Actually, Sexual Orientation is the new Racism. It involves many rights and legal benchmarks that deny basic civil rights to a group of U.S. citizens.

Obesity is the new AIDS. The issues are health, discrmination and social rejection, as well as insurance, discrimination and future legal battles.

Being Fat and Gay? Flawless!

What's new about it? Fatism has always been there. Body acceptance isn't acknowledge and won't be for a long time to come.

Businesses are making a lot of money off of people by telling them they need this or that to be pretty, whether makeup, clothes, diet gimics or surgery.

I didn't really believe it was there until I was on the other side. I can't really say more than that because its like a silent discrimination made with looks and glances and distance. But I feel it there, I was on the heavy side of the situation and now on the more normal sized side, and it is weird to say the least. And part of me feels guilty for the way I think and act now as I try to distance myself from that old "fat me".

I remember being on the side that looked away when a fat person showed interest, but I don't understand the whole fat people are stupid thing. I find them to be a lot like stand up comics, bright, funny, sel-effacing with a bittertsweet sadness...

For me the awkwardness about it all isn't the person themselves, not their personality or who they are as people, the awkwardness is spacially. As in my personal space vs an obese person's personal space. Now that I've lost my 165 lb fat barrier, every touch feels way more intimate. So does standing close. Because a person stands a certain distance away from other people it seems awkward that the bigger person "invades" your personal space easier, and that's the awkwardness I feel now because I am so more aware of the "size difference" now. The bigness of other people compared to myself now is a little intimidating I must say if I'm to be honest.

I'm like you, Callie, I never really noticed until I was on the other side. I commented to a friend of mine today that my boss jokes around with me and talks to me more since I've lost weight, people strike up conversations with me, hold doors for me, and are nicer to me in general. I also see it when there is a larger person around, the looks, the attitudes change, things like that. Sad, but true.

Krista

I have definitely noticed being treated badly in some situations based on my weight. I had a co-worker who used to frequently make fat jokes etc around me. I kind of like Baritweet's description of it.
It is sad though to read others comments on it though.

I totally agree with Baritweet except I think obesity is going to be easier to deal with because straight white suburban housewives suffer from it.

Also, I do think that obesity is different because unlike race or sexual orientation you do have control over it. Some may argue against that but for the vast majority of people that's true. So in a way it is a representation of something being screwed up inside. Humans don't like flaws in other people. It's only natural. It's like how we prefer facial symmetry and long healthy looking hair.

There is discrimination for every group that is different. Being Black/Native American, Female, Lesbian and Fat. I surely got the looks and comments all my life. I have always felt like I was normal sized just surrounded by fat as my armor against the world. I have the urge to go up to people who are over weight and tell them there is a way to be healthy and happy, WLS. I agree with the comments that have already been mentioned. This is a great group of intelligent thinkers. I appreciate you all, I love reading the comments that all of you share.

With respect to why people often react with strong repulsion to differences in race, weight, sexual orientation, etc, there is an emerging concept known as the "Uncanny Valley" that I believe particularly applies to obese people. More on that here:

http://tinyurl.com/uncanny-valley-post

I find it very interesting that this human response often occurs in obese people when reacting to people more obese than they themselves are.

With respect to active discrimination, you cannot legislate impulsive responses. What we can and should do though is set reasonable limits on such discrimination. For example, should a public restaurant be allowed to refuse service due to weight, race, sexual orientation, etc.? Should a fire department be allowed to ignore your 911 call because you are known to be obese? But there are also many gray areas - employment for example, since employers must be allowed to define reasonable performance metrics for any given position.

I have thought about this issue for years, and I'll confess that I haven't always handled it very well. I used to get irate when I noticed that clothing manufacturers or retailers would charge more for plus sized clothing than average sizes. I would call up a catalogue, order several items (like over $1,000 worth . . . ) and then ask to be charged the prices for an XL instead of paying for what they expected me to pay for a 3X. When they refused, I cancelled the order. I would point out that they didn't charge a difference between an XS and an XL and ask why they felt justified in charging more for a 3X. Despite explanations and speaking to a supervisor or two not one company ever caved in and gave me the price I was asking for. And it's a good thing because I didn't need to buy anything from them, I just wanted to vent and let them know how I thought it was unfair. In hindsight, I realize that it wasn't the most mature thing to do - and that the person answering the call had nothing to do with the pricing guidelines. But in a classic example of displacement, I discharged my anger at society's discrimination toward me by attacking somebody else who really had no power to do anything in the situation. In a word, I felt like being a bitch.

So - while I'm not ready to equate fatism with racism or discrimination against the LGBT community, I will always be a little more sensitive to the issue no matter what I weigh. And just maybe I'll find some other issue to take on when I feel like being a bitch.

So here's my take at 6 mo out. I'm just about normal weight
now and I am most definately thinner than most of the people I meet.. Thar being said when I was a fatty 320 + or - my weight consumed me and my perspective of how I was perceived by others. And now being normal (in weight only) I don't think the people that really knew me before thought the weight was that big
of a deal. Don't get me wrong as a pig I was consumed by the fact
that I was fat! Now I just consumes by how good I look naked! LOL

Lu