A Pediatrician Just Nailed the Nuances and Double Standards of Body Shaming + Skinny Shaming

As a blanket statement, I think we should all just stop commenting on other people's bodies. As much as this statement has been circulating for a while, though, people don't seem to have grasped the problematic nature of commenting on someone's size, and body-shaming is still a very real thing. But, here's an important question: Is fat-shaming the same as skinny-shaming? 

My take? It's not.

But two things can be true: Skinny-shaming can be different than fat-shaming, and they can both still be wrong. I’ll be fully honest here: I, and a lot of other women, though certainly not all of them take "you lookskinny" as a compliment. I'm not proud of that, but it is what it is. "You look so fat", on the other hand? It’s rarely received as (or meant to be) a complement. 

Does that mean it's okay to tell a smaller person to "eat a burger" or that they're "so skinny it's gross"? Of course not. But the reality is, thin privilege exists. 

It's a nuanced issue that's really hard to put into words, and that's why, when I came across a video from Dr. Mona Amin (@pedsdoctalk), I found myself saying "this is the take!".

"Body-shaming isn't just about what is said, it's about reducing a person's worth to their size, and it happens to all body types," says Dr. Mona. "Body image struggles don't just exist in larger bodies."

"But here's where it gets nuanced: The way society treats different body types is not the same. A thin person may experience body-shaming, but they still exist in a world that favors their size.”

The bottom line? Thinness comes with many forms of privilege, but we can't know the full story just because someone exists in a small body. Skinny-shaming is still body-shaming. And while this is a nuanced issue, the takeaway is pretty simple: We should not be commenting on anyone’s body.

Ask Clara: What is skinny shaming?