As a woman with obesity, Laura Bogart, working in offices and newsrooms full of free snacks, was aware of both her appearance and the way her coworkers looked at her. - When I wanted to eat something, I immediately thought about how I would look like the only obese person eating a cookie - says Laura.
Laura Bogart, an American freelance writer, learned to be silent as her colleagues and colleagues discussed diets and weight loss. - It was not the most daring reaction, but in such situations I just put headphones over my ears so that I would not hear their comments - says Laura.
Obese will lose his job faster
Bogart is not paranoid. Research shows that obese people are perceived in the workplace as lazy, unintelligent, sloppy, deprived of willpower, motivation and self-control, which in the opinion of employers translates into a lack of leadership skills. And the higher the body mass index of an obese person, the more likely they are that they will be stigmatized for it.
These stereotypes not only perpetuate the negative image of obese people, but can also have a direct impact on the employer's decisions about the fate of an obese employee. It is because of these stereotypes that people with obesity lose the chance of being employed in the first place in the recruitment process, professional development, promotion or loss of an already occupied job.
According to Rebecca Pearl, a psychologist at the University of Pennsylvania (USA), who conducts research on the social perception of obese people, the negative effects of stigmatization due to greater body weight are more often experienced by women than men, from the early stages of obesity. In part, this is because the level of attractiveness can have a greater impact on women's careers than men's.
Stigmatization due to weight may affect all employees of the company. "It's not only overweight and obese people who suffer, but others as well," says Rebecca Pearl. In a workforce obsessed with appearance and weight, all employees, including thin ones, may perceive themselves and their skills differently.
American fight against stigma
Except for the state of Michigan and cities such as San Francisco and Washington,obese people are not a legally protected social group against discrimination. This means that in most US states, stigmatization of weight is legal, and there is no appeals body there for the aggrieved.
Rebecca Pearl points out that in corporate diversity training, the stigmatization of importance is not taken into account. Employers indicate hostile behavior towards employees because of their race, gender or religion, but little or no negative behavior is mentioned in relationships with higher weight workers. According to Pearl, this is due to the perception of obesity itself. "You can't change your skin color, but you can treat and control obesity, so obesity is your fault, and race isn't," says Pearl.
Pearl therefore recommends that companies include the aspect of "differentness because of body size" in their diversity promotion activities. The so-called micro-aggressive behavior, directed not directly at a specific person, but at the general public, comments made casually about someone's appearance, larger size or clothes, may spread prejudice against overweight and obese people. "There is a lot of talk about weight and diets in our culture, and for some reason people are more likely to comment on someone's weight than on other physical characteristics," says Pearl.
Laura Bogart has resigned from conforming to corporate eating habits and participating in weight loss conversations. When she was younger and heard unpleasant comments, she took them painfully and remembers them as a nightmare. According to Laura, people will always look at the "bigger" ones differently.
Based on: www.edition.cnn.com
ImportantPoradnikzdrowie.pl supports safe treatment and a dignified life of people suffering from obesity. This article does not contain discriminatory and stigmatizing content of people suffering from obesity.
Magdalena Gajda A specialist in obesity disease and obesity discrimination of people with diseases. President of the OD-WAGA Foundation of People with Obesity, Social Ombudsman for the Rights of People with Obesity in Poland and a representative of Poland in the European Coalition for People Living with Obesity. By profession - a journalist specializing in he alth issues, as well as a PR, social communication, storytelling and CSR specialist. Privately - obesity since childhood, after bariatric surgery in 2010. Starting weight - 136 kg, current weight - 78 kg.