As I start to write this, I'm not planning on making fat jokes, so if one creeps in, forgive me. I used to be overweight as a kid and a teenager, but I took control of my lifestyle when I was 18 and lost around 70 pounds over the course of a few years. I did it the old-fashioned way: by changing my diet, and by exercising. I don't have a lot of sympathy for fat people who act like they can't help being fat.
So then, "Overweight workers say they're often overlooked".
''This is one of the only groups where an employer could say, 'We don't want fat people,' and get away with it,'' said Massachusetts Representative Byron Rushing. ''Fat people are still targets. Professional comedians can still make fun of them, and fat jokes are still being passed around.'' ...Protests by groups like the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance as well as a flurry of recent lawsuits have led to greater awareness of the problems the overweight face in the workplace. Some of the lawsuits seek to create new legal ground by arguing that obesity ought to be seen as an impairment under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
For the vast majority of fat people, their "disability" is not primarily physical: it's mental. The fat that hinders their activity is merely a symptom of their lack of self-discipline.
Yes, some people are biologically more inclined toward being fat than others -- so what? Some people are more likely to get addicted to alcohol than others, but when someone does become an alcoholic we still know it's their fault. Same with being fat. If your arm gets blown off by a terrorist, you're disabled. If you simply can't muster up the willpower to resist stuffing your face with creamy lard, you're just addicted to food. Also, comedians will make fun of you, because they're insensitive.
Unlike racial discrimination -- and even religious discrimination -- discrimination based on being fat is entirely within your control. It would be absurd to tell a black guy to lighten his skin (and it wouldn't gain him acceptance even if he did, *cough*Michael Jackson*cough*). But if people make fun of you for being fat, or for not knowing how to read, or for terrible body odor, or for having no sense of style... there's something you can do! Lose weight, get hooked on phonics, use deodorant, watch "Queer Eye".
Sixty-one percent of Americans are overweight, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Of those, the CDC says 35 percent are moderately overweight and 26 percent are obese. The findings, from a National Health and Nutrition Examination survey, sounded an alarm when they were released in 2000, but the hubbub did little to change poor perceptions of overweight people or spur the creation of new laws.
Maybe the problem here is that so many Americans are fat. Don't you all realize that the Europeans are making fun of you? There are only two options: bomb Europe, or lose some weight. I'm impartial.
Look, America, I understand that food is yummy. Sometimes I want to eat a whole truckload of cheesecake, and it's really hard to resist. But guess what? I don't eat it. Sometimes I feel like sitting around on the couch all day, eating Fritos and watching the Simpsons. But guess what? I marshal my mental faculties, throw off the lethargy that so easily besets me, and I go out for a walk, or a run, or I lift some big metal plates up over my head. It's takes about 30 minutes. Then I go back and lie on the couch, watch Simpsons, and eat fruit or something.
While there is little data available detailing the extent of size bias, Deidra Everett, secretary of the New England Chapter of the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance, believes there have been a few changes in society's view of the overweight. ''Society has changed its image a little when it comes to smaller large people [huh? maybe "small or large"],'' Everett said. ''It is more accepted now that a woman can be a size 12 through 18 and still be fit. Also, in the media, the whole extreme leanness [trend] is not as popular as it was six or seven years ago. So, the media is trying to show that curves can be OK.''
No one has a problem with luscious curves, the problem is when your whole body is just one single curve. This is commonly called a "sphere", and it doesn't count as an affirmative answer for when people ask you whether or not you're "in shape".
At most workplaces, she said, little has changed. Everett, who, at 36, weighs 460 pounds and is 5 feet 10 inches, knows firsthand. She said prospective employers have pursued her aggressively over the phone, and then suddenly changed their minds after meeting her. Stunned by her appearance, the recruiter will scan her body, pausing at the fattest part, and then look away.''Eventually, they'll get back to your face and give you this nervous smile that says, 'Oh, dear!' They don't know where to look. They become flustered and there is not a lot of eye contact,'' she said. ''I can't understand how people can be so judgmental without knowing who I am. It makes you feel terrible.''
Yes, people are mean. Heck, I've been mean in this very essay. I'm an anti-fattite, I guess. Until the Museum of Tolerance adds that new fat wing they've been planning, I recommend that if you find yourself in situations where people can't even look at you without becoming flustered and uncomfortable, you're probably too fat.
You should consider that maybe the problem isn't the genetic predisposition of humans to use peer pressure to discourage harmful behavior -- maybe the problem is you. Give in to the peer pressure. The negative, "terrible", feelings you're experiencing may be for your own good.
I was never as fat as Deidra Everett, but I suffered social consequences when I was overweight. Which do you think helped more?
