The lie of ‘Thin Privilege’

Before last month, I had never heard of the term ‘thin privilege’. I came across it in this article, linked to me by a friend, from Everyday Feminism. ‘Thin privilege’ is part of what the author, Shannon Ridgway calls ‘sizeism’, an attitude within society which sees only thin people as ‘normal’ and thus judges anybody else as abnormal and unacceptable. Sizeism, she writes, is one of the few commonly accepted forms of discrimination in our society.

But let’s go over what we mean by ‘privilege’ here.

Usually, when we talk about ‘privilege’ in the context of discrimination, we are talking about those who are irrevocably immune to discrimination on account of chance and circumstance. ‘Privilege’ is the top prize in the lottery of birth – if you are born white, male and straight into a rich, English-speaking family in a prosperous English-speaking nation then you really have a full house.

I’m not religious – But am I an atheist?

Whenever someone says that they do not believe in God, or are perhaps irreligious, it’s easy to jump to the conclusion that they might be an atheist. There are, in fact, at least three different labels which they may identify with.

For one thing, you can be a deist: one who believes that some sort of God or system of gods exists but does not conform to a religion. Christopher Hitchens often quipped that you cannot get from deism to religion without making a series of assumptions which are generous to yourself. Indeed, people usually become deists having previously been religious, rather than the other way around.

But let’s say you hath no God in thy life. Are you an agnostic, an atheist or even an ‘anti-theist’, a term coined by Hitchens before his death in December 2011? Let’s start with the latter term and leave the question of agnostic vs atheist to one side for a moment.

Why do we need History?

Isn’t History just about staring at old things?

History has always been a subject which suffers quite a bit of stick from school kids and university students who claim that it is ‘boring’ or, if they’re feeling particularly blasphemous, that it is ‘pointless’ and they would rather be outside playing football. Now, while I am not one to claim that reading history is always more fun than having a kick about, I cannot stand the second irksome accusation and, thus, feel compelled to defend my subject. So here goes.

Without wishing to be immodest about it, history is part of the fundamental fabric of human society as well as being an irreplaceable means of interpreting and investigating the world around us. It is part of what makes us human as opposed to just highly evolved, mechanically thinking primates. History is a product of humanity’s unquenchable hunger for discerning our origins, to understand why we are here, and how we – that is, you and I specifically – came to be.

Answering the Dreaded Career Question

“What did you say???”

“So… what’s your life plan?”

This is possibly the scariest question that I have ever been asked in my life, given that I am a third year humanities student reaching the end of my time in my comfortable education bubble.

My plan? For the rest of my life?

People want me to respond with a career plan. Carefully mapped out with a distinct goal. Some sort of reasonable aspiration with a structured path to achieving it. Perhaps a stable, well-financed and respected graduate course in accountancy or management consultancy? A training course with long hours and minimal holiday time at the expense of a social life. Or, maybe the person asking the question wants something more short-term but exciting? Travelling abroad to teach English, perhaps. Or maybe a jazzy internship in a far away country.

Why Britain loves the BBC – Hint: It’s not just about Sherlock

Enjoy watching hippos swimming in a circle? Maybe you’ll like the BBC.

While I was at home for the summer, I was reintroduced to the amazing concept of ‘television’. As a student who doesn’t have a living room in his flat and doesn’t have a TV, I often forget how great it is to just kill a few hours watching programmes live, without having to wait for a day before they appear online only to watch the hated word ‘buffering’ going around in circles on my screen.

You may be wondering – why do I always forget about television? After all, I can watch TV on my computer if I want to. I could subscribe to live TV like Sky Go if I wanted to, right?

Well, no.