Fat discrimination
Before learning about and becoming a part of the Fat Acceptance movement, I thought discrimination was something that only happened on the basis of sex, gender, religion or race. I had no idea that a person’s weight could even be discriminated against.
Naïve of me? Yes, definitely. I’ll admit that right now.
The amount of stories I’ve heard from around the world and even from close friends have astounded me. People have been treated unfairly and discriminated against at work, at their doctor’s surgery and on the street. It’s been an eye opening experience.
The reason why I’m talking about this?
A workplace and former worker was in our newspaper recently. The former worker claimed he was fired for being obese.
Now, I don’t know the validity of the claims, nor do I know the work situation or what type of worker the man is. It could have been a completely justified firing or it might not have been. I don’t know. But it made me think some more about discrimination, in particular, fat discrimination.
People judge people. It’s what we do. It’s hard to train ourselves out of this conditioning. But when the judgement comes with a situation (like work, for example) then it can cross the borders from judgement into discrimination.
(A side note: I am in no way claiming that fat discrimination is worse than discrimination based on race, sexuality or religious viewpoints. I believe these forms of discrimination are far worse and far more prevalent than fat discrimination is. This post is purely discussing fat discrimination right now, as fat issues are what I write about.)
A story I’ve heard from countless fat women: Employers and co-workers, doctors and nurse practitioners have just assumed they know everything there is to know about a person’s health, lifestyle, work and personality from the way they look, dress and choose to present themselves.
This? Is not right. This? Is not fair.
So, what do we do? Especially when it’s insidious? Keep a record? Change doctors? Contact HR? Leave your job?
What if you’re not in a position to do any of the above? Where do you turn? How do you even prove that it is discrimination?
I don’t know. I don’t have any easy answers to these questions. Not having been in the position myself, I don’t know how I’d react or what I’d do.
What would you do?
Sonya,
You know, my partner and I were talking about a very similar topic just yesterday.
We began discussing the social acceptance of people and their image in the workplace and the judgements that come along with this. I guess it’s a very sad fact that no matter who you are or what you stand for, someone somewhere will have something to say about you, and it’s very likely not to your face.
I think it’s important to pursue personal morals of not judging people on their looks, and the fact that we are surrounded by materials telling us what is beautiful and what is not doesn’t help. It’s not easy.
What about when a person’s weight hinders their ability to do their job? I know a woman who is so overweight that she physically cannot bend over to do her filing. She is content to let her co-workers do her work for her, and does nothing to return the favour – further perpetuating common perception that overweight people are lazy. How far does a workplace have to go to accommodate this? Should this woman be classed as disabled and given restricted duties? I don’t think a person should ever be fired just for being obese, but if they can’t do their job – for any reason, including their weight – then how should this be dealt with?
Siobhan – I agree completely with you.
anon – I guess it would be a case-by-case basis. I mean, the woman was hired, so she must be able to do some, if not all tasks required for her job, yeah?
I don’t understand how anyone, fat or otherwise, can be genuinely naive about this issue… I think naivety is a gentle way of putting it.
Discrimination based on a persons weight is probably one of the most ‘socially acceptable’ forms of judgement.
Think about it. In primary school the chubbier little boy/girl had numerous nicknames. In high school the bigger guy/girl had a cute face but ‘…nah, not hot’. I think in adulthood the general public have the decency to hold back saying things to people’s faces, but their intolerance for ‘fatness’ and obesity is manifested into subtle workplace discrimination and firing. It’s been a popular theme in recent years (films, TV, current affair programs etc).
People are always going to judge and make assumptions about other people. If we took the time to consider all the information we knew about a person upon first meeting them, weighed up the good bad & the ugly before engaging with them.. well, we wouldn’t have time to do anything else! Judgement and stereotypes are eternal, but we should learn to control/remove them as much as is possible.
I don’t have any specific suggestions for the questions you presented, Sonya, but I would be interested to see if anyone else does..
‘anon’ raised a valid point about the staff’s ability to perform their job succesfully. I guess, legally, the workplace would have valid grounds to terminate employment of a worker if they were no longer able to fulfil the expectations and duties of their specific job position.
Sonya, she might have been a lot thinner when she was originally hired…
Christina — I guess naive probably is the gentlest (that spelling looks wrong? Hmmm) way to put it. If I think on it, I probably was at least sub-consciously to almost consciously aware of the issue, but didn’t want to believe it existed. I suppose I took advantage of the privelege I do have, in that I am seen to be on the smaller side of fat, so I’ve never experienced discrimination that was full on. Teasing, for sure. Discrimination, no. My eyes were definitely opened to the issue.
Anon — It is a difficult and touchy issue, that’s for sure! I don’t know what would be the case. I wonder if HR has a policy in regards to issues affecting the ability to undertake the tasks required for the job.