1. "Hey baby, yeah I'm fat, but you'd go out with me if you weren't so judgemental without knowing who I am. It makes me feel terrible. Help me advance fat acceptance."
2. Lose weight.
If you guessed #2, you're right. You can't control what other people think, but you can control how fat you are. Instead of wasting time making pro-fat organizations, go to the gym. Stop eating twinkies. As our corporate masters say, "Just Do It".
I can understand why any business would shy away from hiring a morbidly obese person. I used to work with a gal that probably weighed close to 400 pounds. Just walking from one department to another would leave her panting and exhausted for 1/2 hour. We thought she was going to drop dead! She moved slowly and needed special furniture. What about that looks appealing to a potential employer?
Jonag:
I thought you posted 3 times because you were just really adamant about your beliefs.
Oops, Michael, I think THIS is the post Brian was pointing me to (see your diet soda post for my reference). I laughed out loud:
No one has a problem with luscious curves, the problem is when your whole body is just one single curve. This is commonly called a "sphere", and it doesn't count as an affirmative answer for when people ask you whether or not you're "in shape".
HAHAHAH. Sphere! Two things to link; I need an mwilliams trifecta.
Incidentally, I was never into creamy lard - doesn't do anything for me. Black bottom cake or rhubarb or blackberry pie, though, mmmmmmm. I make one every once in a while, eat a serving, endow at my wonderful spouse with another serving, and freeze the rest in individual servings. If anybody wants weight control tips, this one's a good one: freezer.
hln
me, i've got a weakness for fresh-baked bread.
i think there's a difference between what we'd call "fat" and obese -- which i do think is pretty much clinical.
yeah, if you're 400 pounds, you should be buying two plane seats, cause i sure as hell don't like sitting next to you while you groan at every other fat person who gets on the plane, whispering to me "i hope they don't put that woman in our row," though we all know you're referring to the fact that you really feel bad that your arm is resting on my tit for the next 7 hours because there's nowhere else for either of those things to go.
but i digress.
i do think that our society is obsessed with a body type that, for the female ideal, for example, only 3% of women are born with. eating disorders are huge among young people, not just girls, struggling toward that ideal -- and furthermore, i believe that obesity is partly due to normal people who've given up on that ideal entirely and quit fighting it.
it's still not an excuse, but it's worthwhile to look at the reasons.
Daniel Patrick Moynihan would have called pro-fat activism "defining deviancy down." But hey, who cares about the opinions of a dead Irish-American drunkard? So what if he was a United States Senator and the most prescient social analyst of his day? Pass the Doritos.
I agree with this 100%. I'm wondering how long it'll be before we start seeing 'Fat Pride Day' and 'Fat Pride Marches'. Although, a march might do them good. They're more likely to hold a sit-in, though.
Anyway, I, too, used to be fat(ter). I weighed 250, and while I wasn't obese, I was overweight. I started an exercise program and diet change nearly two years ago (at the beginning of November), and I'm at 185 now.
I'm not athletic, I'm no superstar, I just saw how I could be better, and DID it.
Wait'll the national healthcare advocates get a gander at all the Type II diabetes coming down the pike. Wonder how PC they'll be about obesity then?
I've heard projections that that 26% current obesity is going to walk up to 50% sometime in the next couple of decades, so it's just going to get worse. Invest in insulin manufacturers and watch your portfolio expand in value.
Oh, kudos for the "creamy lard" comment. That was quality writing.
Amen. As for being predisposed to being fat, I'm one of those. Every woman in my family has gone from being svelte in their twenties to humongous from 40 on, including myself. Last Christmas, I went to a party. Pictures were taken and, in one of them, I saw this huge woman sitting on a couch: me at 180 pounds (5'7").
Since then, through diet and exercise--imagine that--I'm down to 154 as of today (fourteen more pounds to the goal; obviously I have no desire to be a stick-figure ala Maria Shriver).
Letting oneself go a bit happens. But letting go to 450 pounds is purely a matter of self-control, or lack of it.
Wow! I just love doing a search on the internet for my name and find more and more people talking about me. :-)
I just want to point out that my issue is not with being fat - it's with being treated unfairly in the work place or bein not hired due to my (or anyone elses size).
Every time this issue comes up, people forget that the issue at hand is discrimination against people based on their size, and start to focus on how If we just could diet, lose weight, be healthier....whatever, and no one listens to hear that all we are saying is NO ONE should be discriminated against. NO ONE for any reason.
OH, and for the person above who said we will soon be having marches to protest - well, we already did! The Million Pound March was an activism event held in 1999 at Santamonica Peir in California - Many celebrities came out, lots of press, and of course, lots of fat folk, who were not only marching, but dancing!
Thanks for reading!
