To think people treat you different if you are fat

[Mammylamb]

I have recently put on a few stone which I need to lose. I don't know if I'm imagining it but I feel that strangers were nicer to me when I was slimmer. It sounds daft, but today at a play park I noticed women looking me up and down and one woman pushed past me (quite rudely) to get into the park. When we went to the swings she couldn't grab her bag quickly enough (really, I wasn't going to steal it.). I know that I'm less attractive when I'm fatter and it makes me look a bit "rough" and (whisper) less middle class. My mums weight also fluctuates and she said she notices a difference in how folk treat her too. Do you think this is right, or are we imagining it?

[Whatthefucknameisntalreadytake]

I think it varies, when I was younger I had quite a fantastic figure, and I found that if I wore figure hugging clothes then a lot of women treated me with suspicion and men were often over friendly. then I put on quite a lot of weight and I suddenly found that women were more friendly and welcoming to me and I seemed to become invisible to a lot of men.
Then I put on even more weight and I found bith men and women started to treat me as though I was invisible.
Then I lost quite a lot of weight again and found women seemed to be suspicious of me again!

So I have come to the conclusion that a lot of women want other women to be middle sized. If you're very slender then they don't trust you and if you're very fat they don't want to be associated with you. Men just want you to look attractive otherwise you may as well not exist. Easiest all round if you just ignore what they think.

Obviously none of this applies to people who know you personally, friends, family, colleagues etc, this is just based on how strangers treated me, as it is very hard not to make snap judgements with strangers.

[ChasedByBees]

Unfortunately I think you're right OP.

[Wilburissomepig]

She was probably one of the Mean Girls at school Wilbur. How funny you should say that Dove, I found out afterwards that indeed she was.

[stopfuckingshoutingatme]

We live in a fattist world sadly

[NotMyPenguin]

Statistically, it's true that higher BMI is associated with lower socioeconomic status. So that could be part of being treated differently.

[PoisonousSmurf]

Wow Wilbur! Had no idea people like that existed. But then I've never lived in a posh area. Always lived on rough estates. No one really cares what you look like there.

[Countvesuvius]

Oh of course there's a correlation between weight and class.

The mums wearing Boden Breton tops and seasalt jackets will 9 times out of 10 be a slim size 8.

The mums with their kids' names tattooed on their necks 9 times out of 10 will have large sunburnt flabby arms encased in polyester cold shoulder tops.

[Wellysocksbox]

Lol helenadove she was really snooty (in her head) so I turned round and went out, never to return...

.... except for the days when I would put on my Hobbs cost and Mulberry Handbag and stand outside the shop window saying loudly "I don't like ANY of these shoes."

[PoisonousSmurf]

And no I'm not overweight. But I was a skinny rake until I had children.

[HelenaDove]

The bloke who has told me i look so much better now has a HUGE beer belly. Sexism comes into this as well as class.

[oldlaundbooth]

Agree 100% OP.

Everyone treats me differently now I'm slim.

I look ten years older when I'm 14 stone. And more like a ruddy-cheeked housewife which leads to certain reactions, let's say! And probably more working class, shock horror.

[clumsyduck]

Well while we are chav bashing I actually find the opposite , the Boden mums round here seem to be the over weight ones

[AccrualIntentions]

This is absolutely a thing. I've yo-yo'd quite a bit with my weight over the years and people definitely treat you differently.

[GreekGod]

OP - you are absolutely right. After i had my kids and was carrying my baby weight, I was ignored a lot and people weren't so nice to me.

When I lost my baby weight after three kids, I was treated very differently, people became nicer and I also got a lot more work from existing clients and new clients. So, my weight has definitely affected my career.

I hate it that the world works this way. But unfortunately it does, and its horrible and we are all victims of it. That's how I feel.

[DailyFailstinks]

Everyone seems to be having a go at the OP, but I've been both very slim and very overweight and there is a difference in how you are treated. As an overweight woman I was definitely talked down lots of people.

[oldlaundbooth]

Whatthefucknameisntalreadytake

What you said is exactly right.

[Guccibelt]

Ouch count

[SweetheartTreacleTart]

I always thought that if you are fat and unattractive like you say then surely people will treat you much nicer because you are not a "threat". I don't know what you mean by the middle class thing though - I didn't realise there was a look. Perhaps you are insecure and would feel better after losing a few pounds.

[HelenaDove]

Count ..........what a load of bollocks Im childfree by choice Im also teetotal (have NEVER been drunk) how many middle class MNers can say that. And im a social housing tenant.

Each of these things arent mutually exclusive. I dont have any tattoos I dont even have my ears pierced.

[ChasingHighs]

How many posters on MN say they are MC? because I read hundreds of posts and threads on here about how fat they are.

[oldlaundbooth]

I was once told that I was in the wrong shop when I was in Evans!

[lifeinthecountry]

I think you're right OP. My youngest son is overweight (has been since he was about 10, now 14), and I've noticed a difference in the way people treat him compared to my other 4 children, who are not overweight. Even people who should know better seem to make all kinds of assumptions about him based purely on his weight.

[VanillaSugar]

Kate Middleton has a tattoo. Little known fact.

[Bluntness100]

I agre you're treated differently, i just don't agree people think you're working class if your fat.

[DaemonPantalaemon]

You don't change classes. If you were born working class then you are now

Oh my. No wonder there is so much class angst in your country.