Weight-based Discrimination

Multicultural Communication

Jason Mayfield

BackgroundWhat are the Issues of Weight Discrimination? 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).

What are the Origins of Weight Discrimination? 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).

Why are Women Targeted More than Men? 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

ResponsibilityWho 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 respectNorms

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 ConflictWhat 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 ConflictHow 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

NAAFAWho is NAAFA? National Association to Advance Fat AcceptanceYear Founded: 1969Mission: 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)

No Data <10% 10%–14% 15%–19% 20%–24% 25%–29% ≥30%

1990

1999

2009

Source: www.cdc.gov

Learning OutcomesHow 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. 1-368). 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.