is much more important than being thin. Studies show that overweight people who exercise have a lower death rate than “normal” weight people who do not.
Negative attitudes toward fat people begin in childhood. One study showed that, as early as nursery school, children liked pictures of disabled children of similar ages better than those of fat children. Similarly, a study of college students said they would rather marry a drug user, a thief, or a blind person than someone who was fat. These attitudes create discrimination that affects fat people in every aspect of their lives, including money matters. In fact, overweight, white women usually earn less than thin, white women—24 percent less, according to one study.
People often justify their judgments about fat people by saying that people choose to be fat. Choose? Who would choose life as a fat person in this weight-obsessed culture? There are many false ideas about fat people in society: that all fat people have eating disorders or emotional or mental issues; that if they really wanted to lose weight they could.
In reality, however, some people are naturally fat. How a person is born is simply science, not a comment on someone’s character. The Center for Disease Control reports that 78 percent of American women are trying hard to lose weight, and at an amazing failure rate—95 percent get back what they’ve lost within two to five years.
The often-heard comment of “you have such a pretty face” does not please me because of all that’s not said: “If you’d just lose the weight you’d be beautiful.” Beauty is a taught concept and the cultural standards for beauty change constantly.
Later in life, I was happy to learn that some cultures have very different standards of beauty. W