More on the fat discrimination study

13th April 2008

More on the fat discrimination study

posted in Fat Bias |

Time picked up on the recent Yale Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity study in which it was revealed that weight discrimination is more prevalent than discrimination based on sexual orientation, nationality or ethnicity, physical disability and religious beliefs - article here.

“If a person perceives he is being discriminated against,” said study co-author Tatiana Andreyeva, “it might have significant consequences for his or her health and mental health. Even the perception of discrimination can be important because it is self-perpetuating.” And if rates of weight discrimination are indeed on the rise, say the authors, then it’s up to society to mandate legal protections for those who are overweight, just as laws protect people from discrimination by race, gender, disability and age.

As obesity continues to be demonized, all the while becoming more and more of a scapegoat for diseases, infirmities and disorders the medical community doesn’t want to admit it can’t quite fully comprehend or explain, Andreyeva’s suggestion is an astute one. Certainly if weight-based discrimination weren’t so prevalent, eating disorders wouldn’t be on the rise or as popular as they are today. And a study released earlier this year found that found that the desire to weigh less was a more accurate predictor of poor physical and mental health, than body mass index.

That fact that there still exists Americans today that need to have certain criteria legislated as a protected, legal class baffles me. And the fact that we even need to hold debates on the issue of granting and protecting civil rights astounds and saddens me.

Click to Bookmark

This entry was posted on Sunday, April 13th, 2008 at 5:59 pm and is filed under Fat Bias. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

1 On April 13th, 2008, Sara

said:

I go to a small liberal arts college and at a size 14 am usually the biggest girl in the room. Many of the people here are very focused on being ‘perfect’, not only in their academics but in their weight as well. I find myself discriminated against all of the time by anyone from professors to students, even by the health care providers here! I know that the stress and shame associated with being ‘fat’ is affecting me. I just wish that people would be more kind to each other. Most of them are spoiled rich brats who don’t understand what it’s like not to have and be everything all of the time. It really frustrates me. It is no wonder to me that people would not understand the need for laws to help rule out weight based discrimination. They aren’t affected and therefor don’t care!

posted on April 13th, 2008 at 10:41 pm

2 On April 13th, 2008, Rachel

I agree that people are generally apathetic to those issues they feel don’t affect them, Sara, but I think that is only part of the equation. Most of the people opposed to this bill claim that a fat person willingly chooses to be fat, and therefore does not deserve anti-discrimination protection. Only those people with an inherent physical trait - gender, race, disability, etc… - “deserve” protection under the law, according to many opponents. Yet they don’t quite consider that religion is one of the most fundamental of the protected classes, and is a choice (if we go along with the argument that fatness is a choice, that is), and increasingly, so is one’s sexuality becoming a protected class (which has also been claimed to be a “choice”).

In claiming the above, those people are able to maintain established relations of power and a weight-based social hierarchy. It’s kind of like why so many dieters become irate when you point out the futility of dieting - if dieting doesn’t work, then why are they killing themselves dieting? I don’t think they are prepared to deal with the answer to this question.

I find it most odd that so much of this rhetoric is coming from liberal arts colleges, though. If logic follows, it would stand to reason that liberal progressives would be more tolerant of body diversity, not less so. But that’s logic for you, I guess.

posted on April 13th, 2008 at 11:27 pm

3 On April 16th, 2008, Liza

I have to say I don’t agree that people don’t care about things that don’t affect them. I’m straight but care deeply about gay rights. I’m white but care about minority rights. I grew up relatively well-off but care about the impoverished and homeless. I don’t have (or particularly like) children but I care about education.

I will concede that if you aren’t a member of a group that you probably don’t understand the extent to which discrimination happens. For example, a friend of mine (who is a lesbian) left her house the other day to find her car torched. I thought drunken teenager, she thought hate crime. I know they happen but because I’m not part of that group it wasn’t the first thing to come to mind.

I don’t think it’s just perception. Weight discrimination IS prevalent, and it is one of the last truly acceptable forms of bigotry. Think about it. Watch any low-brow comedy and count the blatant fat jokes versus others, like blatantly racist jokes. Not to diminish the mental aspect, of course. As a psych major and as someone who has dealt with weight discrimination and depression, I know that perception and self-image can be as damaging or more so than anything that actually happens. So all these people that say “it’s your perception” are about half full of crap. Something needs to happen on both ends. People need to stop discriminating, of course, but we also need to take a good hard look when we feel discriminated against and ask ourselves if it’s REALLY a weight thing or something else.

posted on April 16th, 2008 at 12:59 am

4 On April 21st, 2008, Jen

Hey Sara -
just wanted to say that in my experience, the most discrimination you’ll ever face is in college! Some how you put a whole lot of people together who are participating in tertiary study and they just get all high and mighty about everything. I know it was the place I always felt the MOST self-conscious.

Don’t let ‘em psyche you out!

Liza - that’s a great point too. People discriminate on many different grounds OR may just behave strangely and this can be mistaken for subtle discrimination. We mustn’t forget that it’s a complex issue.