Fat bias exists

[Oldfatbrenda]

Over a year ago I posted as I couldn't find work. I was a size 20/22 and also in my 40s. I had head and shoulder interviews on teams and when they saw me in person it was a no. I felt like this was both age and weight bias.
One unpleasant woman who was clearly into her own looks and fashion, looked me up and down and when I left I heard her laughing. I'm convinced it was about me.
I was lucky and did get a way better job than that a few weeks later and at that point I had made the decision to try much harder to lose some significant weight.
I'm now a size 14/16 and I know without a doubt that people treat me differently. It's sad that many people are this way and look down on fat people as being lazy, having no willpower or that they will be too unhealthy to do their job.
Just for the record, I have had 1 sick day in over a year. Most of that time I was still technically obese.
Before this job search I did a bit of physical work in a hotel and yes it was bloody hard because of my size but I pulled my weight (sorry) almost more than the others to show I could and wasn't holding the team back. Yes I'd be dripping and have to go to bed when I got home but I was a model employee.
Anyway just wanted to come and say all that. I wasn't imagining it - but luckily there are still people who don't judge on looks and age. Thank the lord.
Anyone going through similar, don't give up. It will be harder but not impossible.

I agree, although I think there's a sweet spot. I tend towards being overweight and actually found that women in service industry and retail were more helpful and friendly when I was obese, while acquaintances and neighbours are friendlier when I'm middle to high healthy BMI.

I got down to a size ten for a bit and the sudden occurrence of regular creepy, slimy attention from a certain type of slightly older man (something I thought I'd thankfully aged out of attracting) really repulsed me.

I'm socially and professionally most comfortable at the top end of healthy BMI size 12/14.

I wa telling DH recently that I welcome the zero attention I get from men nowadays. But how depressing is it that I feel safer because I’m now invisible?

I recently lost 6.5 stone. I had become invisible and thought it was just a sign of ageing as the media told me. Absolutely not, I am treated entirely differently now when I'm out and about.

Yes exactly - it's protective and peaceful. We shouldn't have to be subjected to creeps thinking they can touch us (what is it with thinking slimmer women need a man's hand on their lower back, propelling them to go ahead through a door or in a queue?) or making slimey comments.

I think it is a subset of attractive person bias. People percieved to be attractive are more likely to be successful at job interviews, more likely to be promoted, get lighter court sentences, and are often favoured in social situations, leading others to assume they possess positive traits such as intelligence and kindness. The dumb blonde stereotype is merely a way of trying to combat this by bitter, less attractive people.

Humans have cognitive biases that are not fully rational and it takes significant effort to reign in those biases. The vast majority of people would rather take the easy option of letting their biases do the thinking for them hence we end up with frequent poor decision making. The scientific method helps to a point but human cognitive biases are powerful and are not going away anytime soon.

Bias exists in everything we do, and every decision we make. Some of the time its conscious and some of the time it's unconscious.
Anyone who claims otherwise is well, lets just say misinformed.

Oh yes,fat bias is definitely a thing! Having lost 7 stone myself over the last few years, I have noticed a definite change in the way people treat me and speak to me. I'm still a bit overweight,just not obese any more. I was totally expecting it though, having lost quite a bit of weight many years ago,in the early 80s. Back then,I noticed an even bigger change in the attitude of people towards me. I think people's attitudes to obese/overweight people back then was even worse than it is now. I think a lot (but not all) people have become more accepting of overweight people, probably because there is so many of them nowadays,compared to 40 years ago!

That seeems to be a self-limiting combination.

It definitely exist, but also I imagine, in my case, it’s also a wee my own insecurities

"If I was employing someone as a receptionist I would discriminate based on appearance."
Then I hope you are not in a position to do so as I think that would be illegal

You would be wrong. Appearance is not a protected characteristic.

Walk into any big city firm, hotel etc and look at the people on reception.

What nonsense, there are many reasons why somebody may be overweight and as previous posters have pointed out science has repeatedly shown that it is not down to willpower. The link between health and weight is also far from straightforward.
People can be all sorts of things that affect their ability to do a good job, lazy, mean, irresponsible, without it showing in their external appearance. Perhaps you could consider that somebody who is overweight has suffered discrimination and has had to work extra hard to be taken seriously and included, so is likely to be hard working, resilient and eager to please.

