Do people respect you more if you're not overweight?

I noticed that also. Perfect strangers are now starting up conversations with me, where it rarely happened before. I think it's because people find overweight people repulsive.

I have been overweight most of my life and I have a different story. I have always had men open doors to me and strangers talk to me all the time. I think it has to do with confidence, a smile and making eye contact.

I have noticed that overweight women do not seem to do these things. I think it is more likely a confidence issue.

I'd have to say they do...and the worst thing is, it was friends that i hadn't seen in years when my weight had piled on. they constantly mocked me and made jokes that really hurt. a year later at the next reunion, I was 60 lbs lighter and things were TOTALLY different.

sad,pathetic,i know..but thats just the way people are. even now, they still make fun of me, but it pretty much stops when i get more attention than they do when were out and about..

I go to school in Southern California (at a VERY shallow school) and when I lost the weight, people were NICER to me when I lost the weight. It disgusted me, I didn't change just my body. While I am healthier, my personality is the same! It made me angry. I see people around here treat the few overweight people like they have the plague. It makes me want to cry because I was once overweight.

It took my 5 years or so to gain 50 lbs and ive lost most of it in a year or so.... I know that I AM more confident now that I again
1 ..Dont care what people think about me or how i look because I am ok with what i Look like NOW and
2 ..That has given me the confidence to MAKE eye contact with people where as before i wouldnt.
But i still think people get friendlier as I get thinner:))

I think people do give you more respect when you are not overweight. However, I don't think they are repulsed by someone who is overweight. I wonder if it's an issue of perception. If you are overweight, people might think you don't have respect for yourself, so therefore they tend not to respect you.

I've been overweight at various times in my life (high school as well as middle age) and have noticed that people tend to be more helpful and receptive to me when I've been at my goal weight. Not fair at all but it's just what I've experienced.

I don't know which it is, but I am finding more men who are strangers are saying hello and greeting me as if we've met or know each other.

I think it is a bit of both... people treat me different now than they did 50lbs ago, but they still do not treat me like they do my more normal size counterparts. (I lost a lot of weight before finding this site) I have always been the "biggest" of my friends.. I was never the size 0 or size 4.. I was the size 7 or 9 in school... I was consistently made fun of and passed over. Now I also have no confidence either... so people do play on that as well. I am a smart and wonderful person.. I also happen to be overweight. I think it is a bit of both, but with society always saying the thinner you are the more beautiful you are, I think society has made everyone a bit more shallow and therefore there is less respect and tolerance for people who are overweight. Confidence may have a little bearing, but I really believe that people are negative and mean based mostly on look. Just my two cents however..

Yes.

http://www.thefrisky.com/2010-08-09/girl-talk-i-lost-100-pounds-and-found-out-what-the-world-thinks-of-fat/

I think a lot of it is attitude/self confidence. I'm fat, that hasn't changed anytime recently, but if I'm in a good mood (happy, self confident), people will randomly talk to me when I'm out & about. If I'm not in a good mood (upset, pissy), people seem to just ignore me. I really believe it's how you project yourself

I cannot answer your question because I am still overweight. Check back with me when I am no longer obese. My experience is that people have disrespected me. Was it because of my weight? I do not know. All I know is that I did not care. That has now changed. I now care whether people disrespect me. However, I cannot expect people to respect me if I do not respect myself.

I think it has to do with what type of attitude and energy you're projecting. I'm very overweight (obese) and people talk to me and guys are nice to me.

I lost 60 pounds in 5 months a few years ago (85 in all). It's amazing how differently I am treated. Disgustingly amazing.

Edit: And I mean by the people who knew me before I gained the weight in the first place. It's like they went from treating me one way, to ignoring me, and back to being interested. Needless to say, most of those people aren't in my life anymore.

I mean this in the least mean way possible. People are overweight because of the choices they make and what they put into their bodies. Some call it hereditary but, it still comes down to wanting a change and you have to make it if you don't want to be obese. But if you are content with that then fine. So I say its all about how you carry yourself. If you feel confident with yourself then people can see that. If you feel disgusted by yourself people see that as well!

Generally, yes. Two years ago I applied for several jobs, all requiring me to do extensive physical work both in the store and in the back and I was denied each one despite having the qualifications. I thought perhaps it was my lack of previous work until I went in one place I had applied to as a customer and saw the assistant manager training a very thin, very stupid (I'm not joking, this one was a chicken short of a 12 pack of eggs) guy. I thought it was weird he hired a guy for what was really more suited for women, but I learned later the guy was gay and had hired eye candy that, months later, were all fired because they couldn't do their jobs. Another job told me I obviously wouldn't have been able to lift inventory boxes, which I could but I guess they were trying to avoid a lawsuit.

I'm also an actor, though not professional. When I was in high school I did a lot of work with the children's theater since they allowed you to audition until you turned 18. The community theater, linked with the children's theater, has never given me callbacks even with someone I've worked with before being a judge. And really that's theater, they don't have much use for fat people unless you're an older guy or you're putting on the musical Hairspray.

And stupidly enough I'm not respected as an artist (which is sedentary) because of my weight. Just yesterday I was talking to a gentleman and when I mentioned what I did, the first thing he did was look me up and down, focusing on my stomach. It wasn't until I pulled up my work on my phone that he believed me. Several others have the same reaction, especially when I used to attend figure drawing classes. The teacher was a thin hippie type and all her students were thin "artsy-fartsy" girls who thought as long as they were cute and drank wine their work was good. And that is the artist stereotype here. I've learned to carry my portfolio in the car because it's not a matter of people wanting to see, they want to know if I'm lying.

My mother, back when she still worked, had a hard time finding work after Hurricane Katrina because she too is overweight and companies see it as an increase in medical bill expenses or having to modify something so they'll fit through the door or whatever.