Obesity An Racism Discrimination

Introduction

Our society has a very negative view of overweight and obesity. They tell us that being fat is an extremely unattractive and undesirable way to be and is a state to be avoided at all cost. This hostility towards fatness has been compared to other common social prejudices, and the striking conclusion drawn is that anti-fat attitudes are currently at the stage that racism was some fifty years ago; namely, that anti-fat attitudes are overt, expressible and widely held (Abrams, 1993). More negative characteristics are associated with being fat than nearly any other stigma . An anti-fat attitude (or fatism) can be defined as a stereotype, prejudice, or discrimination based solely on an individuals perceived membership in a specific social group. Understanding the research that has uncovered the anti-fat sentiments that are held in our society is extremely important, as this provides some glimmer of insight into both the origin of the problem and possible means of eradication.

Discussion

Anti-fat biases are entrenched within our society, and therefore delving to the roots of their origin is a daunting task. Studies repeatedly indicate the pervasive nature of this issue, and reveal the negativity that is closely associated with these perceptions. Interestingly, studies indicate a definitive unconscious component to anti-fat biases, which serves to complicate the issue even further.

It is important to understand that the degree to which issues of physical appearance are engraved in our society is indeed significant. Images, media, arts, music, advertising, culture, and so many other factors collide in terms of creating the belief system of society regarding physical appearance. Therefore, because the issue is so complex and so ingrained in our collective consciousness, it becomes exceedingly difficult to extract one influence from any other.

Much of the research into the area of anti-fat attitudes has been based upon either implicit or explicit expressions (Stevenson,1993). Explicitly expressed anti-fat attitudes occur consciously and implicit anti-fat attitudes occur outside of conscious awareness and/or control. The bulk of studies on anti-fat attitudes have focuses on explicit measures of attitudes and stereotypes . However, according to Bessenoff and Sherman , there is new evidence to suggest that anti-fat biases can be triggered without conscious awareness and that when compared to consciously held beliefs about obesity, there are important differences. For instance, according to (Puhl & Brownwell, 2001), their study found very strong implicit biases in health professionals who specialized in obesity treatment! While ...