Maybe, but its still a horrible thing to admit to

No, it’s not. It’s only illegal to discriminate based on the protected characteristics. However you would have to be careful that it didn’t overlap with a protected characteristic because then it could be indirect discrimination eg would hiring only attractive people be ageist (if the hirer viewed older people as less attractive), or it could potentially be disability discrimination if you didn’t hire someone with cancer because you wanted someone with beautiful long hair etc. But if you’re hiring a receptionist and you have to choose between two people where there is no overlap with protected characteristics, and you choose the more conventionally attractive one for that reason, that’s (legally!) fine.

I see some posters have said that they were overweight and lost weight,are treated differently now, and were perceived to be invisible before. I think it's because we don't want to be thought of as staring or judging or embarrassing,so we ignore instead. It works both ways . When I started nursing we had criminal changing rooms, I had acne, people used to recoil from the spots on my body and at 6.5 stone,"Ew, aren't you thin". I was actually very ill with a non functioning gall bladder.

Blasted phone,we didn't have "criminal changing rooms" they were communal.

Morally its fairly disgusting behaviour though

Wow did you mean to say that out loud

I know it exists but I haven't experienced it as far as I know, having been a size 18 all my adult life. I wouldn't have wanted men to be interested or women to only talk to me because I'm slim. Now I'm losing the weight, I'm older and have resting bitch face so still unapproachable 😀. Also a southerner in a working class northern town which means I can't cope with their cheery and friendly ways anyway.

I'm sure bias against overweight people exists but the obesity epidemic has also generated higher costs for everyone- bariatric equipment in the NHS, extra nursing costs to safely move someone, someone using 2 seats on the bus when they only paid for 1, and clothing manufacturers making a much wider range of sizes - which increases unsold stock, pattern design costs and a size 10 is priced the same as a 20 despite the 20 using more fabric and taking longer to construct (and yes I know wholesale fabric & labour are cheap but when it's a global retailer ordering 10s of thousands of units it adds up)

Comparing being fat to paralysed people in wheelchairs etc is too much. Yes there will be the usual clamour of medical conditions that can cause extra weight (yay, got stuff that does that), but let's not pretend that in the vast majority of cases there aren't practical steps that could be taken to improve the weight situation. There are practical implications and consequences that stem from being unhealthily overweight, those pretending otherwise are disingenuous. Should anyone be treated poorly for appearing overweight? HELL NO. Should we expect life to be tougher if seriously overweight, practically yes it will be in numerous ways, however harsh that might seem. It is known to be unhealthy. Doctors advise against it for reasons and usually it can be addressed.

I carry myself differently when I'm slimmer - I'm more confident and I think that can be attractive. When I'm a bit bigger, I'm less comfortable in my own skin. I wonder if that has something to do with it.

Yes! Unkind at first glance, perhaps, but true.

Obesity is a killer, and a drain on resources at best, and pretending that it's anything else is doing no favours to anyone.

I feel for anyone struggling with their weight, and support anything that would help. This doesn't include 'self acceptance' and 'body positivity', however, although nobody should be made to feel that their worth as a person is lessened.

It's not always a killer actually. In some cases it is but the correlation is comically and it is perfectly possible to be overweight and healthy. Its also unhealthy to drink, smoke, be stressed, ski, drive fast, do extreme sports, be too thin, have unprotected sex, off the top of my head, but these don't come with the same sort of stigma because they are usually not externally visible.
What you said was horrible. I'd rather be overweight (I'm not btw) than be somebody who thinks its OK to say something like that.

Your list is interesting. I think there is huge stigma attached to smoking, excessive drinking, unprotected sex, anorexia, poor driving etc. You can be sectioned/locked up for some of these.

Occasional drinking, skiing and extreme sports can bring health benefits.

Where people have accidents there can be a cost to the NHS but we are talking about very small numbers and the costs are vanishingly small compared to the cost of obesity.