Our society places increasing importance on beauty and having an “ideal” body. In particular, it is the media and advertising that promote it the most. And without realizing it, we consume news almost all day long about what our bodies should be like.
Thinness is the focus and there is no room for fatphobia. The result of this is that people end up having a distorted image of themselves. It affects their self-esteem, making them feel ashamed because their body does not resemble the one it “should” be.
What is fatphobia?
Society normalizes and pushes people who are overweight and/or obese to reject others. This is discrimination against people who do not have normative bodies.
This phenomenon, fatphobia, affects people who do not have the socially accepted weight and do not meet the established standards. Therefore, people with this bias, sometimes unconsciously, are led to discriminate against overweight people.
Because of this bias, they associate fat people with a lack of self-esteem and think that they lack the will to exercise or eat a healthy diet. They even go so far as to think that overweight people are worth less or are inferior to others.
Psychologists who are experts in eating disorders say that fatphobic people, deep down, have a powerful fear of gaining weight. This makes them reject everything that has to do with fatness. This is just another self-esteem problem, as it is related to the fear of not being liked, of not fitting into the canons of beauty, or of being rejected.
Fatphobia is:
Hatred, rejection, and violence that fat people suffer for being fat.
Prejudice regarding the habits, customs, and health of fat people.
The belief is that they are fat due to a lack of willpower or self-care.
That the fat body is the result of laziness or idleness.
Not taking into account economic, cultural, genetic, educational, and social conditions.
Failure to take into account illness conditions and medical treatment.
Is fatphobia discrimination?
Yes, it is discrimination, as it limits the full development of the lives of those who suffer from it. Fat people face restrictions and barriers when it comes to finding a job, establishing friendships and sexual relationships, as well as accessing quality medical care.
They also suffer harassment in the street, on public transport, or in schools. They have difficulty finding clothes that fit them, furniture that fits them, they are afraid of going to the beach and showing their body, among other things. Wherever they go, they encounter a society that rejects, stigmatizes, and censors them, and that insists that having the body they have is their responsibility. This fills them with guilt and shame, causing mental health problems such as anxiety, depression,or eating disorders.
Where is there fatphobia?
Fatphobia is a structural and systematic discrimination, that is, we find it everywhere and it works automatically without being questioned. It is a thought rooted in society, which is reproduced all the time, by everyone, everywhere.
We find fatphobia in social institutions, in our customs, in politics, in culture, in science, in our families, friends, and in the street. Although we can find it everywhere, it has only recently been made visible and denounced.
Ways to identify fatphobia:
Using the word ” fat ” as an insult: being fat should be considered just another physical quality and not a way to offend or humiliate a person.
Bullying at school: fat people claim to have suffered some form of discrimination because of their body during their school years; inside the classroom, oppressions that occur outside are reproduced, such as racism, transphobia, homophobia, fatphobia, sexism…
Street harassment: They receive comments about their body for free, where anyone feels they have the right to express an opinion about their body; these comments come not only from people they know but also from strangers.
Medical fatphobia: the prejudice of believing that people are fat because they want to be or due to a lack of willpower; accompanied by the global alarm surrounding obesity as a risk factor, means that in medical consultations the norm is to recommend diets as a solution to any condition or ailment they present.
Employment exclusion: Image has become a determining factor when it comes to finding a job; demands on physical appearance may be more deeply rooted than other forms of discrimination. Some countries such as France and England urge people not to include photographs on CVs.
Cultural underrepresentation and sexual-affective rejection:
fat bodies are considered ugly, unpleasant, or deformed; this implies an underrepresentation in the world of culture (cinema, television, literature, photography, etc.) as well as difficulties in establishing emotional ties, especially sexual-affective ones.
Difficulty finding clothes: the aesthetic canon of the tax, practically means the non-existence of clothing for fat people from the message of “You don’t fit? Lose weight!”; finding serious difficulties in being able to get dressed.
Fatphobia in sport: the idea that fat people do not do any kind of physical activity is widely accepted; physical activity can become a space that involves mockery and punishment for those who dare to cross the imposed boundary.
How to stop fatphobia?
Stop feeding the diet culture.
Stop using the words “fat” and “fatty” as insults.
Talk about comprehensive health.
Point out fatphobic taunts, jokes, and bullying.
Betting on inclusive sport.
Stop commenting on other people’s bodies.
Working for the social and labor inclusion of fat people
Conclusion
It is almost always common to think about how our bodies look, and how to get in shape, and feel very guilty when we do not stick to our diet. Commenting on other people’s bodies and our own, constantly talking about ways to lose weight, eating with guilt, and having a bad relationship with food are all part of external and internal fatphobia.
Diet culture instills fear and hatred of fatness; it instills contempt for bodies. It removes love and self-care for our bodies, for the diversity of bodies. This discrimination has effects on the mental, physical, and social health of fat people.
Our self-concept is built from childhood with the recognition and validation of our attachment figures. If for some reason this does not happen, the child will generate an insecure base from which he or she will seek confirmation from outside to validate himself or herself internally. In this way, the influence from outside will be very important and will condition his or her experience and it will be easier to function from fatphobia.
Working on fatphobia involves working on self-love and respect, accepting ourselves as we are, and prioritizing our self-care connected to our physical and mental health. If you need guidance in this area, contact our expert psychologists to find the therapeutic approach you need.
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