Controversial Topic - Opinions & Debate please!
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I think that it is the same as discrimination for being disabled. Just because you are overweight, doesn't equate to poor job performance.
Just as someone in a wheelchair could perform a job equally as someone who is able bodied.
Life sucks, but unfortunately, overweight people have a lot of stigmas directed at them.
In fact, I would argue that overweight people work harder to prove themselves equal to thinner peers.
Just because you are thin and fit, doesn't mean you are skilled to be a high performer in your job.
Absolutely! I can and do work circles around people that are thinner and more fit than me. My weight has nothing to do with my motivation for work. I chose to eat what I ate to get this size because I like to eat. Unfortunately this kind of passing judgement happens every day. Sad but true.
But you admitted a very important point. You CHOSE to eat what made you fat. Why should you be exempt from scrutiny over something that you willfully did to yourself, that makes you a potential liability in several areas?0 -
Fact of life in all aspects of employment, relationships, friends and even random interactions - people make assumptions about everyone, it is human nature to do this; to size up the competition. Everyone is different in their views and will arrive at their own conclusions. This woman just happens to believe all assumptions regarding her lack of employment are due to her weight0
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I agree. It's ridiculous to assume that this woman goes out and spends money indulgently when it comes to food. In fact, it is MUCH more costly to spend money on the 'good stuff' meats, vegetables, fruits. A pack of Ramen noodles, which is one of the worst nutritional choices you can make (super high calorie, fat, insane sodium) is what-- fifty cents? Been there--- needed dinner, had a few bucks. You get when you can. I wasn't eating lavish spinach salads with nuts and berries that night.
Who is anybody to judge her character based on her weight? I am EXTREMELY hard working. I'm a program director. I weigh a lot. I give my job 100%, I go home after an extremely hectic day, and I stress eat. Guilty. And you know what else? I have medical issues that make it difficult for me to lose weight. And I'm not whining about an achy knee or sore feet (although those things can be valid, too!)--- I had a type of brain surgery several years ago.
In general, people need to stop being so judgmental of everyone around them. Everybody has a story. Don't make assumptions. My weight is nobody's business. I am trying (hard!) to lose weight--- FOR ME. This topic gets me heated!
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I believe it would be because of her qualifications!
But the truth hurts, thinner people give a better first impression for a business if they are front of house!0 -
Yes, everyone has a story but a job interview isn't going to reveal anyone's full story. All that you have to put your best foot forward is your appearance, your ability to answer the questions given, your job skills and experience and your resume. Beyond that, whether or not you get hired will depend (at least some amount) on the prejudices and values of the person making the hiring decision.I agree. It's ridiculous to assume that this woman goes out and spends money indulgently when it comes to food. In fact, it is MUCH more costly to spend money on the 'good stuff' meats, vegetables, fruits. A pack of Ramen noodles, which is one of the worst nutritional choices you can make (super high calorie, fat, insane sodium) is what-- fifty cents? Been there--- needed dinner, had a few bucks. You get when you can. I wasn't eating lavish spinach salads with nuts and berries that night.
Who is anybody to judge her character based on her weight? I am EXTREMELY hard working. I'm a program director. I weigh a lot. I give my job 100%, I go home after an extremely hectic day, and I stress eat. Guilty. And you know what else? I have medical issues that make it difficult for me to lose weight. And I'm not whining about an achy knee or sore feet (although those things can be valid, too!)--- I had a type of brain surgery several years ago.
In general, people need to stop being so judgmental of everyone around them. Everybody has a story. Don't make assumptions. My weight is nobody's business. I am trying (hard!) to lose weight--- FOR ME. This topic gets me heated!
It shouldn't be a surprise that issues like appearance are considered in a hiring decision. The interview isn't going to reveal someone's life story, there's limited information to work with to make a hiring decision, and like it or not, appearance is one factor that gets considered.0 -
I agree. It's ridiculous to assume that this woman goes out and spends money indulgently when it comes to food. In fact, it is MUCH more costly to spend money on the 'good stuff' meats, vegetables, fruits. A pack of Ramen noodles, which is one of the worst nutritional choices you can make (super high calorie, fat, insane sodium) is what-- fifty cents? Been there--- needed dinner, had a few bucks. You get when you can. I wasn't eating lavish spinach salads with nuts and berries that night.
Who is anybody to judge her character based on her weight? I am EXTREMELY hard working. I'm a program director. I weigh a lot. I give my job 100%, I go home after an extremely hectic day, and I stress eat. Guilty. And you know what else? I have medical issues that make it difficult for me to lose weight. And I'm not whining about an achy knee or sore feet (although those things can be valid, too!)--- I had a type of brain surgery several years ago.
In general, people need to stop being so judgmental of everyone around them. Everybody has a story. Don't make assumptions. My weight is nobody's business. I am trying (hard!) to lose weight--- FOR ME. This topic gets me heated!
