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  • CDefense7 (edited 9 years ago)
    +4

    As an overweight man (also yo-yo a bit) in the United States, I don't experience discrimination more or less depending on weight. I also don't think that society, at least in the United States, is trending in the direction of oppression of overweight men. Now for women, I would more likely believe it.

    "More than two-thirds (68.8 percent) of adults are considered to be overweight or obese. More than one-third (35.7 percent) of adults are considered to be obese. More than 1 in 20 (6.3 percent) have extreme obesity. Almost 3 in 4 men (74 percent) are considered to be overweight or obese." - source

    I think that it is hard to claim oppression of a group that is over 2/3rds the population.

    Again, women are certainly treated differently. And again, I'd be remiss not to link one of the most amazing clips of the show Louie. "So did the Fat Lady"

    • skully
      +4

      I think how much you see may depend on where you are. I feel like I experience less of it when I travel to the middle of the country, as opposed to CA or NY.

      When I'm fat I have to dress better or I get treated worse. Soda refills are easy to get as a thin person, no matter how I'm dressed, but when I'm fat and dressed sloppy my soda goes empty a lot. People on the street will politely move out of my way if I'm neat and tidy while fat, but they'll just ignore me coming if I'm sloppily dressed. When I'm fat and dressed sloppy I'm confirming every stereotype people have of a lazy fat slob and that often carries over into how they treat me. (Side note: this gives me a very small window into what it must be like to be black, and have to actively fight the stereotypes of your race. I channel these experiences and thoughts into building empathy for them.)

      I agree with you that women have it worse. After the birth of our child my wife would get comments like, "I didn't even realize you were pregnant" which ends up being depressingly similar to the situation in the video you linked. In their mind they're paying a compliment, "oh, you didn't even gain any weight!" but all my wife hears is, "you were fat and got fatter so I didn't even notice." At that point the only socially acceptable thing she can do is smile and say nothing, even though she really wants to just lash out and burst into tears.