On body snarking.

There is so much pressure around to look the way the media tells us we should look. Unfortunately this is now ever growing for men too. When we talk about equality I don't think this is quite what we had in mind. We wanted it to get better for women not worse for men.

The media portrays a thin, white, blonde binary cis woman as the ideal women should all aspire for. If you happen to resemble this closely by any which means you may consider it a privilege. It is a privilege bestowed upon you by the cis het white men running the show but it is still a privilege of sorts. There are different kinds of beauty privileges and body privileges that can give you a leg up in various parts of your life. Or fetishize you in others. If you happen to be an alternative chic but still fulfill certain beauty credentials you may experience the phenomenon affectionately dubbed "fuck a freak".

Obviously people commenting on skinny bodies isn't cool. Being constantly told you're too thin, should put on weight etc. must be a horrible thing to hear. And any pressure to stay a certain way is awful. However whilst you are thin this affords you certain opportunities, your body is quite simply lauded. It may not be a positive thing but looking a certain way particularly as a white woman will give you a foot up in life. Until you age and it all goes tits up, or down if you'd rather.

The thing about privilege is, you won't necessarily see that you have it. But as a woman you will be measured and you will be found wanting.

On a round up of links #17

More in ACAB

Weird cosmo sex tips are funny!

Inverted Umbrella

Stop trying to minstrel Mandela

Beautiful!

About being a black woman in Berlin

Ballerina faces discrimination at Bolshoi

Stavvers on biphobia

Buzzfeed does a good!

Maury show feminists

Jude on feminists in high heels

Surprise surprise =( =( =(

I see it too!

About how the feminists movement fails black women

On the SoHo raids

READ ME!!!

Open letter to Eve Ensler

More on what the SoHo raids were really about.

Gillian Schutte speaks of her decision to leave One Billion Rising

On a round up of links #16

This is a mammoth one sorry!!!

Transgriot 238 names

Some clever life hacks!

750 Job losses

Warpaint by Coco Lane

It's racist to think all Asian people look the same.

BUN BUN!!!!

Barn cat visits horse!

Straight pride are being sued!

This was such an amazing & inspiring story.

Meet the Somalis

Stop saying "That's so gay" to mean crap.

The radical politics of selfies

Long way to go for intersex rights

Why a Transgender Woman got fined after presenting a ticket.

Why November 25th is important.

Don't give money to the Salvation Army

Dumbing down language is offensive & patronising.

On labelling women as crazy

Beautiful!

(TW abuse) The powerful men who rape and lie about it.

Genusfolket

How to rebrand feminism and get women fired

Marissa Alexander out of jail

Very funny texts from my cat

An update on the Italian woman forced to give birth

White privilege trumps the truth apparently.

Swedish archbishop who supports multi faith system gets abused.

Let's end on an A+ funny yet poignant.