Deida
Well thanks for commenting, Deidra. It's a nice idea that no one should discriminate, but lots of stereotypes are built on reality. It would be impossible to get through life without basing a great many decisions on stereotypes and first impressions.
Perhaps in an ideal world no one would care how anyone else looked, but we're not in such a world, and we never will be. Discrimination and prejudice are very important survival in a world in which it's simply impossible to get to know everyone you see on an intimate level.
You shouldn't be so concerned over whether people like you or not. You have the freedom to be fat, and you should allow other people the freedom to judge you based on whatever criteria they want to. That doesn't mean they're good people for doing so, but you shouldn't try to use the force of government to make people like you.
"You shouldn't be so concerned over whether people like you or not. You have the freedom to be fat, and you should allow other people the freedom to judge you based on whatever criteria they want to. That doesn't mean they're good people for doing so, but you shouldn't try to use the force of government to make people like you."
Discrimination in the workplace is the issue here, not whether or not people like fat people. In the workplace, personal prejudices should not be an issue. This is why laws have been passed that prohibit dicrimination based on ethnicity, race, religion, etc. Some of those (race) can't be changed. Some of them (like religion) are a matter of personal choice.
Dislike fat people? Fine, whatever. Judge people on their weight? That's your business. Discriminate against fat people in the workplace? That is wrong. If someone is *able* to do what the job requires, they should not be discriminated against, period.
"Discriminate against fat people in the workplace? That is wrong. If someone is *able* to do what the job requires, they should not be discriminated against, period."
Why? Says who? If I own the company, why can't I hire whoever I want? It's my money, and I have a right to spend it however I want. I oppose all those anti-discrimination laws you named, and I have no problem objecting to a new law that prohibits discrimination against fat people.
Note: it's not that I myself want to discriminate. Far from it! If I owned a company, I would want to hire the person who would make the most amount of money, whether they're black, white, green, fat, skinny, or have four heads. I don't care. The point of a business it to make money. Any business owner who discriminates against someone who will make them more money than anyone else is a fool, and their company won't last long.
But, if someone wants to only hire skinny people, they should have the right to do so, since they're spending their own money. You may argue that it's morally wrong, and I may think it's a stupid business decision, but it's their right. The government shouldn't get invovled.
Your article is pretty rude. I didn't really like you cracking up on Americans for being fat.
this blog was soooooooooooooooooo funny
Plain and simple. You are a pinhead. Bodybigots are fatheads! Because people are cruel and insensitive that gives them a right to pick on other people...I think not. Do two millions wrong make it right? I think not. Just because it is accepted by small minded people we all need to be small minded. I think not.
Discrimination on any level for ANYTHING is wrong. No matter what color, what shape, what disability we are all human beings. Shame on you.
Dianne: Oh please. Discrimination on any level for anything is wrong? Don't be absurd. Everyone discriminates for all sorts of reasons, including you. You choose which people to be friends with and which not to, what clothes to wear, what food to shovel into your ravenous maw, and what websites to visit. That's all "discrimination", and for the most part it's morally neutral.
I don't know what a "bodybigot" is, but I must not be one since I can't imagine being both a "pinhead" and a "fathead" simultaneously.
Seriously, be as fat as you want. Just don't make me pay for it by gorging on the public teat. If you want people to accept you, then make yourself more acceptable. If you don't care, then quit getting so upset.
Many people are fat because of a number of circumstances. To try and simplify why people are fat is idiotic and ignorant. And a good many of them are fat today because they were fat children and got nothing but torture from their peers and society for being fat which caused them to resort to the only thing available to them in the first place for comfort which is food, trapping them in a vicious cycle. Please examine your conscience and try to get back in touch with the compassion that must reside somewhere within you instead of perpetuating the pain and blaming the victim.
CC: I have no room for compassion inside me, because I'm not a huge fat blimp. People are fat because they eat too much. That's not discompassionate, it's just true.
I gained weight and had terrible frustration until my doctor discovered that I had a severe hormone imbalance (which was causing a myriad of symptoms). I have the condition under control with a few medications, and I suppose as I continue to bicycle (which I love to do) and eat grapes (which I adore) that the weight will come off. So not all weight problems are from filling the pie hole. And actually, I gained weight while my condition caused me to LOSE my appetite and I wasn't interested in eating a lot. So don't assume food causes all weight gain. Thyroid and other problems can add to it also!
I think it is incredibly sad that someone is looked down upon because of their weight. I find your comments offensive and cruel. I know of heavy individuals that have been spit, pushed, tripped all because they were heavy.
What an incredibly selfish world we live in where there are people like all of you walking around.
I hope to God that no one ever targets you because of your weaknesses.
