Weightism

We all agree that there is a lot of discrimination against the people who are overweight / obese. Most prejudice against the obese people are related to the way modern day media projects people who are fat and some bias may also happen due to the socio-cultural factors. Today we live in a beauty-obsessed society which seems to give privilege who are slim and/or muscular. Judging people by appearance, body shape or size is unfortunately the way this society seems to work.

You can see discrimination against overweight people (weightism) at job, educational institutes, social places and sometimes even one's own family members. I am for advocating that there is nothing wrong in being obese, yes there is but we are not created equal. Variation in height, weight and physical appearance is very natural. The problem of obesity is not always related to just over-eating, it could be a medical condition or personal problems in one's life too. Most people who are overweight usually go through a self motivated weight loss or a professional weight loss program, but it is not always successful. Losing weight initially and then gaining again is very common. May be some people just have the tendency of gaining fat on their body. Discrimination, bigotry or unfair and cruel treatment is not the answer. Obese people face an un-equal treatment in various stages of their lives.

People who are fat are often refused jobs which require physical work or facing the customers. How many time have you seen a receptionist in a private office who is not skinny. Even the insurance industry often imposes higher medical and life insurance on overweight people. Often overweight people are not able to use narrow doors, stairs or smaller seats, bathrooms and equipment. Few decades earlier, people use to get their clothes custom made by a tailor, today most garments are available in standard sizes and people who are overweight have a very tough time to find things that match their needs. Often doctors advice their patients to lose weight instead of treating the real problem.

People who are fat are often categorized as lazy, selfish, stupid or ugly. This is absolutely ridiculous and society should stop treating individuals on the basis of their weight. If the weight of employee hinders their ability to do the job then the manager should actually discuss with the employee and genuinely explain the problem instead of making a self-opinion. Often the stressful nature of job or a job that requires lot of sitting will contribute to employees excessive weight.

Modern day society does not require people to do much of physical activity anyway. We have cars, elevators and most office jobs require us to just sit and sit. Cheapest foods like fast food burgers, Chinese and Mexican food are loaded with fat. Being fat is not a disease but it does lead to other problems like high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes and often diseases.

There is also a wide opinion that fat people require a lot of public health care. It is not true, individuals who are old actually require maximum health care. People who are engaged in heavy physical activities (moving heavy boxes, construction workers etc ..) and athletes (like skiing, horse riding, boxing, etc..) are more likely to use medical system than most obese people, but society almost overlooks them. Our society spends more money (per person) on prison inmates and their health than on obese people.

Society should work as a family and remove poor nutrition and encourage physical activity right from school level to the college. Fight against weightism is required from ground up and not just focusing on handful of individuals. Media's focus on thin people is excessive. Recently France have to ban 'over skinny models' as they were encouraging young girls to under eat and eventually leading to eating disorders. Video games and computer activity should also be limited. Many bigger companies now a days offer discount gym/health center membership, many companies even have a some excersise equipment within their office building. It is impossible to have a society where everyone is thin, people should learn to live along overweight individuals more nicely than they do now.



Make every bite count