Why Are Overweight Women Judged More Harshly Than Overweight Men?

[MandyRuth]

#FatBias #Women

There is no doubt that weight stigma (and the biases that come with it) has an incredibly damaging impact upon people, especially the judgement and rejection they face.

In a 2016 study, a team of psychologists from the University of Surrey and the University of Oxford analyzed how male and female interviewers judged the attractiveness of potential employees. Female interviewers judged heavier men and women applicants as equally unattractive. But men gave their own gender a pass for being overweight, ranking male applicants' attractiveness as less of a problem while expressing a noticeable distaste for overweight women.

Female-specific weight biases have been found in earlier studies as well: 2009 2013

What are your thoughts and theories about this finding? Why do you think overweight women are judged more harshly than overweight men?

This is a legitimate question based off of scientific findings, so please be civil and educated with your answers.

[hellionthesagereborn]

Why are poorer guys judged more harshly then poor women? #Poorbias #Men
Also why are short men judged more harshly then short women? #Shortbias #Men
Why are virgin men judged more harshly then virgin women? #Virginbias #Men
Why are shy guys judged more harshly then shy women? #Shybias #Men
Would you like me to keep going? This is a stupid question. Both are judged, women are judged on looks because biologically their bodies are what they contribute to reproduction, men are judged on their bodies because a good genetic profile means increased survival but they are also judged on their resource acquisition because raising children requires significant amount of resources which the woman would not be able to get on her own. Stop acting like only women are unfairly judged, not only is it not true but in fact women get away with murder (literally) simply because they are women. Men are judged for every little thing and found wanting women generally get a free pass on most everything (hence why we claim poverty is a womans issue even though 80% of the homeless are male, or why women get reduced sentenences, specifically a third of the sentencing of a man for commiting the same crime.

[MandyRuth]

Again. That was not the point of the question and you are getting defensive for no reason (I'm guessing personal issues). I was simply looking for an explanation to this finding, but guys have to get all bent out of shape just because I asked specifically about women. It is not an attack on men. I feel like I can't share findings like this anymore simply because some guys on here get offended. Both men and women experience different problems in life. It is not a competition. I get that. Its highly pathetic that we can no longer have a civil and educated conversation on here because everything is construed as being "hatred of men" or "hatred of women". I am sorry you have taken such offense to my question.

[hellionthesagereborn]

I'm not getting defensive, I'm getting tired of women constantly crying "Woah is me" and acting like life is so incredibly unfair to them when in fact its not. As I pointed out we all are judged on things, that's nature. Your just immediately talking about bias against women, like every other woman, but ignoring the substantially greater bias against men, men are getting sick of it. Its constant, it never lets up that's all we hear day in and day out is women bitching about this or that and how the world treats them Oh so unfairly, even though when you look you will see that you have it no worse then any one else and in fact have it a lot better. As I said women are judged on their bodies because of biology, you carry the child therefore your physical health and structure matter more then it does for a man because if something is wrong with your body, you and any possible offspring will die during the birthing process, men don't have that to be worried about.

[hellionthesagereborn]

That's why men while they are also judged on attractiveness, as I said we are all looking for people with good genetics because it means they will have higher survivability, they are also judged on their ability to acquire resources, because that is not strictly related to their body their is not as strong a focus on their body as their is for women. Again, this is biology.

If you want a civil coneversation that's fine, don't pull the hashtag fat bias hashtag women crap because that just sounds like your bitching and whining, maybe point out the substantial bias and double standards women place on men so we know that your not just going to bitch and whine that your life is so damn hard like every other woman on this site, in the media, etc. does. Lets be honest, if this was reversed and it affected men you wouldn't find any reason to comment on it, because that's how this shit works, if it affects women we need to hear about, if it affects men we can fuck off.

