Size Does Matter; more If you are a women
A lot of people get angry when we compare fat discrimination to racism but a study found it to be much worse. Although racism still exists, it is considered socially unacceptable, where as fat discrimination is considered a joke, or not to be taken seriously (i.e. it wouldn’t happen if fat people went on starvation diets and lost weight).
For women it is even worse. The same study from the Rudd Center (not exactly a fat friendly place) states that women suffer from bias with even with a small amount of gain, meanwhile men have to get much fatter before dealing with the same bias. Discrimination starts at about a 27 BMI which three studies have shown to have a longer life expectancy than “normal” weight. For men it starts at about BMI 35. When I was a child, I feared the school nurse. She was a middle-aged woman with a sort of sarcastic voice, one that made you feel like she wasn’t happy with you even if everything was fine. I couldn’t go to her to talk about my problems, and I certainly couldn’t trust her to be gentle if I were to become overweight.