There is only one type of discrimination that is considered “okay” in society today- prejudice towards obese people. While most Americans are overweight(eight out of ten Americans today are overweight), with 43 million people obese, the prejudice towards the obese members of our society is all too common. It’s far beyond fat jokes and nasty comments- discrimination towards obese people happens in jobs, in public, and in healthcare.
Public Obesity Discrimination
Very often, women find themselves the victim of obesity discrimination more than men. While a large man might not be yelled at, ridiculed, or “rated” on a scale as he walks down the street, it’s a commonly reported event for obese women. Sadly, it’s not at all unusual to hear a woman’s body and weight be evaluated by a group of men who they happen to walk past.
Another subtle form of obesity discrimination is public scolding. Although it’s never well-mannered to correct a stranger’s behavior in public (unless the stranger is behaving illegally, in which case it’s best to leave the correction to the police), it’s especially offensive to tell someone how many calories or in a food or whether or not the food is good for them. I once had a woman tell me, “You’d have such a pretty face if you could just lose a few pounds.” I considered saying, “And you’d have such a great personality if you’d only keep your mouth shut,” but self control won out. Darn it.
Obesity discrimination is not restricted to adults by any means – we see it happening as early as kindergarten age. Both boys and girls say that fat kids are considered outcasts by the group even at this very young age. A common insult to kids this age is to accuse someone of having a crush on “the fat kid”.
Discrimination in Healthcare
Obesity can put you at risk for other conditions such as diabetes, arthritis, etc. Certainly, doctors have an obligation to discuss risk factors for serious diseases with their patients. However, considering that 90 to 95% of dieters gain back all the weight they lose and more, how responsible is it for physicians to suggest patients go on a diet? To put it another way, how would you feel if your doctor gave you an expensive pill that you knew would cause nasty side effects and then mentioned the pill had only a 5% success rate? Additionally, most private insurance companies refuse to offer insurance to obese patients.
Discrimination in the Work Place
Obesity discrimination is probably worse on the job than it is anywhere else. The American Obesity Association cited the following, alarming, statistics: All other factors among candidates being equal, employers overwhelmingly described fat job applicants in negative terms such as “socially inept” or “emotionally impaired.” In another study, researchers found that weight played a greater part than any other factor?including age, sex, or race?in deciding whether or not a candidate would get a job. Finally, asked to rate a list of potential employees, employers rated fat candidates more negatively than they rated mental patients or ex-felons.
Obese people are the only group of people who are commonly discriminated against who do not have proper legal protection. Race, Sex, Age, and sometimes sexual orientation are all protected by laws which prevent discrimination based on these factors. Obese people do not have any protection of this sort and as a result they continue to be victims of a quiet and little known types of discrimination.
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