[hellionthesagereborn]

because apparently we are not people. Its the same bullshit every day and the fact that you haven't even noticed this trend suggests that this is just about self pity and not about trying to understand the subject. If you would have pointed to the study then asked why their would be no problem, but you didn't. You did things to suggest that this was a unfair bias, a double standard that we should all feel bad about (we won't (just as you don't feel bad about discriminating against short men)). That's where you screwed up. You inserted opinion, some subtle virtue signaling and that's what set people off. Like I said, if you bothered to do the reverse (point out any of the biases men face) maybe we wouldn't feel like we are being attacked at every turn, if you even acknowledged that the reverse happens, we might not have felt like you where trying to shame us. But you didn't. The fact is we are all sick and tired of the constant finger wagging by women. Just something to consider.

[MandyRuth]

Again, you are taking a simple question way out of context and trying to create drama. People like you are the reason we can't have civil conversations on here because you always have to subject your personal anger into everything and make it into a gender-war, when it was simply a gender related question. I'm sorry you feel that way, I really am. It sounds like you have a lot of personal issues regarding women that you need to sort out.

[hellionthesagereborn]

No I'm not. I pointed out the things you stated that gave the impression that YOU where creating drama and playing the victim, I then pointed out ways to prevent that, I then proceeded to answer your question. You are the problem. All men are not freaking out over nothing, we are not all responding this way with out purpose, that would be a stupid assumption now wouldn't it? Their is a reason for the responses that you got, I explained that to you. If you would stop to listen instead of starting fights you would realize that. You started this with a bias question and approach, it was not without bias, you made it a point to put in #fatbais #women which gave away what you where really trying to do. Its very simple, be sincere in wanting to understand don't claim to want to understand but in reality use it as a platform to claim discrimination where their is none. This is what many women do and that's why men respond the way they do, we are tired of it.

[hellionthesagereborn]

I don't have personal issues on the topic, what I have is statistics and data showing rampant discrimination and mistreatment of men. You pushed the agenda that women where being unfairly discriminated against and it was men's fault. You started that not me. I told you how you could have approached this question without getting the response you did, you proceeded to bitch about me and men. Be fair and sincere and this won't be an issue you have to deal with all that often, its that simple.

[MandyRuth]

I am not carrying on this conversation if all you do is rant. You need help. Seriously.

[pixelator2000]

They are, because women and their social value are based more on their looks thanks to centuries of patriarchal male dominance of culture and society. We now have a huge global industry based on women making themselves up and decorations designed to appeal to much of the same aesthetic paradigms that were foisted on women for centuries, literally 'buying' into the belief that women are mainly ornamental. As a man, I find myself attracted to a wide variety of women of all colors and shapes and styles.

Overweight men are also judged, but not as harshly (by society in general). Which is not to say overweight men have it easy, of course. Our culture still clings pretty tenaciously to body shaming in general.

[MandyRuth]

I agree. Thank you for providing a well educated answer to this question :)

[Briee_00]

I would say because women have a bigger stigma of what they "should" look like than men. Like on social media women are pushed to have a certain body and look a certain way more harshly than men.

[apple24]

Anyone who overweight is going to be judge for lack of self respect and self care. To be honest no one wants to fuck a fat ass. Unless it's your niche. Gross. -written from a Fat girl

[bang678]

I think in general women are expected to keep up appearances more so than men.

[blondfrog]

Whatever, I see fat girls getting in shape good looking guys way more than I see obese guys getting thin girls. Fat women can still be appealing to some guys, because most of them have big boobs. I don't care what that article says. BBW women get praised now for being BBW's and even get all these modeling positions. You never hear of BBM (Big beautiful men) or BHM (Big handsome men) do you? No you don't exactly! Even my one cousin who is fairly obese married this handsome fit looking guy. So again I don't wanna hear it.

[MandyRuth]

Again. That is a sexual fetish thing. If you even bothered to read the article, it pertains to judgement in the workplace.

[blondfrog]

So only judgement in one type of environment? Just cause they get judged more doesn't mean they get discriminated more, if that makes sense. Like prejudice is not just saying how you feel out loud about a certain feature you don't like, but its also thinking of discrimination. Fat guys have it worse trust me!

[wilco999]

Interesting question and can't really understand the bite back you've had from men as you don't seem to have particularly wanted to incite a sexism debate. I do believe women in general are judged more harshly on looks and there is of course much greater emphasis on women to appear attractive with makeup etc.

