Even if you lose, there is anti "fat" bias

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jadedone
jadedone Posts: 2,449 Member
in Chit-Chat
Well this is lame.

Apparently people think people who successfully lost weight are still like "fat" people: undisciplined, lazy, eat doritos all day, blah blah blah

http://jezebel.com/5914422/no-matter-how-much-weight-you-lose-everyone-will-still-think-youre-fat

"As if we needed more evidence that anti-fat bias is about moral superiority and not about health, a new study finds that people continue to be negatively affected by fat stigmas even after they have lost weight. Researchers asked participants (young men and women) to read vignettes about a series of women—some who had lost 70 lbs and some who had remained weight-stable. They were then asked to rate the women based on attractiveness and other factors. The results? People hate fat people so much that they can't stop hating fat people even after the fat people become thin people.

"We were surprised to find that currently thin women were viewed differently depending on their weight history," said Dr Janet Latner, study lead at the University of Hawaii at Mānoa, US. "Those who had been obese in the past were perceived as less attractive than those who had always been thin, despite having identical height and weight.""

What the heck is that about? So apparently the people they polled think that people who stayed at the same "thin" weight are superior to people who lost and maintained. Even if the losers fall into the conventionally "thin" definition.

We have a ways to go to eliminate fat prejudice.

Replies

  • meshashesha2012
    meshashesha2012 Posts: 8,326 Member
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    i dont get how this has any real world value though.

    it's not like you're going to wear a sign around your neck that says "hi i used to be obese". most people arent going to have a clue about your weight history unless they already know you (which makes sense that they'd already have an established opinion of you as being obese) or you tell them.

    i dunno. i sometimes get the impression that some jezebel writers intentionally hunt for stories and studies to give them an excuse to be everybody hates me debbie downers
  • mamamudbug
    mamamudbug Posts: 572 Member
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    Yeah, I'm thinking the article really came in to play. Would the panel have made the same choices if no information had been given on any of the backgrounds?
  • Nataliaho
    Nataliaho Posts: 878 Member
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    Facebook Timeline...
  • Umeboshi
    Umeboshi Posts: 1,637 Member
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    More proof that fatphobic people ARENT deep down worried about your "health".
  • roachhaley
    roachhaley Posts: 978 Member
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    Yeah, this combined with the fact that I still feel fat even though I'm not doesn't add up to a very good self confidence level. People suck.
  • psiren28
    psiren28 Posts: 530 Member
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    I think when it comes to dating, if a guy knows you used to be big there's always that thought in the back of their mind 'uh oh, she might get fat again'. Especially if you've only recently lost the weight.
  • sirenap123
    sirenap123 Posts: 23
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    I think it certainly may have real world consequences. For example, if one is obese they may be more likely to get passed up for a promotion (No article to back this up, just perception). If someone loses weight and remains at the same company, the next time promotion time comes up, no matter how thin that person has become, they are still seen as the obese worker.
  • Kikers123
    Kikers123 Posts: 101 Member
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    That kinda makes me want to cry...:cry: so sad. People these days smh.
  • unsuspectingfish
    unsuspectingfish Posts: 1,176 Member
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    Well, that's depressing.
  • D446
    D446 Posts: 267 Member
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    Oh wow. That's shltty. I don't really understand why. But then I don't really understand what someone would have against an obese person.
  • TheFunBun
    TheFunBun Posts: 793 Member
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    Weird. ... I'm always impressed by people who lose weight. Especially the super proactive kinds.
    We should start a formerly fat business and dating community.

    It's very possible however that the study was done with the intention of proving this and they chose slightly less attractive formerly overweight people, since they only had to match in height and weight. The part I found interesting in the study synopsis was that they had more "overall dislike for fat people" after looking at stable weight women.
  • kwin91
    kwin91 Posts: 128
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    Its just funny to me that this could be true, because all my skinny friends are unhealthy and haven't set foot in a gym ever... I can run faster and longer than any of my friends that are skinny... they also eat at McDonald every other day and drink heavily on the weekends while I'm eating salads and vege burgers and working out 3-4 even 5 times a week. I'm not considered obese or anything, but still heavily overweight...
  • minaeve25
    minaeve25 Posts: 17 Member
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    Why would it matter what other people think about what we used to be? Why does it matter what other people think at all?
  • ElizabethRoad
    ElizabethRoad Posts: 5,138 Member
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    Why would it matter what other people think about what we used to be? Why does it matter what other people think at all?
    Well if you don't care about having friends or a job or anything in the world that you would depend on other people for, I guess it doesn't matter. Most of us live in the real world where other people's opinions affect us in very real ways.
  • holleysings
    holleysings Posts: 664 Member
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    This saddens me. We're so judgmental. :(
  • spade117
    spade117 Posts: 2,466 Member
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    I love doritos.
  • BAMFMeredith
    BAMFMeredith Posts: 2,829 Member
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    i dont get how this has any real world value though.

    it's not like you're going to wear a sign around your neck that says "hi i used to be obese". most people arent going to have a clue about your weight history unless they already know you (which makes sense that they'd already have an established opinion of you as being obese) or you tell them.

    i dunno. i sometimes get the impression that some jezebel writers intentionally hunt for stories and studies to give them an excuse to be everybody hates me debbie downers

    All of this.
  • jadedone
    jadedone Posts: 2,449 Member
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    Its just funny to me that this could be true, because all my skinny friends are unhealthy and haven't set foot in a gym ever... I can run faster and longer than any of my friends that are skinny... they also eat at McDonald every other day and drink heavily on the weekends while I'm eating salads and vege burgers and working out 3-4 even 5 times a week. I'm not considered obese or anything, but still heavily overweight...

    2 of my thinnest (and closest friends) recently gave up their coke (as in the soda addictions). I have know them each for around 15 years. And for 12 of those years they drank 3-4 a day. They now only drink them on the weekend. 1-2 times. But obviously at sizes 2 and 6 they are super "healthy." :P

    Everyone should know by now you can't judge a book by its cover, but apparently for some people it is too much to ask.

    Considering I pretty much eliminated soda from my diet in my teens...........

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