Fat Stereotypes

Being able to wrap a beach towel around myself is a new milestone I am excited about. Eventually I'll be able to do the same with a bath towel.

One of the hardest things about being overweight is that stereotypes are often automatically assigned to fat people. I have never forgotten the time when during my senior year in high school a classmate learned I was a straight A student on the honor roll and said, "That's funny. You don't look like you get good grades."

After David and I got married, people would often assume I was his mother. Granted, I am 12 1/2 years older than my husband (and he looks even younger than he is), but I honestly think it was more due to the fact that I was so heavy and he was so thin.

I can't say much because I also often assign these same stereotypes. Sometimes when I see before/after pictures of people who have lost a lot of weight, I find myself thinking differently about the two images, even though it is the same person in both.

Here are some stereotypes that are often believed about overweight people, even though they may not be true.

• Fat people are lazy.
• Fat people are sloppy.
• Fat people are always happy.
• Fat people are funny.
• Fat people are in bad shape and never exercise.
• Fat people are fat because they have no will power.
• Fat people are fat because they eat lots of junk food.
• Fat people could stop being fat if they really wanted to.
• Fat people are stupid.
• Fat people do not make good employees.
• Fat people do not make good romantic partners.
• Fat people hate themselves.
• Fat people are lonely.

I firmly believe that fat discrimination is one of the few prejudices still overlooked today. It is rampant, especially in the U.S.