Weight-based Discrimination
Multicultural Communication
Jason Mayfield
Background
What are the Issues of Weight
Discrimination?
What are the Origins of Weight
Discrimination?
Why are Women Targeted More
than Men?
Discrimination towards fat people in
the workplace, education system,
and healthcare system has been
clearly documented and is growing
rapidly. Weight discrimination was
reported by 7% of US adults in
1995-96, and almost doubled to 12%
by 2006 (www.naafa.org).
Views about weight have gone from
favorable to unfavorable over the
centuries. In 1909, Oscar Rogers of
New York Life Insurance warned that
being 10 pounds overweight would
shorten life (Kelly, 2006, p.202).
Since then, not only have insurance
companies made an issue about
weight, but physicians, educators, the
government, and society in general.
Research and social policy on weight
bias and discrimination are behind to
the point that negative attitudes
based on weight have been labeled
the last acceptable form of
discrimination (Puhl & Brownell, 2001,
p. 788).
Research is finding that not only are a
higher percentage of women
overweight than men, but that this
type of discrimination is even more
common against women than it is for
men (Griffin, 2007, 633). There are
several factors that can be attributed
to this; male privilege, women as sex
symbols, and intra-gender
discrimination based on weight. Each
of these things has led our society to
a place where overweight women are
seen as less than others.
Source: www.divahealth.org
Source: www.cdc.gov
Responsibility
Who is Responsible?
In the United States, society, in general, has chosen not to make discrimination against overweight people a priority. When
people hear their politicians, doctors, teachers, neighbors, family members, and media talking about how fat people need to
just quit being lazy and lose weight it only reinforces their feelings. Therefore, it is important to understand why so many
people see weight discrimination as an acceptable practice in our society.
Why Does This Form of Discrimination Persist?
There are three fundamental ideologies behind antidiscrimination law and theory and they are:
1. It is wrong to discriminate against a person for a characteristic they cannot control.
2. Capable people should not be prevented from contributing to the economy and society.
3. It may be wrong to discriminate when the result is an impingement on fundamental rights, freedoms, or human dignity.
(Solovay, 2000, p. 27).
Many Americans don’t believe that overweight people fit one or more of the fundamentals above and therefore, discrimination
against them is okay. We live in a society that values individualism and personal responsibility. Both of these values are
about being in control of oneself. Secondly, our society does not see overweight people as capable of contributing to our
society because it assumes all overweight people are lazy.
Worldviews, Values, & Norms
Women in America
Women in the United States are part of American culture, but they are also part of their own sub-culture. Like other
cultures, they share worldviews, values, and norms that guide them through life.
Worldviews
Establish position through
achievement
Live as equals with men
Use language as a way to
build relationships
Values
Acceptance – desire to be
accepted, despite size
Freedom – ability to be free
to make choices for oneself
Dignity – being treated with
honor and respect
Norms
Engage in interviews to gain
employment
Attending a university of
choice
Going to doctor’s office for
regular check-ups
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
Types of Discrimination
What are the Types of Discrimination Experienced and How is it Affecting Overweight Women?
Each of the forms of discrimination that follow is due, in part, to the stereotypes that many have about overweight women in
this society. It comes from the attributes that we assign to the group which then leads to stereotyping.
Weight-Based Employment Discrimination
Not only do overweight individuals experience discrimination during the interview, but if they get the job, they experience it
from co-workers as well. When 450 NAAFA members were surveyed, 70% of them said they were questioned about their
weight by co-workers or urged to lose weight (Solovay, 2000, p. 105).
Sixty percent of women and forty percent of men reported having been discriminated against at their place of work (Griffin,
2007, p. 631).
Discrimination against overweight women leads to lower self-confidence which results in a reluctance to apply for jobs,
especially those dealing with the public, and for higher positions in which the selection is based on more subjective criteria
(Griffin, 2007, p. 635).
Discrimination continued...
Weight-Based Healthcare Discrimination
In a survey of 400 doctors, conducted by Klein, Najman, Kohrman, & Munro, published in the Journal of Family Practice,
many of the medical professionals associated obesity with poor hygiene, lack of intelligence, lack of success, dishonesty, and
hostility (Brownell, 2006, p. 30). While most healthcare providers will not explicitly state their negative feelings about
overweight patients, their biases do cause them to avoid the topic or administer unsuccessful treatments options.
Twenty-four percent of nurses said they are “repulsed” by obese people (Puhl & Brownell, 2001, p. 788).
Weight discrimination in healthcare leads to reluctance to seek medical care and doctors engaging less in communicating
with their overweight patients.
Weight-Based Educational Discrimination
Twenty-eight percent of teachers in one study said that becoming obese is the worst thing that can happen to a person (Puhl
& Brownell, 2001, p. 788).
Research has found that overweight students who would benefit from physical education activity are less likely to participate
because of teasing. Being female, having fewer athletic abilities, and being overweight can cause many students to feel
uncomfortable (Brownell, 2006, p. 71).
Controlling for income and grades, parents provide less college support for their overweight than for their thin children (Puhl
& Brownell, 2001, p. 788).
Intergroup Conflict
What Kind of Intergroup Conflict Exists in Relation
to Weight Discrimination?