It was meant to and thanks for commenting
I completely understand where you are coming from and I respect your opinion very much but I definitely didnt lose all my weight eating spinach salads,berrries or nuts. Tesco value frozen veg costs £1 for a kilogram which lasts around a week when added into one meal a day. This is cost effective when on a very tight budget as it lasts longer. £1 gets you a small portion of chips in maccy ds which doesnt even suffice for one meal and is gone in seconds. I'm not saying i ate loads of frozen veg and nothing else haha but hopefully you can see the point that is trying to be made. I dont think it is more costly to buy 'good' stuff at all if you are referring to healthy goods. It is difficult to think up interesting recipes and you cant eat meat every day but it is doable.0 -
IMO this is an none issue, this single case. 12 in 5 years is a joke.
Fatter people are not lazy, SHE is lazy. thats once every 6 months she applied for a job? If I was unemployed I'd be applying for jobs almost daily.
She didn't only apply for 12 jobs, she only had 12 interviews. Now, I agree that in 5 years that seems low, but I do know people that applied for 50/60 jobs for every 2/3 interviews they got while unemployed.0 -
I think as has been said the fact that she only went to 12 interviews in 5 years says more about her than anything else.
As for the cost of eating well:
I buy all my fruit and veg from the market.
If I spend £10 there, I can hardly carry it back.
It's not just financial, but having the knowledge of how and what to cook, which needs to be there from your upbringing and through school.
That's not a dig at those that don't have that knowledge, as advertisers and most social situations do everything to make the right choice the last one you'd go for.0 -
At the time I finished my PhD, i was at my heaviest weight - about 465 pounds. I wrote a dissertation that got me interviews by about 20% of the employers to whom I sent applications. Most of my classmates received interviews by about 10%. I received zero follow up interviews or job offers. I had 4 additional phone interviews. I received three job offers from those and would have likely received a fourth but accepted a different offer before that one was made.
It isn't fair but it happens. In most states, being obese is not a protected class in terms of employment discrimination.0 -
IMO this is an none issue, this single case. 12 in 5 years is a joke.
Fatter people are not lazy, SHE is lazy. thats once every 6 months she applied for a job? If I was unemployed I'd be applying for jobs almost daily.
She didn't only apply for 12 jobs, she only had 12 interviews. Now, I agree that in 5 years that seems low, but I do know people that applied for 50/60 jobs for every 2/3 interviews they got while unemployed.
So of course, we can deduce that she didn't get more interviews because of her weight. I am pretty sure the receptionists who took her applications made sure to write 'fatty' at the top of it, so the bossman would know to not call her.
I'm not putting words in your mouth, by any means. I am just trying to follow the logic of this QQ bull****, and it just gets more ridiculous by the minute.0 -
IMO this is an none issue, this single case. 12 in 5 years is a joke.
Fatter people are not lazy, SHE is lazy. thats once every 6 months she applied for a job? If I was unemployed I'd be applying for jobs almost daily.
She didn't only apply for 12 jobs, she only had 12 interviews. Now, I agree that in 5 years that seems low, but I do know people that applied for 50/60 jobs for every 2/3 interviews they got while unemployed.
Lets say it's 100, 100 apps per interview. That means she only sent out 1200 applications in 5 years? That's only one and a half applications a day. Even complex applications like ones I've submitted to the NSA and FBI took less time than that, and she doesn't qualify so that likely means simple ones like retail/fast food.
Sorry, however you cut it that's lazy. I got laid off in 2009, and I was sending out 500 to 1000 applications a week for a couple months before I got any bites.0 -
you need to bear in mind that the business women that was on is that absolute d ick off the apprentice
seriously though, i don't think your weight should stop you getting a job but if i was interviewing she'd probably be last on my list. you obviously want someone, as an employee, who is physically fit and healthy and of smart appearance.
if it is such an issue for the woman then she has plenty of time on her hands and should do something about it.
i know where you're coming from about her being able to afford all this food - i don't know if you've seen any of the pieces on the bbc news lately (in fairness, i think it was 'reporting scotland') about mothers who cannot afford to eat so that their children could - surprisingly, none of these women looked like they were going short of food - very much the opposite.0 -
Poor people are by far the ones who are bigger, because they can't afford healthy foods on a regular basis and don't have as much time to prepare food. When eating out, the cheapest places with the most portions for your money are also the most unhealthy. Less money doesn't = less food, it lessens the quality of the food being consumed, and THEN it means less food but you're still getting fatty, processed foods when you can afford it.
Also, yes, employers do discriminate on size. The woman on that television program was not an isolated incident.
People who have never been seriously overweight and poor really don't get to have an opinion on this because they have no experience in that situation and don't know what they're talking about- which I know will make you all whine and cry like petulant children, because MFP forums people can't stand to be told they're not allowed an opinion. Get over it.
