Is It Okay To Be Fat Analysis

Also, going to the gym shows power relations between fat and thin individuals. Discrimination against fat individuals is socially and acceptable form of oppression because law thinks that they are overweight due to their poor health choices (Martin, Nov 16). Kirkland says fat is not protected in civil rights laws unlike race, religion, sex, national origin, age, and disability (Kirkland 401). This is because "protected traits are recognized as history of oppression and are understood to be outside the realm of personal choice" (Kirkland 401). Fatness, in contrast, is seen through discourses such as: overeating, laziness, and people who have a choice to change their diet to become thin (Kirkland 401). Discourses are "socially constructions of knowledge …show more content…
They found out by using an BMI index that a 40 year old women who weighs 135 pounds, and a 40 year old women who weighs 300 pounds have the same mortality risk, if they both follow the four healthy behaviours such as: no smoking, no drinking, eating 5 servings of fruits and vegetables, and doing moderate exercise (“Why It's Okay To Be Fat and APA," n.d.). Thus, normalization of discrimination against fat individuals makes a stigma against fatness where workplaces privilege thin individuals over fat individuals (Kirkland 408-409). For example, an interviewee Jacqueline said “she went for her interview at a job and a month after being on the job she asked her employer “Why didn’t you take me in the beginning? Was it because of my weight and how tall I was? And he looked at me and he said “yes.” (Kirkland 408-409). Normalization of discrimination against fat individual’s shows that they are marginalized, and thin individuals are privileged and preferred over fat individuals (Kirkland