6 Ways To Commit Discrimination Against The Obese

This post comes on the heels of my reading this article this morning from USAToday.com: Weight discrimination could be as common as racial bias.

Have you ever walked by someone who was obviously overweight and felt your stomach lurch? Have you ever told or laughed at fat jokes? Weight discrimination is a topic that isn’t discussed much, but is very much alive. Maybe you’ve committed weight discrimination and you don’t even realize it.

USA Today reports:

Reported discrimination based on weight has increased 66% in the past decade, up from about 7% to 12% of U.S. adults, says one study, in the journal Obesity. The other study, in the International Journal of Obesity, says such discrimination is common in both institutional and interpersonal situations — and in some cases is even more prevalent than rates of discrimination based on gender and race. (About 17% of men and 9% of women reported race discrimination.)

How To Be A Weight Discriminator

1. Laugh at an obese person. Don’t just laugh at them, but laugh loud enough behind their backs that they hear you laughing. In fact, laugh right to their face.
2. Make fun of an obese person. While you laugh at them, make fun of them, too. Point at them. Mock what they’re doing. Make them feel terrible about themselves…even more terrible than they already do.
3. Do overly-dramatic imitations of someone obese. This is a really good way to be a weight discriminator. Perform your own little comedy routine, based on a fat person, in public. Do it right in front of them. Get everybody around you to laugh, too.
4. Have pity on the obese, then do nothing about it. Discuss all the reasons why you think obese people don’t lose weight. Give some good examples of fat people you know who can’t seem to lose weight. Talk about things that could be done that might possibly help change their situations. Then get up and walk away and don’t do anything about it.
5. Criticize someone morbidly overweight. This one’s even better than #4. Gather a big group of friends and start an in-depth conversation about the fat people you all know. Discuss all the reasons why they’re overweight and will never lose the weight. Remember to include arguments like….they’re lazy; they don’t want to lose the weight bad enough; they’re too sorry to care about themselves. These kinds of points should generate a whole slew of warranted criticisms against fat people.
6. Go out of your way to not help them. Slam the door in a fat person’s face. Hurry up and walk past somebody fat so you don’t have to look them in the eye. For goodness sakes, don’t stop and bend down to help them if they’ve dropped something. Whatever you do, never offer a helping hand or your assistance–God forbid anybody ever see you doing nice for somebody that’s so fat and overweight.

The truth is, being overweight hurts. I’ve known a lot of obese people who played it off with humor. But the humor was only a cloak, an attempt to cover their hurt and pain. Being fat isn’t funny at all. So remember this before you crack a joke or talk about somebody who looks fatter than you.

Just in case you’re wondering…yes, this post is filled with sarcasm.