Sometimes it feels like that.
There is definitely a stigma. A perception of lack of self-control and will power. That somehow must trickle down into all aspects of your life. I mean...if you can't stop yourself from eating a biscuit and can't stick to a diet then... well how are you going to be motivated to stick at a career.
I'm very overweight. It feels like obesity is the only thing everyone is talking about. How we are all so fat even the government needs to step in. How selfish we are that if we get sick, in this pandemic, what a strain we are going to put on the health service. How its such a huge risk factor. It is and I know but we can't make it disappear overnight.
Its definitely seen as a failing, that you could have controlled but didn't. I can't think of any other, "self-inflicted" condition that people view in quite the same way.
Alcoholism, Drug addiction certainly have a stigma, but people on the whole, seem to view them as needing help and support, that there was a underlying cause that made them turn to their substance.
You're right, no matter how successful women - its always reported as in spite of her weight. And if/when she losses it, how much better she is for it. Susan Boyle, Adele for instance.
I think there is also a self-limiting element. Take a job interview. You believe you are worth less because you are fat, you come across less confident, struggle more to find good things to say about yourself - you don't view yourself positively, even if you're not consciously thinking about your weight. You don't get the job - you internalise the message you didn't get it because you're fat. You're even less confident in yourself.
I have no idea where I read it. But remember someone saying, they noticed, as they lost weight people seemed more friendly, they had more positive interactions. Then they realised, it wasn't because of the weight but because they came across differently; they felt better about themselves and it showed.