News sources keep obesity prejudice alive

by Yvonne McCarthy (Bariatric Girl)
(Plano, TX)

You may have heard this story about the airline passenger that had to stand for 7 hours due to an obese passenger. As I read the story and wondered whether it was even true or not, I noticed they used an old PhotoShopped picture that surfaced in 2006 for the story. Here's the link to the story.

I contacted the editor and the reporter and they did add the information about the picture and that it was not the passenger in the story. It was a small victory because if you read the horrible comments below the story it reminds me there will always be prejudice regarding people that are overweight. I guess I fool myself sometimes when I think it's starting to change, but I was shocked by the comments below this story from people that hide behind their anonymity and say such hateful things.

I have a Google search set up for stories about weight loss surgery and obesity and wherever possible I comment so that I just might change one person. I really didn't bother with this story because it was so awful.

Sensationalism sells no matter who it hurts and this one certainly hurt me. Here's hoping to a better future for some sliver of decent human respect and forgetting the ones that will never change.

Related Pages:
- Obesity Discrimination
- Cause and Effect of Obesity
- Other Gastric bypass blog posts by Bariatric Girl

Comments for
News sources keep obesity prejudice alive

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An honest reaction NEW
by: Beth (Who Hid the Donuts)

I saw that article and the photo, though I didn't realize it was an older, Photoshopped one. I DID wonder how on earth they could have allowed that man to sit out in the aisle like that, but being Photoshopped pretty much answers that question.

That said, I will honestly say that the obese man's situation made me suck air. It even catches my attention, and have spent half my life overweight. I don't think or say hateful things. If anything, it makes me hurt for them because I know how bad I felt at a smaller but still very obese weight. I hurt for them, but I still think to myself, "WOW..."

So many people have addictions that nobody sees and nobody knows about. You may not know that your coworker is a coke head. You may not know that your neighbor is a compulsive gambler. You may not know that your sister is an alcoholic. You may not know that your husband or boyfriend is addicted to porn. But EVERYBODY knows you medicate with food. And what adds insult to injury is, folks don't have to gamble or drink or do drugs or view porn, but you HAVE to eat. So, our drug of choice is also a necessity.

But also unlike all the other addictions, being an overeater may be the only one that is noticeable as well (though one could say that some of the others rear their heads and become obvious eventually). We WEAR our addictions every single day. How anybody could make FUN of that is beyond me.

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