I want acceptance because I fart in public. It is a vicious cycle: people hold their noses and leave me because I fart noxious gas in their faces, and then I turn to the only source of comfort I know: farting. End discrimination against public farters! It is not our fault, you know! I have a "bowel imbalance."
Fat People and the workplace
The truth of the matter is any employer would choose a thin, healthy looking individual over a fat one. Fat people obviously don't care how they appear and represent themsleves to the world, so why would an employer trust them to represent their businesse's image. So I say fire them all, that way they have less money for food!
Michael Williams I agree with what you said 100%. Although I feel you were a bit harsh, I still think your exercise in brutal candor, can only bring good out of this. Because I use to be obese as well, with a BMI index of 26%, I believe that over 30% would have classfieid me as morbidly obese, ouch, doesn't sound too good does it!!!! And, yes, I was constantly being discriminated against for being fat lazy and a over eater, but guess what, like what Michael said, stereotypes are based on a element of truth. I was just so lethargic and haggurd that I would at LEAST sleep 12 hours a day, it was not uncommon for me to sleep 17!!!!
But, guess what? I did SOMETHING about it, within 8 months I went from 230 popunds to 154 pounds with 11% body fat.
You create your own destiny and although unfortunate, people who first meet you can only base their judgement on you, through your physical appearance.
Oh yeah and if fat people take up a course in human physiology and nutrition, they would realise that the human body wasn't designed to be a disgusting piece of blob, hence it is only human nature for most people not to be attracted to obese people!!!!!!
wait just some corrections BMI level was actually 36 and a BMI over 40 would have classified me as morbidly obese.
get a life all of you and get Jesus
if you don't have a life do you need jesus? do things that are not alive need saving?
I take great exception to the contents of THIS entry to your blog. As a non height weight proprortionate/ fat person, I found it offensive.Goody for you for loosing your weight or whatever. So freakin' what?! Makes you as much as a hypocrite and bigot as those that are former smokers raising hell about those that still smoke!
Maybe YOU need to get off that high horse and remember what it was like when YOU weren't thin! Do you remember how it felt to be rejected, if not ostracized? Do you remember how it felt to be left out? Do you remember being looked at as if you were sub human due to HOW you looked- due to the weight? What about the significantly LESS earnings in the work force that overweight people have to live with!- Must I point out that it takes MONEY to afford the more healthier foods, and other necessities in weight loss- that is IF you're going to do it in a healthy manner! What about NOT being able to get OR afford Medical Insurance, and going WITH OUT medical care when you need it? Or the difficulty in obtaining medical care from low income clinics? What of being reviled publicly by people you don't even know? Or the humiliating ways family treats their own when someone isn't thin or attractive? Not having the SAME opportunities for gainful employment- forgot about that one,didn't you? OH, and what of the disparity of treament levels in terms of public transportation- people making life hellish on the city bus, or at the airport? What of that?
Then we come to the clothing issue- Kind of hard to find NICE looking clothes in the plus size or extended size end of the spectrum..YET fat people are discriminated against in the market place,too? Seen as gutter scum and undesireable for friends much less anything romantic!- We have feelings, emotions, and thoughts too!Just because we're not slim doesn't take that away from us,either!
It boils down to this- America AND Europe are SO damned "Looks oriented" that they're SO shallow and are blind to looking BEYOND that person's exterior to SEE INSIDE a person- their character, their skills, what they CAN DO to contribute to humanity OR the workplace.. because it offends their little sensibilities- oh wahhhh! Get the hell over it! We're just as human as YOU are,despite our size, and the way we look! We bleed as red as you do, we have the same basic needs- yet we're thrown away,reviled, rejected and the like...because thin, anal, selfish immature people can't get their heads out of their god damned asses, and fail in the abiity to SEE beyond themselves and their dim little view...We're seen as second class citizens...and your nasty little blog just propetuates it and makes it considerably worse- Not to mention you FAILED to mention ONE KEY POINT- that the discrimination in the work place carries over to ALL aspects of life...to shelter, obtaining the basics, interaction with one's world and society, let alone in terms of social interaction! - People like you expect fat people to just hide themselves away so you can go on about your oh so nice little slim life...snickering behind your hand as you see us walk by..or play body shield protecting your hell spawned little brat's innocent eyes as if the sight of a fat woman or man is either a vile, graphic crime scene photo, or really disgusting pornography!
While it's true that overweight people, statistically don't go to college, we're still intelligent people! Just because we're not thin doesn't mean it's not impossible!
Maybe you need to think about the shoe being on the other foot! That sometimes words do MORE damage than a good ass kicking!
Thank you!
GL Love:
It sounds like you are bitter because you are fat. Instead of applauding someone who overcame obesity, you are belittling them.
Maybe you should lose some anger with that weight.