http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dy...-2003Oct14.html

Article about extent of negative stigma attached to obese persons.

In my view, especially in our day and age when we live in a society so fowardly progressive and liberal, this sort of thing shouldn't happen.

From the article:


Can unconscious reactions fairly be characterized as "egregious?"

quote: "a new study finds that just standing next to a large person can be bad for one's image"

This is not limited to large people. Studies have shown that if you hang out with people who are considered physically 'attractive' by others, they will consider you more attractive too. The opposite is also true - if you are seen with people considered less attractive, that will rub off in people's perceptions also. Image by association.

HOWEVER that doesn't make it right.

If I could deliver one message to every person in the world, it would be 'YOU'RE BEAUTIFUL!!!' We are conditioned by the media to believe that if we don't possess a perfect body & perfect face then we're somehow worth less than those who supposedly do possess those freakish traits.

I have been discriminated against by a doctor as mentioned in the article, I informed him I had a heart murmur (which had been picked up by several doctors & cardiologists prior to him) and when I went to him complaining of chest pain he refused to treat me seriously and his only advice was 'you need to lose weight.' Well, duh you idiot, you had to go to uni for 10 years to figure that out?

Anyways, thanks for the link. I am sick of thin people judging me by my weight, for the first time in my life I am happy in my skin, and ironically, that new acceptance is what's enabling me to actually do something about my weight

Katt

This is hardly surprising. This is something that can be seen in children: the most popular kids in school were usually the good-looking ones, and unattractive kids had a harder time. I wonder if these unconscious prejudices are ingrained early in life by the family, or are maybe already present to some degree as some sort of deeper signal. There have been some really interesting studies done across cultures that looked at traits like how symmetrical the features, or how childlike the shape of the skull, and that found people in general seemed to prefer certain types and rate them more attractive.

The hypotheses included that these were signals of fitness indicating the health of the person, hormonal balance, degree of developmental stability, I guess ultimately how ideal that person is as someone to have children with. Animals use these signals all the time in social interactions, I wonder how far we are really removed from that?

Evolutionary or not, I think that awareness of these unconscious prejudices is the best way to see how irrational they are and work to overcome them. Makes me think of a commercial for some cholesterol drug (can't remember which) with all of the gorgeous people who don't show (of course) that they are actually very unhealthy and at high risk for heart attacks!

Familial attitudes I'm sure play a part in how children perceive others, but also consider the images and ideals presented to them through the media and even through their toys. Ever see an overweight "Weight Watchers Barbie" or a "Pot Belly Ken"? How about a fat cartoon character that wasn't a bad guy (Barney excepted, but then he isn't human so the kids wouldn't make a connection there)?. Pop rock stars and models (people that even young children will look up to and try to emulate)? All thin and pretty. All this gives the subtle message that your worth as a person is somehow tied to what you look like.
Prejudice against being overweight and sterotyping of the overweight and obese permeates every part of our society, all the way from TV commercials and programs to magazines to toys. Is it any surprise, really, that we learn from even a very young age that being fat equates to a whole host of negative personality traits such as bullying, laziness or less intelligence? As the study shows, once those ideas are ingrained into our subconscious, they are very difficult, if not almost impossible, to change.
I'm trying very hard to teach my girls (who both happen to be normal weight and very pretty, BTW) that who a person is on the inside matters way more than what they look like on the outside, but I don't know how successful I'll ultimately be when I have to compete with all those messages that they get everywhere else.

Lisa N, this is so true. After I posted my little musings I thought about the Venus of Willendorf and other ancient goddesses of beauty. Not to mention Rubenesque beauties from as recently as the Renaissance. I suppose in evolutionary terms, it wasn't that long ago that fat was considered the ideal of beauty and health. So at least in this respect I guess our attitudes ARE mostly societal and familial.

Oh those damn anorexic Barbies...

Fat characters / actors:

Cartoon: Fat Albert

TV: Frank Cannon (William Conrad, "Cannon")
TV: Andy Sipowicz (Dennis Franz, "NYPD Blue")
TV: Ellenor Frutt (Camryn Manheim, "The Practice")

Curse Barbie!!! It is reassuring to know that if a real woman had her proportions, she would have had to have ribs removed to get that waist, she wouldn't be fat enough to mensturate, and she wouldn't be able to stand up with that bust to support

It is sad that media equates thinness and beauty. I know there is a connection sometimes between self-esteem and weight issues, and low self esteem makes it hard to motivate yourself to look your best. But I have seen overweight people look fantastic - Kathy Bates, Aretha Franklin, my aunt - and they're just as beautiful (often more beautiful) as the thin people plastered all over magazines. The difference is, the stick-figures on magazines have often been airbrushed to within an inch of becoming an illustration whereas the beauty in real-life larger people is real

We should start a large person's magazine, Cameron Manheim can be our first covergirl!!!

Katt