Outlaw discrimination against fat people

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I agree, some people are far too nasty towards fat folk, it's disgusting. There's no reason to act that way towards someone.

Reply 21

hamijack

Yeah, have fun with that chubs.

Reply 22

geetar

Original post by Ripper-Roo

You don't have to respect anyone. It's peculiar how you refer to her as a piece of crap when all she is is a bigger size. Why do you have resentment towards the overweight?

Did you watch the video? Or read the article? She's clearly a lazy, work shy, self-entitled person who blames everyone but herself for her being fired, or for everything else that goes wrong in her life. She's also a thief. And then she has the nerve to blame people calling hr out as 'phobic'? So, no, a bigger size is not 'all' she is. Being fat is a symptom of her general laziness and lack of responsibility

And it's ridiculous to say that overweight people don't affect anyone but themselves:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/journalists/laura-donnelly/10174593/Obesity-bankrupting-the-NHS-warns-peer.html

No one has any problem with ostracising smokers. Even alcoholics are seen to be fair game (at least by some). And yet fat people are coddled by the likes of you and the op. People need to take responsibility for their own actions, and that is why I have an issue with comparing obesity - a largely preventable, self-inflicted disease - with real prejudice like racism. Whenever you or anyone else compares the two, you are belittling real problems and real prejudice.

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 23

Tom_green_day

Original post by geetar

'You've got qualifications haven't you'
'Yeah I got all my GCSEs'
... Oh.
OT: I thought OP was just someone with an opinion that I strongly disagreed about until I read the third line and realised it was a troll. If anything, I think our society is too tolerant of people who waste our resources, especially the time and money of the NHS.

Reply 24

Ripper-Roo

Original post by geetar

I don't agree with the stigma smokers, alcoholics or drug users etc face either. I'm not coddling her, I just don't think it's right to attack someone on the basis of their size.

Reply 25

wildrover

Original post by Ripper-Roo

I don't agree with the stigma smokers, alcoholics or drug users etc face either. I'm not coddling her, I just don't think it's right to attack someone on the basis of their size.

But the rest of us are paying for her lifestyle choice because she's too fat to get a job, too lazy to turn up on time and will cost us a fortune in medical care.

Reply 26

Ripper-Roo

Original post by wildrover

But the rest of us are paying for her lifestyle choice because she's too fat to get a job, too lazy to turn up on time and will cost us a fortune in medical care.

If she's too lazy to turn up on time that isn't a case with overweight people specifically, it can apply to anyone who just doesn't care, unless there are genuine reasons.

She should pay for her own medical care.

In terms of employment it's difficult because employers should be free to hire anyone they want but at the same time her size shouldn't affect her ability to do a job, unless she makes it an issue, which could be the case.

She (or other fat people) shouldn't have to lose weight because they are told to

Reply 27

Oschene23

What about people with Ginger hair? No-one ever cares about the horrific discrimination against them in some cases.

Reply 28

x-pixie-x

I often don't find it easy to be sympathetic towards people who are obese because so many health problems are caused by it and they're costing us a fortune - and yes I know smoking and alcohol are the same, but I have always wondered how you can let yourself get to 20 stone and not see there's a problem with it. Even with how it looks because its not pretty. In history only the rich were super fat from lazing around stuffing their faces all day. 2013 and its the norm for some. I don't buy all this hormonal imbalance stuff either, it's greed and lack of exercise

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Reply 29

username944192

Original post by Octohedral

Just thank god you've never been in their position. Being fat is hell - nobody would choose it. Those in that position almost invariably feel like they are trapped in an unbreakable cycle. I have been there, and I have lost weight, and I can tell you laziness doesn't come into it - it is far harder to change the habits of a lifetime than it is to have always been active. And that's without those who are ill.

Making a fat person pay double on a bus will not get you a seat, so what is it supposed to achieve? Humiliation? Stopping fat people using public transport?

I fully agree the best way to tackle the problem is to tackle obesity. Particularly improving compulsory PE in schools.

I disagree entirely. I haven't been in their position because I eat well and exercise. Unless you actually have a condition that makes it difficult for you to lose weight, you DO choose to be fat. Making a fat person pay double won't get me a seat, no, but it reflects the amount of space you're taking up. If you're too fat to fit in one seat on a bus, and you are going to sit down thus taking up two, you should pay for two.

Reply 30

Alfissti

Original post by Lady Comstock

I find it abhorrent that we currently allow "fatism/fatophobia" - or discrimination against overweight people - to go unpunished in our society.

How is it fair that many overweight people can be sacked from their jobs, refused service, made to order extra airline seats etc. for the way they look?

Overweight people contribute so much in tax to this country through their buying power and sustain the big snack brands.

We need to outlaw fatophobic discrimination and incitement of hatred towards fat people - just as we do with race, religion, etc.

What have you been smoking? You made me laugh so much on this "Overweight people contribute so much in tax to this country through their buying power and sustain the big snack brands."

Have you checked the latest stats on how many people who are on benefits because they had become fatsos? I accept it that there are some and a small minority who are that way due to medical conditions but doesn't it strike odd to you the vast majority of benefit scroungers are big fat tubs of lard?

I'm not going to hide this but I for one would never hire a fat person. SSPs cost a company money and the fatter the person the more likelier they are to need it. My profits are more important than some fatso having a job.

If I send a fatso that moves as slow as molasses chances are my clients aren't going to be happy, as an employer and business owner I need to do the right thing and that means the sustainability of my business.

