Obesity, Stereotypes, & Prejudice

As I write this, I’m watching shows about people and weight loss. The first show focused on people who are truly obese, people whose health and ability to just live, even move, are affected by their weight. These are people who are desperate, who are willing to risk their lives with such drastic procedures as stomach reduction surgery in order to lose weight.

The second show featured other people, some who are truly obese, others who are obsessed with their weight because they wrestle -- and must make their weight class, even if it is not their natural size -- or because they compete in beauty pageants and must somehow appear to be the current cultural-ideal in a two-piece bathing suit.

From both shows, a few things were clear. One, America is obsessed with appearance and size. Two, they are willing to take some pretty drastic measures to achieve whatever personal weight loss goal they have. Three, treating someone differently because of their weight is one of the last forms of acceptable prejudice in this country.

In every show, a stranger publicly insulted everyone who did not have a “standard” appearance or weight. Sometimes, the overweight individual was even engaging in exercise when they were insulted. In one case, a teenager was walking his dog and strangers down the street called him “lard ass” and “fat ass.” Walking is a great form of aerobic exercise. It helps increase metabolism and stamina and burn calories. Yet, the individual could not engage in this simple, healthy activity without being verbally abused. All because he did not already possess an ideal form or figure. In another instance, a woman who was about to engage in a strenuous and healthy weight loss and workout routine was at a restaurant, talking about it with her family and friends, when a couple of young men at a nearby table overhead her and felt the need to make rude comments about “fat camp.” I assure you, the man who made the bulk of the rude comments was not an Adonis.

Yet, the woman who was planning to lose weight was planning to do it the healthy way. Despite being the heaviest person on the second show, she was probably one of the healthier individuals, as far as her relationship with food went, than the other two. She lost nearly forty pounds through diet and exercise, by watching what types of foods she ate and by working out with a personal trainer. The other two people focused on the show -- the wrestler and the beauty pageant contestant -- starved themselves in order to make what they felt was their ideal weight. This, despite the people who cared for them, begging them to lose weight the “right” way, by watching the types of foods they ate, eating regularly, and working out.

Thing is, I know what it is to be judged strictly by my weight. I know what it is to be riding a bicycle, go through an intersection, and be told to “move my fat ass” because someone on a motorcycle was waiting for his turn to go through the intersection and I was not able to pedal as fast as the car that went through at the same time in the same direction as me. I know what it’s like to be made to feel that I shouldn’t exercise, or engage in any physical activity, until after I lost weight. Fortunately, I no longer have that attitude and I am now more active, healthier, and happier.

Yet, even before I started exercising and losing weight and gaining muscle tone, I was a complete individual. I was intelligent, was not a glutton, had no abnormal obsession with food, enjoyed certain physical activities, and had a sexual appetite. Popular media would have people believe that none of these things were true about any overweight individual.

As writers, I think we need to be aware of stereotypes. No. We need to be more than aware. We need to be fully conscious of them. Our characters, all of our characters, should be fully developed individuals. When they’re not, we need to be fully conscious of what we are saying and demonstrating about our own beliefs and about society’s. What myths are we, as writers, perpetuating, what harm might it inadvertently cause, and who might be hurt by it? We should not allow any myths or stereotypes to enter our work without first thinking about their origins and their impact on our readers.

We can change people’s perceptions and how they respond to and treat others.