If I'm being brutally honest I think I would judge both sexes negatively if they were overweight as to me it suggests laziness in personal life which may well translate into laziness professionally too.

[Anonymous]

The title of this question is a lie. They have BBW nightclubs in the USA. They also have plus size models and all of them are female NOT male. When some guy complains about fat women only liking him, people tell him to go for personality and/or he should be grateful that someone likes him, but when its a woman who complains about fat men liking them people say don't settle. If a guy is fat and can't get a woman, then automatically people tell him that he needs to get his ass into the gym. The term "BBW" was created to include overweight women and don't let me get into the articles online telling men the "advantages" of dating a fat woman.

[MandyRuth]

That is a different issue. That is a sexual fetish that a select group of men have. I am talking about judgement within a professional setting, where appearance should have no influence on judgement, but it does.

[Opinion Owner]

Still fat men are looked at as slobs, pigs and bums. Fat men and short skinny men are the least promoted out of men and yes fat women are the least promoted out of women and are passed up for skinner short or tall women so when it comes to corporate America, only the tall mid height muscular/skinny men and the tall/short/skinny women get ahead more.

[Opinion Owner]

And they have that fetish because of what? Social programming. With the media pushing fat women acceptance some guys will take their suggestions into consideration and go for fat women some guys go after fat women because its all they can get so i hardly think its only because of some fetish

[josepppiiii]

My wife is very overweight and carries it all around her waist to where when we go out sometimes she gets asked if she is pregnant. Now I wouldn’t have dated someone like that when I was younger. The reason I do now is because I don’t really care about looks I care about if someone is nice to me and excited to spend time with me and values me. So to answer your question I would say the reason guys are like that towards overweight girls is because they are what people think and want a certain stigma. But for me and I don’t know if I’m good looking or not because I’ve heard it all but I’m with a very big girl because she’s fun and nice to me

[Anonymus2017]

This question sounds more like "let's bully men for being fat" rather than "fat shaming is wrong".

As for how harsh the judging is. Well let's put it this way. You never really see people being bullied do you?

There are probably more men being relentlessly bullied out there than there are women for being fat.

Just because you don't see it. Doesn't mean it doesn't happen equally.

As for your scientific evidence. It is very outdated. A lot can happen in two years.

[MandyRuth]

Again, another "triggered" man. That was not the point of my question at all and if you are going to get over sensitive about it, don't bother replying. And 2 years for research; that is not outdated.

[MemeSupreme]

Well you did ask for his thoughts on this. lmao

[Anonymous]

Why are men judged by their earnings and women are not?
Why are men judged by their height but women are not?
Why are men judged by their job but women are not?
Why are men judged by their confidence but women are not?

Life’s rough.

[MandyRuth]

I knew I would "trigger" someone with this question. I am looking for valid insight, not bitching and complaining. Show me some scientific evidence for your claims, then we will talk.

[Opinion Owner]

Yes I suppose life experience is indeed worthless. Best ignore me in favour of these other accredited scientists.

[BigDaddy75]

I'm not so sure thats true I always see thicj bbw with men and see big men alone i think bigger men are judged way more the women but thats just mhat I've seen and think I could be wrong

[MandyRuth]

Again. That's a sexual fetish that men mostly have. I am talking about in a professional environment.

[BigDaddy75]

I could be wrong and i wasn't meaning it sexual i mean dating and more but i do think women get treated different in the workforce

[Anonymous]

Today's society pictures women should be pretty and slim... Not all men think that way but you get a lot and I mean a lot of people brain washed by assholes in magazines and that's why you get a lot of women with eating dissorders.. and for the men it's not always easier by the way you get superficial bitches that think they are better and shit but it was natural for men to be bigger then the women

[dropkicknj13]

Because straight men don't judge other men for attractiveness, but women judge everyone

[evank]

That's definitely not true. Maybe in the past, but extremely overweight women are almost a fetish at this point. Sought after by many at the very least

[MandyRuth]

Again, that is a sexual fetish that men have. I am talking about judgement within a professional setting.