"less time to prepare food" the woman hasn't got a job! Seems like she may have plenty of free time!....0 -
First, I don't think the 12 interview number is really all that telling. Who knows how many jobs she applied to but didn't get interviewed for. When I was out of school, I went through a period of about 9 months without a job. I applied for a dozen jobs a week. In the end, I ended up having to lie about my education (stating it was less than it was) so I could just get something that paid the bills. Eventually, I got something in my field, but I had to pretend to be less qualified than I actually was to get something in the meantime.
Using weight as an indicator of skill or ability is simply superficial. There are lazy people who are overweight because they're lazy. There are overweight people who are hard workers and are overweight because they have a problem eating too much. The two aren't necessarily linked.
The health cost issue is just a cop out answer. If you're a decent employer, you should really have programs in place to help your employees with life issues (e.g. obesity, tobacco use, alcoholism) if for no other reason than having a healthy, stable, workforce is a benefit to you. Being a high-functioning alcoholic is just as likely to cause problems for an employer as being obese, if not more, but it's easier to hide/lie about.
People just feel justified in using rationalizations that don't really hold up because they have a superficial bias.
As to that specific woman, I'm not sure I'd hire her either, having nothing to do with her weight. Her qualifications don't sound particularly impressive. I guess it would depend on what I'm hiring for, though.0 -
also, 12 interviews in 5 years suggests she is very bad at filling in forms or unemployable for more reasons than her weight.0
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Poor people are by far the ones who are bigger, because they can't afford healthy foods on a regular basis and don't have as much time to prepare food. When eating out, the cheapest places with the most portions for your money are also the most unhealthy. Less money doesn't = less food, it lessens the quality of the food being consumed, and THEN it means less food but you're still getting fatty, processed foods when you can afford it.
Also, yes, employers do discriminate on size. The woman on that television program was not an isolated incident.
People who have never been seriously overweight and poor really don't get to have an opinion on this because they have no experience in that situation and don't know what they're talking about- which I know will make you all whine and cry like petulant children, because MFP forums people can't stand to be told they're not allowed an opinion. Get over it.
"less time to prepare food" the woman hasn't got a job! Seems like she may have plenty of free time!....
i know things are different in the US but here in the UK unemployed people are quite often better off than the hard-working ones.
also, i don't know about the US but it is actually cheaper here to prepare good fresh food than buy ready made crap.0 -
i know things are different in the US but here in the UK unemployed people are quite often better off than the hard-working ones.
also, i don't know about the US but it is actually cheaper here to prepare good fresh food than buy ready made crap.
It's cheaper here too. It's just that most fat people are....dundunduuuuuun...lazy as piss, and have no problem spending a little extra coin (especially when they didn't earn the money to begin with) if it means that they don't have to cook anything themselves. It's like some morbidly obese vicious cycle that keeps perpetuating itself.0 -
I don't think anybody should be judged based on their weight for employment unless there weight would actually be an issue. If I was hiring a pilot, I would hire somebody who would fit in the chair over somebody who was extremely overweight.
Her qualifications are most likely what are holding her back, at least for the most part. I'm sure her weight also has something to do with it but it's probably not as big of a deal as she's making it out to be.
What your not thinking about is a person receiving benefits is on a very strict income, obviously. When you go to the grocery store and look around at prices (at least here in America) you will notice that the cheaper foods are the ones that are unhealthy. For example I personally am very careful when shopping. I check the calorie content on everything. Regular peanut butter here is about $3 a jar. The peanut butter I use is $7 a jar for the same amount because it's organic and 100 calories less per serving (2 table spoons). She has to make the benefits last for a certain amount of time. In order to do that she has to stretch the money. Now, I have a question for you. If you were in her situation say had 300 a month in benefits for food would you buy healthy and starve 2 weeks out of the month or stretch the money and try to make it so you can eat for those 30 days?0 -
Well said and I agree. Plus, fat people have more health issues and will likely need more medical services & medications which drive up employers health care costs.Short answer: I agree with the CEO.
Convoluted answer: How many overweight people have you seen on these boards alone talking about "I can't do it", "it's too hard", "I am lacking motivation today". Now ask yourself, are these the kinds of attitudes you want in a workplace? The way a person treats their body is generally a pretty good indicator for how they approach other aspects of their life. While this isn't always the case, why would an employer in today's economy bother risking hiring someone who gives such a first impression, when there are so many potential hires floating around the job market today?
Your question regarding the money...it's far less expensive to eat unhealthy foods (fast food, processed/prepared/packaged food) than it is to eat healthy food. Since I started eating clean most of the time, my grocery budget has increased nearly 30%.0 -
I think that it is the same as discrimination for being disabled. Just because you are overweight, doesn't equate to poor job performance.
Just as someone in a wheelchair could perform a job equally as someone who is able bodied.
Life sucks, but unfortunately, overweight people have a lot of stigmas directed at them.
In fact, I would argue that overweight people work harder to prove themselves equal to thinner peers.
Just because you are thin and fit, doesn't mean you are skilled to be a high performer in your job.
disabled people have no choice. you can choose to lose weight and get healthy.0
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