Editorials

Are Fat People Victims of Discrimination?

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23 December 2017

By Bronwen

Traditionally when one thinks of discrimination, we tend to only consider race, gender and sexual orientation as factors that can be discriminated against. As the world changes, types of prejudice will change too. Now there is a whole movement dedicated to the eradication of ‘fatphobia’- a type of discrimination towards people regarded as fat or overweight.

The first time I came across the term ‘fatphobia’, I was not at all convinced by it. After all, the majority of people can control their weight to a high degree through diet and exercise. However, after researching the implications of weight discrimination, I discovered some really shocking statistics relating to fatphobia.

According to research carried out by the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance, weight discrimination is the fourth most prevalent form of discrimination in the US and it affects most facets of a larger person’s life. Despite this, very few states in the US have clear weight discrimination laws and the UK law only states that people cannot be discriminated against based on “personal characteristics” which presumably- even if it doesn’t directly say so- includes size.

In the workplace, fat people are far less likely to be promoted or hired and are more likely to be paid less for doing comparable jobs to their thinner colleagues.

It is also more difficult for people of size to seek medical care. 85% of fat women feel that their size has been an obstacle to receiving suitable healthcare.

Even though obesity is largely self-inflicted (with the exception of medical problems that lead to weight gain) or a result of poverty or lack of nutritional education, people should not be treated differently because of it. One-third of the global population is overweight and it’s time to change the way we view people of size.

A part of the fatphobia movement that I have not been able to get my head around yet is the notion that fatness does not have to be cured. Being overweight is directly linked to developing conditions such as diabetes, heart disease and strokes, and the NHS spends £16 billion each year on obesity-related illnesses.

I also don’t agree with the belief that not wanting to become fat yourself is fatphobic.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=44&v=aDZlQFercrI

While some activists take the movement a bit too far, it is undeniable that weight discrimination is a rampant and serious issue that is not improving.

 

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