Fat persons do weigh more, this means in addition to taking up more space they also increase the consumption of vehicles ferrying them as well as accelerates wear and tear to it :smile:

The welfare system has made too many people shriek personal responsibility it's time for potential discrimination to correct that, it starts with parents who feed junk to their brats all the time and that brat grows up becoming a fat tub of lard too.

Reply 31

donutaud15

Original post by x-pixie-x

if you've ever experience hormonal imbalance then you'd know how some people feel. im not saying that all fat people have medical issues which didn't help their weight but people like you are just so ignorant of others who genuinely suffers. I'm speaking from experience here and I have medical issues that made me put on weight. no im not greedy, infact I don't eat a lot and I also exercise when possible. labelling people like me as greedy because we have medical issues makes you a horribly ignorant human being.

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Reply 32

Rob da Mop

I've heard two very different views about this in the last couple of weeks. The first was from a dietician, who told me that in 30 years we'll look back on casual discrimination against fat people like we look back on casual racism in the 70s. The other was a GP who told me that we're too accepting of fat people and that in 30 years we'll look back on how we accepted obese people like how we accepted everyone smoking in buildings in the 70s.

Reply 33

Octohedral

Original post by infairverona

I disagree entirely. I haven't been in their position because I eat well and exercise. Unless you actually have a condition that makes it difficult for you to lose weight, you DO choose to be fat.

What you don't understand is that it's mental as much as physical. I am not lazy - I have a maths degree - but I found changing the mindset I was brought up with extremely difficult. If it was that easy to change, why would there be any fat people? Do you think they enjoy it?

To clarify, I don't think we should say it's okay to be fat, but we should help people change and teach their children good habits, rather than ostracise them.

Making a fat person pay double won't get me a seat, no, but it reflects the amount of space you're taking up. If you're too fat to fit in one seat on a bus, and you are going to sit down thus taking up two, you should pay for two.

You're entitled to your opinion, and empirically you are correct, but personally I think there is a distinct lack of humanity here.

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 34

Aoide

Umm no. For the majority of people being fat is a choice. Yes you can have medical conditions which make you fat but that is a minority of cases used as an excuse by far too many people. It is completely different from racism, sexism, ect.. Those aren't things you choose and they don't give any indication as to who you are as a person. For the majority of fat people they made the choice to eat too much or exercise too little. I feel completely within my rights to judge someone based on a decision they made, you have no right to force me to accept your life choices especially when they have serious negatives to yourself and society.

This is coming from someone who up until 1.5 years ago was an inactive overeater headed on the road to obesity. I'm very grateful for the comments made about my weight as they made me get off my lazy *** and lose weight and now im much happy and healthier for it.

Reply 35

Sabertooth

Original post by infairverona

How exactly do you propose to separate those who are fat because of health issues and those who are fat because they like food too much? Get everyone to carry round a doctor's note with them?

Reply 36

username944192

Original post by Octohedral

Original post by Sabertooth

How exactly do you propose to separate those who are fat because of health issues and those who are fat because they like food too much? Get everyone to carry round a doctor's note with them?

To be honest - and I doubt this will go down well - I am hugely critical of being fat 'because of health issues' anyway. I've never even heard of someone having such a health issue that they can't lose weight. I'm sure even if you have some kind of illness that makes you fat there are ways to get around it, if you eat 2000 healthy calories a day and exercise moderately how can you get fat? There's nothing to possibly make you fat with a regime like that even if your body tried? But I study law not biology so who knows. All I'm saying is I'd imagine it's rare for someone to actually have a health condition that makes them SO fat that they take up two seats, they're not exactly narrow.

Reply 37

cmad95

We should only outlaw discrimination about things a person can't change IE colour of skin, nationality, disability, gender(Unless someone undergoes extremely invasive surgery, but at the most part unchangeable). Obesity is a health issue that in the most extreme cases does need surgery, However most obesity cases the person can change a particular behaveour, And slim down. Which means why should a airline company for example be forced to make all there seats bigger just in case someone too big does come on the plane. There aim is to make money. Not cater for shape and size, for something that in most cases can change.

Disclaimer: I do not mean in any statement about fat people that the condition is easily changeable. I know how some people get on this site.
And also you may want to counter my point by saying religion is a perfectly changeable aspect of a person, That companies and people are not allowed to discriminate against. I would say that religion in terms of discrimination come from a purely historical infallability of it.

Reply 38

donutaud15

Original post by infairverona

I didn't mean to imply you were lazy if that's how it came across. I understand it can be difficult but it can also be done, and I know a lot of very overweight people who just don't even want to try. I think if it was less acceptable to get so, or be so, overweight that you take up two seats on public transport, people would make more of an effort. There's a lot of 'love your curves' and stuff going around which makes people who are very fat think it's okay and I personally don't think it is okay.

To be honest - and I doubt this will go down well - I am hugely critical of being fat 'because of health issues' anyway. I've never even heard of someone having such a health issue that they can't lose weight. I'm sure even if you have some kind of illness that makes you fat there are ways to get around it, if you eat 2000 healthy calories a day and exercise moderately how can you get fat? There's nothing to possibly make you fat with a regime like that even if your body tried? But I study law not biology so who knows. All I'm saying is I'd imagine it's rare for someone to actually have a health condition that makes them SO fat that they take up two seats, they're not exactly narrow.