As discussed earlier, many groups in society have
created conflicts with overweight people. One of the
most profound is the medical community. There is a big
debate going on right now between some in the medical
community and those who consider themselves to be
part of the “fat acceptance” movement about whether
being overweight is unhealthy or not.
The medical profession holds the following assumptions
that are rarely challenged; being overweight is a choice,
weight loss is a benign procedure, and fat is unhealthy
(Solovay, 2000, p. 189). Members of the “fat
acceptance” movement and some scientists disagree.
They argue that some people are pre-disposed to being
larger, that weight loss can be harmful and cause
further weight gain, and that fat is not the sole decider
of one’s health.
Source: www.medscape.org
Intragroup Conflict
How Does Intragroup Conflict Add an Additional Burden to Overweight Women?
Feminist movements have always struggled with conflict between different groups of women. Women make up 51% of the
U.S. population, but discrimination by women, towards women, continues to persist. In the end, it is divisive and doesn’t help
women’s achievement overall (Griffin, 2007, p. 633). Many feminists believe that gender equality cannot exist as long as
women are discriminating against other women. Hall describes this as “dividing up the pie” which is a struggle within a group
for power. The pie is seen as a limited resource in which the group must fight each other to control (Hall, 2005, p. 251).
The proverbial pie that many women are fighting for is gender equality. However, like many
groups in a non-privileged class it is not uncommon to see members of the group trying to
exclude others within the group to hopefully elevate their status in order to gain acceptance
from the privileged class, which in this case is men. The members of the group that are seen
as acceptable to exclude are overweight women, whom men also exclude and discriminate
against.
Source: www.alamy.com
NAAFA
Who is NAAFA?
National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance
Year Founded: 1969
Mission: End size discrimination through advocacy, public education, and support.
Goal: “Build a society in which people of every size are accepted with dignity and equality in all aspects of life”
(www.naafa.org)
What is NAAFA Doing to End Weight Discrimination?
NAAFA is using a variety of methods to help end weight discrimination in America. They offer educational information,
discrimination resources, reading lists, size diversity toolkits for corporations and schools, and they conduct events throughout
the country to get their message out.
The size diversity toolkits help to educate companies and teaching institutions about the issue of size discrimination. So far,
NAAFA has sent out more than 700 toolkits to many Fortune 500 companies, academic and civil rights organizations
(www.naafa.org). The kits offer real world examples of weight-based prejudice and resources for companies and schools to
use for additional information.
NAAFA also supports the views of the Health At Every Size (HAES) movement which they use to educate the public about
looking at overall well being, instead of weight as a measurement of health.
NAAFA continued…
What is NAAFA Doing to Help Manage Intergroup Conflict?
One way that NAAFA is trying to manage the conflict between some in the medical community and
overweight individuals is to work with medical groups that agree with their views. One of the things they have on their
website is a “Fat Friendly Health Professionals List.” This is a list that members of the NAAFA community can go to and
find medical professionals that will be sympathetic to the “fat acceptance” movement. This is an example of a supportive
social climate at the peer level. If the two groups are supportive of efforts to interact with the other group, there is a much
better chance for the interaction and conflicts to be handled in positive ways (Hall, 2005, p. 254).
Source: www.obese.co
Percentage of U.S. Adults with
BMI > 30% by State
(Year 1990, 1999, & 2009)
1990
2009
1999
No Data
<10%
10%–14%
15%–19%
20%–24%
25%–29%
≥30%
Source: www.cdc.gov
Learning Outcomes
How Did I Meet the Requirements of the Course Learning Outcomes?
Learn Actively – I participated in active learning through the process of researching weight-based discrimination by reading
books, articles, and watching videos on this subject. Keeping an open mind throughout the whole process helped. I am proud
to say that I learned a lot about a subject that I knew very little about before.
Think Critically, Creatively, and Reflectively – While going through the research I was able to find ways to connect what I
learned to my own life. I know some overweight and obese individuals and I was able to get a better idea about the kinds of
discrimination they deal with in their own lives by researching this topic.
Communicate with Clarity and Originality – The very nature of this assignment fulfills this particular requirement which is about
communicating ideas of a cultural nature. I hope that what I have presented here will allow my fellow classmates to see what
weight-based discrimination is about so they can form their own opinion about whether it is acceptable to continue the practice
or not.
Interact in Diverse and Complex Environments – This project taught me to look at overweight people in a different light.
Weight loss is not easy for some and the fact that someone is overweight does not make them lazy or unmotivated.
Discrimination against anyone should not be tolerated for any reason or at any time.
References
Brownell, K. D. (2006). Weight bias, nature, consequences, and remedies. (pp. 1-308).
New York, NY: The Guilford Press.
Griffin, A. (2007). Women and weight-based employment discrimination. Cardozo
Journal of Law & Gender, 13, 631-656.
Hall, B. (2005). Among cultures: The challenge of communication. (2nd ed., pp. 1368). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.
Kelly, E. B. (2006). Obesity. (pp. 201-204). Westport, CT: Greenwood Pub Group.
Puhl, R., & Brownell, K. D. (2001). Bias, discrimination, and obesity. Obesity
Research, 9(12), p. 788.
Solovay, S. (2000). Tipping the scales of justice, fighting weight-based discrimination.
(pp. 13-261). Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books.