Hatred of Fat People article

Personally I think mean people are just mean to people ad nice people are nice. I don't think *most* of the population says "she's fat I'm going to be mean to her" same with skin color. I think some people are just too sensitive

I do think there fat shaming exists. There are documented studies that show that overweight people are less likely to be hired than skinnier people. That is fact.

That doesn't mean that fat white people can understand in any way what it's like to be a black person. Fat white people still have white privileged.

I do believe it's more acceptable to be outwardly prejudiced against fat people though. A lot of people have no issues with shaming fat people for their 'health' We are thankfully at a point that outward racism is criticized. (though we have the wonderful phenomenon that it's considered horrible to be called racist but the actual actions/words that result in someone being refereed to as such are ignored) Again fat white people still have a much easier time in society than any black person.

I'm sorry, but institutionalized racism still exists in the United States. People of color who feel like they're treated poorly are usually not just being too sensitive. The problem is more that your white privilege doesn't reveal those systems or subjugation to you, so it's difficult to recognize them for what they are.

I have heard a lot of arguments that fat people experience discrimination similar to racism or sexism but the United States doesn't have 500+ years of violence and oppression of fat people to underwrite institutional discrimination, so I think it's a different ballgame.

I haven't given this a ton of thought but initially I agree with the above.

Well, although I agree with the sentiments about the persistence of racism in the U.S., it is really not relevant to this particular thread. Usbornegal was asking if we had any experience with discrimination due to our weight. I absolutely believe there is prejudice against obese people. There is a perception that they lack discipline or are lazy. I avoid the gym myself because I worry about being judged. I honestly tell myself that I will go the gym when I am thinner - crazy huh? I have been obese since about the age of 13 and I had awful comments from my peers made to me and behind my back. I was just reading discussion posts for my nursing ethics course and we were discussing attitudes of health care providers to the obese with chronic diseases such as diabetes and hypertension. The approach of many providers is similar to saying, "Well you're fat! What did you expect? If you'd just lose weight you wouldn't have this issue." Probably not the most effective way to influence lifestyle decisions... I personally dreaded going to the doctor and getting on that scale. It was so incriminating. "God, I have no willpower and I am a horrible sloth!" I would tell myself these sorts of things. I actually have a very sweet doctor these days and I cannot wait to check in next January at a much lower weight. :-)

here's a thought experiment:

Solve for X:
If I lost X pounds, I would be pretty good looking.

If X is any number than 0, clearly it shows that fat shame starts every morning when you look into the mirror. If that attitude is how you think about yourself, do you truly believe you have a different attitude towards other people?

I think part of what makes this issue so complicated is that you can become fat and then get thin - therefore experience both sides of the issue.

The article states how overweight people are judged as "self-indulgent, lazy and unable to control their appetites". Now, if you replace "overweight" with "ethnicity of your choice" (let's say "white") it's a generalization that is hard to defend *especially* if you aren't white.

But... I've been fat. I WAS lazy and self indulgent. It's hard not to project that on to those that I see as overweight, especially if they complain about it and still do nothing to change their situation. And I know they can change their life, since I did.

It makes everything a little more difficult! I don't know if I explained myself well but there ya go.

I can't speak for all of America, but I had more nasty comments about my weight and my efforts to get healthy from people who are far more overweight or obese than I ever was than I have from people who are at a healthy weight or fit. In fact, only one fit person has ever directly insulted me about my weight, and she's crazy. Most of the other negative comments were from people who had more weight than me to lose.

Also, there's a whole lot of hate towards the fit people on MFP as well. Obviously, this isn't a representative study of America, but I think some people who are obese lash out their own insecurity about their weight towards those who aren't. Until I came here and started living better myself, I did the same thing.