat woman:

Male Privilege and Transitioning From a Fat Woman to a Fat Man

I am a fat man. Once, I was perceived to be a fat woman. My transition has taught me a lot of things that I might not have otherwise engaged with if I had lived my life as a cis person. Transitioning really highlights male privilege and how society can treat you completely differently based on what gender it perceives a person to be. As soon as I started ‘passing’, I found I was treated with a respect that wasn’t often given to me as a woman. My personal space and boundaries were no longer violated, I was no longer talked down to, and people suddenly respected my right to privacy and my right to be left alone. I was no longer treated as if I simply existed for men’s pleasure.

Similarly, my body was no longer overtly criticised. Fat women are disproportionately targeted in Western society. They are subjected to public humiliation and discrimination every day, simply because of their bodies. They are stared at in the streets, they are under-represented in media (and then, only as the butt of a joke), and they are targeted with verbal and physical violence.

Fat men are also at the mercy of some stereotypes – laziness being the most common. However, I can now exist as a fat man largely without comment. I can shop for clothes in most stores rather than being turned away at the door and told that they don’t stock my size. Clothing companies cater to my needs, considering my body type ‘average’ (even if I am on the short side). Most clothing stores that cater to men stock from small to XXL and many beyond that. Meanwhile, despite the fact that the average dress size of a woman in the US is a size 14, many clothing outlets aimed at women will not stock above a size 12. Some stores such as Abercrombie do not stock above a women’s size 10 whilst simultaneously stocking XL and XXL in men’s sizes.

This imbalance, and the effect it has had on my life and the way that people perceive me, is one of the clearest and most startling examples of male privilege and sexism that I have encountered. It all comes down to the patriarchal view that women are somehow obligated to make themselves attractive to men. That men are entitled to gaze upon and comment upon women’s bodies.

When I was perceived to be a fat woman, there was a real sense of not just disgust, but a poisonous, malignant contempt. People (most commonly men) commented on my appearance like I somehow owed it to them to be, in their view, attractive. Like I was breaking some kind of cardinal rule because I was happy with my body without their approval. Now, in complete contrast, I am barely given a second glance.

Occasionally, I still face discrimination as a fat man, but it’s not as vehement, societally sanctioned nor pervasive as it once was. My treatment has changed simply because of the way that society perceives my gender. This is male privilege in action. We live in a society that has built a whole industry on bullying women for not being what is considered ‘attractive enough’ to men. Think about that the next time you want to stare at a fat woman on the bus.

Michael Young

http://www.therainbowhub.com/home/male-privilege-and-transitioning-from-a-fat-woman-to-a-fat-man/

Hi   I was wondering if you had any breast reduction or do you bind your breasts?

Also could it be that you are not qualified to realistically report the experiences of a Fat Man?

(via aboutmaleprivilege)

bilt2tumble:

nudiemuse:

thisisthinprivilege:

Thin privilege is captioning this photo with ”Boys don’t understand the terrible view girls have of themselves.” I’ve seen this on my dash numerous times with the caption:

Why is this a terrible view? Why is there something wrong with not being skinny?

There isn’t, but society thinks so.

Mod note: The caption very obviously intersects with male privilege, since this rather mundane view of a “girl” is “terrible,” but the same mundane view on a boy is by-default okay. Note also that I happen to find this drawing very aesthetically pleasing. -ATL

This looks remarkably like my view.

I also find it aesthetically pleasing. As do people who’ve also seen it.

Usually don’t comment to heavily on this aspect of fat acceptance. Mainly because there aren’t a whole lot of male ID’ing people involved in F/A. Hasn’t been for years and I really wish I knew how to change that but… In any case, something about this just struck a nerve. Read the comments and the phrases ‘Nice tits, dude!’, and ‘Couldn’t tie his own shoes.’, ‘Never seen his feet’ or ‘Probably hasn’t seen his dick in YEARS’ immediately sprang to mind.

No actually, this particular point of view on a fat boy ISN’T necessarily ok as far as society is concerned. And that disapproval can be just as devastating when you factor in the patriarchal insistence that one either ‘man-up’ or ‘take it like a bitch’ (Yes, I’m aware of how fucked using terms associated with women as insult, is. Idiotic as the framing may be, the intended insult remains) and the ego destruction multiplies.

Not interested in an Oppression Olympics showdown here and DEFINITELY not pushing an MRA agenda (actually pretty pissed that the very existence of those asshats & their ludicrous theories might necessitate disclaimers). However the lack of male voices in F/A, for whatever reason, require those that DO hang on to speak up every now and again. Intersectionality demands, it I think.

I think that the best way to make fat males feel welcome in Fat Acceptance is to stop completely writing-off their Fat Experiences like some of the participants of this thread have done.

I know a lot of Fat Men who do not look down when they are brushing their teeth and doing other stuff at the bathroom sink.

That is nothing, you should see their bathtub :)

(via teaplusbeardspluscake)

sleepydumpling:

think-progress:

The women’s magazine we really need vs. the one we get. 

I’d buy the one on the left in a shot.

You know that Chelsea says she may one day run for political office!! Who knows both she and Hillary may become president one day.

fuckyeahbodypositivity:

fatriarchy:

fuckyeahbodypositivity:

fatriarchy:

But like people really believe this though…..

Yup shocker. People really believe this thing that has been spelled out in countless books in the academic subjects of women’s studies and psychology.

Yes because only men body shame. Because most men praise underweight supermodels and find Kim Kardashian disgusting. Because men find it really hot when you order a salad and only eat half. I read it in my gender studies book so it must be true!

Clearly you don’t understand what patriarchy means (or value feminism at all, since you obvs don’t consider gender studies a valid realm of academia) and I don’t expect you to listen to a thing I say but:

-Not only men body shame. The patriarchy is not equivalent to men (though it was created by men and benefits men the most).

-Again, the patriarchy is different from individual men.

-Lots of men are attracted to thin supermodels.

-Kim Kardashian (when she’s not pregnant) is thin. She has “curves,” but only the curves that are included in our beauty norm: butts and breasts. Incidentally, she has become fat during her pregnancy and has been body shamed.

-Women are told it’s attractive not to eat too much, to diet, to limit calories, etc. Pick up a cosmo. You’ll see I’m right.

-This has to do with a lot more than attraction or what men find “hot.” Hunger is considered a virtue for women in our society. We are supposed to deny ourselves pleasure, including in the form of food. That denial is a big part of what the patriarchy is encouraging in women, not just thinness. Because patriarchal thinking does not want women asserting themselves or taking things from men.

-Read a fucking book. Doesn’t even have to be gender studies since you find that so abhorrent. Read a psych book about why so many women suffer from anorexia. Part of what you’ll find is that sexism encourages women to deny themselves the ability to speak about their problems and deny themselves food. That makes starving one’s self an ideal coping mechanism for the feelings one isn’t supposed to express as a woman. (Just wrote a 30 page psych paper on this last semester, found tons of stuff that had already been written on the topic which I could cite, and my male professor loved it and thought it was an important topic. But I guess that’s just a fluke and my thoughts on this are still mockable?)

Too often I have seen the patriarchy used as a general stereotype for all  men. In Fat Acceptance it has not been often that I am seen as a individual, rather just one of the beneficiaries of male privilege. My life experiences really did not matter.