After Weight Loss I Realized How Society Is Unfair To Fat People
Omar Bazza, a therapist and YouTuber, documented his own perspective of how life changes after a big weight loss. Bazza shed 45 kg over the course of eight months. What an exceptional feat! But, Bazza’s observations post his massive weight loss is eye-opening and, to be honest, it’s pretty depressing.
If you’ve ever lost a significant amount of weight, you will be able to relate to Baza’s experience of weight bias.
Isn’t this demeaning? How do people’s perspectives change based on our appearance?
My thoughts on Weight Loss
Baza’s experience spoke loudly to me. It reminded me of how weight bias is alive and well in our society. Do you know that overweight individuals are significantly more likely to experience discrimination in areas such as employment, education, and healthcare? Well, I didn’t. After going through Baza’s Twitter thread, I did my own little research, and guess what? A study published in the International Journal of Obesity found that overweight individuals are more likely to experience discrimination in areas of work or even at home! Shocking, right?
Sadly, our society is still very superficial. Our looks play a big role in how others treat us. If we’re overweight, we’re often seen as lazy or unhealthy. If we’re too thin, we might be considered anorexic or bulimic. And if we fall somewhere in between, we’re just average.
Of course, appearance isn’t everything. But it does influence how people perceive us and, as a result, how they treat us.
If you’ve experienced weight discrimination, you know how hurtful it can be. It can make you feel like you’re not good enough or that you don’t belong.
Weight discrimination is a form of prejudice.
We need to see people for who they are on the inside, not just what they look like on the outside.