Weight stigma doesn’t have to be malicious or targeted directly at a person to cause harm, say these psychology experts.
You would be hard-pressed to find a fat person who has not tried multiple weight-loss methods, only to end up unsuccessful and feeling worse about themselves than ever. At worst, it means overt discrimination, for example if somebody isn’t hired for a job because of their weight.
Direct microaggressions are the ones that most people might think of: Rude remarks, being laughed at or publicly shamed on social media, being excluded from activities with friends or family, or having people make assumptions about them, for example, that they couldn’t possibly be in a loving relationship with a conventionally attractive partner.
One type of direct microaggression that emerged as its own category in our analysis was clothing exclusion. Stores typically have far fewer options in larger sizes, or they are less stylish, yet cost more. It is also common to see clothing in stores with claims that"one size fits all", that really don’t.
Science tells us this is not about willpower. Indeed, the most likely outcome of weight-loss attempts is weight regain, and usually, weight rebound above your initial starting point. Studies that show otherwise are often methodologically flawed and frequently misleading in their headline messaging. It is perhaps, then, no coincidence that rises in obesity rates have paralleled attempts to make our populations thinner with the promotion of weight as an indicator of health.
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