Is being naturally skinny akin to hitting the genetic lottery? Thin privilege, according to Thigh Society, refers to "societal advantages and preferential treatment that individuals who are perceived as thin or within the societal norms of beauty and body size experience. The term is often used to highlight the ways in which people with smaller bodies may face fewer obstacles, biases and discrimination compared to those with larger bodies."
Being thin can make it easier to land a job, find love, or even get proper healthcare. But it's easy to forget that, while naturally very skinny people might have it better in certain ways, they face significant problems too.
And now they're speaking out about challenges they face, misperceptions about being thin, and other things they wish people understood about them.
What experts say about thinness and body image
Kenny Eliason/Unsplash
Models are often thin. Actors and actresses are thin. Musicians are thin. So being thin is often considered the ideal when it comes to pop culture media portrayal of attractiveness.
But almost all people, regardless of shape or size, struggle with body image and being self-conscious about some aspects of our appearance.
"While individuals in thinner bodies may be perceived as fitting societal beauty standards, they are not immune to body image struggles or criticism," says Danielle Tucci, LPC at Live Better therapy Solutions. "Thin individuals often face contradictory messages. On one hand, they may be told they are 'lucky' or should have no reason to struggle with their appearance because their body aligns with societal ideals. On the other hand, they may face negative comments, we’ve all heard the 'eat a cheeseburger' line, or assumptions that their thinness is the result of an eating disorder."
"Thin people also often have to field uncomfortable remarks such as, 'Well, you wouldn’t know because you can wear anything,' or 'It must be nice to be able to eat that,'" adds Rachel Goldberg, LMFT, PMH-C, and eating disorders specialist.
During different cultural touch points, women may actually face pressure to have a fuller figure, and being too skinny can be considered unattractive. Men aren't in the clear from these lose-lose expectations either.
"Men are not excluded from negative messaging, as being thin has been associated with weakness, with societal messages around being stronger or more muscular as more ideal. Thin people also face criticism in other ways, like being labeled 'skinny fat,' especially during times when fit bodies were considered the ideal or when fuller bodies started to be more admired. On top of that, they’re often judged or questioned about whether they have an eating disorder, which can make thin people feel uncomfortable about their clothing or food choices when others are around."
For more insight, a recent Reddit thread posed the question: "Very skinny people: what are some difficulties/challenges that come with being really skinny?"
Nearly 2,000 people jumped in to comment, and the common themes in their stories were eye-opening to say the least.
Family, friends, and even strangers feel that they're 'allowed' to comment on a skinny person's body and diet. Being too think for women is associated with anorexia, and for men, with weakness and wimpyness.
Here's what Redditors had to say:
"People will think you have an eating disorder, and aren't afraid to ask about it." - PhotojournalistNew6
"When you get ill and can't really eat for 3-4 days. You don't really have the fat reserves to deal with that kind of thing as easily. So after you beat the illness, you need to recover from the lack of food." - Svencredible
"I was a skinny kid. If I ate a light meal, people would make snide comments about how I need to eat more. If I ate a heavy meal, they’d say 'must be nice to eat junk and stay thin.'" - gouwbadgers
"Metabolism finally changes, and now you've got a lifetime of unhealthy eating habits to break." - jsabo
"When I was a scrawny little preteen, i had trouble sleeping on my side without a pillow between my knees because they were so bony. I also often curled up, and it felt like my ribcage would smash into my pelvis if I wasn't careful." - MeticulousPlonker
"I was very skinny as kid to young adult. I was 6'3" and 140ish pounds from the time i was 14 until 18. People feel very comfortable commenting on your weight. All. The. Fucking. Time." - SchlapHappy
"It’s amazing how people comment on how little I weigh, how skinny I am, how I never get fat, how I should eat more, how I must always be hungry, etc. They can fuck off." - tomatoesrfun
"So, you're constantly cold, you can never really build a lot of muscle mass because you can't ever eat enough to gain any weight, people always think you're sick or aren't eating enough, finding clothing that fits is insanely hard. You either look like you're wearing your dads suit that's two sizes to big for you or you shop in the kids section there is almost never any in-between." - reav11
"I was super skinny in school, all the way up to my 30s. As a guy, it's no fun being skinny as skinniness equates to "wimpiness". Dress clothes, suits etc had to be taken in. Girls not looking your way because you're a walking skeleton." - ClownfishSoup
"Being told by other women that I need to shut up and that I'm not allowed to complain about anything. A coworker once said to me, 'You're so skinny, I hate you!' Girl, I'm just over here existing. And being cold." - TheCervus
"Everybody, and I mean fucking everybody, has an opinion about your diet. It's fucking infuriating." - CollateralSandwich
Being naturally skinny is also hard in other, slightly funnier ways that we don't often consider.
Having a bonier physique can be a little uncomfortable at times, to say the least, and finding clothes that fit isn't as easy as you'd think.
"I'm freezing cold all the goddamn time." - GhostPepper87
"Retaining heat. I was born cold, I'll die cold. Fuck the cold," wrote one user.
"I can only own so many warm clothes, and wearing a parka indoors because my workplace won't stop air conditioning even in the winter gets really dumb. The thermostats don't switch to heat mode until mid-winter. In the fall it might be cold out but still on AC, and I'm running a space heater battling with the AC wasting energy to stay warm, even wearing a jacket." - Dragoness42
"Sitting on hard surfaces." - grandoro
"Pants - choose one:
- stays on your waist
- covers your ankles" - Flipin75
"Somehow much more difficult to shave concave armpits," joked another user.
How has body positive movement impacted naturally thin people?
Photo by Kisty Mea on Unsplash
Though there's a long way to go, we've made some really good strides as a culture in being accepting of bigger bodies. But it's hard not to wonder how people who are naturally extremely thin feel in a society that constantly tells them the body they were born with is unrealistic, anorexic, weak, and unhealthy.
''Body image issues among naturally thin individuals represent a nuanced and often overlooked aspect of the broader body positivity discourse. Historically, the body positivity movement emerged as a powerful response to societal beauty standards celebrating thin, often unrealistic body types. This evolution has created an interesting paradox for naturally thin individuals," says Kaycie Davis, RMHCI, a mental health therapist at Cannectd Wellness.
"Many naturally thin people report feeling simultaneously invisible and critiqued with unique challenges like being told they look 'unhealthy' or 'fragile.' Some are even being accused of eating disorders and feeling excluded from body-positive conversations."
Davis argues that body positivity should not be about replacing one narrow standard with another, and imagines a world where no one — fat or thin — is judged unfairly or subject to unwanted comments about their size.
"Every body has a right to respect, regardless of size, shape, or appearance."
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