Why does society hate fat people

I know that, but I think it's bullshit that people hide ignorance and obsession with appearance behind "oh I'm just worried about the NHS and society's money" 🥺 nonsense.

Agree with OP. Having lost a lot of weight over the last year people I meet who are strangers are much more friendly.

Apparently some people do if 'it is natural - innate - to feel disgust at ill health' 🙄
I can't begin to imagine feeling disgust at someone for a tumour - or for blood clots, diabetes, allergies, depression etc - but apparently PP does.

That's really sad OP. Definitely makes me think about how I might accidentally be treating someone, though I hope I'm not. If it's any consolation I think a lot of women hated me for being thin. 🤷

It's pretending that being fat should be accepted, encouraged and celebrated that bring some negative comments, but no one wants to hear that.

There is also a weird narrative that you are either normal sized or morbidly obese. I have been overweight eg an extra stone & no one really noticed.

A lovely friend of mine said the same - when she sought medical help for her mental health they clearly thought she was mentally ill and fat. When she lost weight, they realised she was, actually, mentally ill. I've simplified it a bit.

I actually don’t think the societal judgments are about looks and attractiveness at all.

People being more friendly is simply down to what is attractive to them. Everyone respond better to someone they find more attractive, it's not that deep.

It's only recently that jokes are seen as cruel and shaming. There are jokes about everything and anything, only some people get offended. Nowadays you can't even use the word "fat" without being accused of being offensive and nasty.

Cruel jokes? Because nasty people are nasty full stop, you just take some of them personally. Why do people attack ginger/ fat/ skinny/ tall/ short/ people wearing certain clothes/ people wearing braces/ women with short hair/, why? It's not right, but it doesn't mean society "hate" fat people, it just mean that nasty comments are directed at anyone and everyone for any reason they can find.

Just look on that very forum, the venom against people who have tattoos. Or bitterness and attacks against SAHM (there are threads where they are compared to prostitutes! come on)

It's pretending that being fat should be accepted, encouraged and celebrated that bring some negative comments, but no one wants to hear that.

OP what are you hoping to get from this thread? All answers will be hurtful and will be a variation of “less attractive /visible personal failure”. If you’ve given it any thought you know the answers, they just aren’t nice.

I think lots of people loathe how they look & are scared of getting fat so seeing someone who is fat represents that fear. In some circles it’s far more acceptable to be an alcoholic, a drug user, a criminal etc as opposed to fat.

Blimey, did you change sex, too? (Lighthearted - sort of - because it’s true that women, regardless of their weight, are negatively affected by the training received by Doctors to minimise so-called “women’s problems” in health)…

I think it's simply because you can't hide it. Many other things that people might be judged for are much easier to hide or minimise and so people you encounter daily haven't got a clue. Not possible if you are obese. The kind of judgemental berk who likes to make comments or treat people they dislike badly then has the perfect opportunity to make a judgement and be judgemental.

Exactly what the rationale for the judgey attitude depends on the person. As previous posters have said, people have (wrong) ideas about morality, laziness, lack of "willpower", disordered eating/food behaviours themselves, judginess based on how attractive people are ..... plus this idea that fat people are taking more than their fair share which I've seen posted about on MN more than once now, so it's an evolutionary adaptation to dislike fat people! Despite the fact that in many cultures being overweight especially for women is seen as reproductively advantageous.

I've had exactly the same experience OP. Not sure what it is but it definitely exists 🤷‍♀️

It's not a secret that more attractive people are treated better than less attractive people. For most people, being overweight is not attractive. I'm not saying it's right, but it be.

And so it’s ok to be rude to people in the street because you worry about your tax bill. Are you also rude to the elderly and the mentally unwell? Also huge cost to the NhS.

I didn’t have one single day off work when I was overweight. I am a very healthy person who don’t even know the name of my GP. The few times I went to see one was for HRT and for my children’s health.

The NHS cost making people disgusted with and rude to overweight people doesn't seem likely to me or people would be disgusted with people who do anything risky that results in injury or illness eg skiing holidays, eating ultra processed foods, driving, having children, playing rugby etc.

This is a generalisation, but there have been countless studies that have shown people generally respect others more if they demonstrate a high level of self respect for themselves. This can show itself in many ways. Being well groomed, well dressed, strong work ethic, well balanced confidence and overall strong control of one’s impulses and behaviour. Along with self care of their body, fitness and health.

Subconsciously, as a society we associate overweight people with negative personality traits. Such as laziness, greed, lack of willpower, and not respecting one’s health or body. Being overweight is medically unhealthy, there have also been countless studies which show we are drawn and attracted more to ‘healthy’ looking people.

As mentioned, this is a generalisation. But even though as humans we evaluate each person at their own merit, generalisations can linger subconsciously at the back of our minds. Socially it’s morally wrong to judge and we should treat people without bias, however humans are a very flawed race.

It is not exclusive to fat people, that’s your experience of society because you are overweight. They are against working class people, people who are not white, alcoholism, drug addiction, anything outside the standard of what they consider to be good.

They can't know that by looking at you. People will unfortunatly make judgements on what they can see. It will always be that way.

It’s womens reactions that surprise me the most.

My brain tumour costs society and the NHS far more than my weight; why don't people judge me for that instead?

It's the same if you're underweight by the way.

The confidence argument always pisses me off. Not a single one of the blokes who drove past me while calling me a fat cunt or Miss piggy had any idea how confident I was or wasn’t, neither did the people walking past me in the street at a fast clip while hurling insults.

Some People see a weakness and pounce on it and fatness is seen as a weakness, I think others are actually afraid that ‘there but for the grace of god go I’ and choose to express this with disdain for what they are afraid of becoming, some are just thick as pig shit.

I was obese from age 11-41, now I’m 42 and size 10/12 and the difference in how I’m treated is like night and day. It’s made me actively dislike a number of people who are suddenly nice to me after my waistline has reduced, I can’t see them as anything other than petty, mean-spirited unpleasant people.

My weight has fluctuated over the years. In some ways you're invisible when you are heavier. Over looked, ignored. I think a lot of judgements are made within seconds. Weak willed, lazy, unfit, greedy. You only have to see accusations about the weight loss injections - cheating, lying, they'll put it all back again. What does it matter, it's working for them.

I think 'getting fat' is a fear for some people they don't want to face. It's as if it is contagious and they can actually catch 'fat'. When slimmer you can prove you are in control and are the norm. I remember my mother who was always on some mad grapefruit diet or 70s F plan or whatever - she refused to watch Roseanne (popular early 90s Amercian sitcom) because they were too fat and looked disgusting.

Of course people will hop on here and say - it's all in your (my) head and they have been big and small and there was no difference.

Maybe jusr perceived attractiveness. Presumably the more attractive you are the better you are treated…