[Learn2_farm]

Hmm extremely overweight or just medically.. extreme to me is when the amount of fat masks their natural bodyshape so.. for the average woman that would prolly be Close to mid 200s.. I don't like skinny or 300lb women as much as 160-220 ish depending on their height. But the study was broad ad had to many factors involved... could just be a physical labor thing. I didn't see a breakdown of what roles were covered. But manual labor would be easy.. overweight women aren't not equivalent to over weight men.. in a lot of cases overweight men are more effective for labor bc they have strength from just their body weight and hormone makeup so they can easily carry the extra weight and use it as extra leverage sometimes. Women can but much less so as they may have issues even controlling their own momentum in these scenarios. Other than that.. males are visual females much less so and the male will likely not have an attraction to the male applicant an will for the female regardless of how she looks which is bad if she doesn't look appealing to him there will be a natural recognition of a mate thats not ideal almost repulsion perhaps.. an since he won't have that subconscious effect if he's straight with the man then it's just a big capable guy.. an obviously guys can get to big an be similar to women who can't carry themselves well it's far more rare. But I'd need to see what jobs they were applying for to speculate much further.

[qwert1234]

Because men are visual and women are emotional.
Men like what's pleasing on their eyes, women wants connection.

[waynej200]

Its cuz what the oppisite sex finds more attractive.

[stuntbrain]

Males tend to be much more dependent on visual input, while females typically integrate greater emotional assessment into decision-making.

[beefcakebradybatson]

Too many of us black men almost REQUIRE black women (and any woman they date or marry) to be an obese slobbette. I've never given a fatty the FIRST, much less second look.

[Sataya]

You expect men to be fat! Women are more self-conscious, so it is suprising.

[OnePieceFan]

cuz women are always judged first and foremost on looks.

[Edanurus]

Yes but underweight men are judged more harshly than overweight women in my experience.

[Edanurus]

Realised that I didn't actually answer the question with that.

Different priorities when it comes to what people want. Women just aren't that bothered by looks as much as guys are though they have different equally as shallow requirements for men.

[ovoxo_]

Because men do not find overweight women attractive. That's why. Is there a problem?

[MandyRuth]

I think you totally missed the point of the question.

[ovoxo_]

I read your post over again. I don't think I did at all. Let me know what I missed?

[Learn2_farm]

Do they? I don't and I'm very in great shape an find what would be considered obese for bmi far more attractive I don't think I've ever dated a skinny girl lol. An a ton of studies and polls confirm that.. tho I bet men are hesitant to say that sometimes... but why if overweight women report more sequel encounters and polls of men find on average they prefer heavier to skinny girls then whose the one putting all these body image standards. Tho I think this study is preliminary to vague for such a complex issue.. they have to isolate more factors.. job role.. income.. attractiveness aside from weight.. interviewer biases. They group to many factors together or need to continue with less factors.

[Hulk30]

no i dont because fat women who're curvy generally can get sex much easier than fat men can

[Anonymous]

Because some. Are supposed to be beautifgul that's How they attract a mate. Men, on the other hand need only confidence.

[Learn2_farm]

That's pretty true.. men are visual and women take that into account but I think it's dwarfed by confidence and competence when they size men up. So a male interviewer will more than likely not have any sequel biases on their Male applicants. And if it's a labor intensive job that's a clear answer. Overweight men are just gonna be far more physically capable than overweight women if it involves strenuous effort. On a whole that's true but more so for overweight women.. I bet work place incidence of injury or accidents is also much high for overweight women than most other groups. They are both big but males have the hormonal makeup to compensate and even use their weight for advantage women can but less likely as they will be weaker carrying similar weight so even their own body weight could cause an accident.. again in labor positions.

[Furuok]

Women worry men don't

[Waffles731]

Nope

[MandyRuth]

That is not a valid answer Waffles. Did you even read the question? lol

[Waffles731]

Oh I thought that just that said are fat women judged more harshly than fat men, sorry I was falling asleep there

[Waffles731]

I honestly think there is a point where gender doesn't matter, if someone is 500 pounds, I don't see people caring about gender, just that they weigh more than a Bengal Tiger

[MandyRuth]

Well at that point, I don't think they would even be in the workplace or have a job.

[Anonymous]

yes.

[MandyRuth]

The question was "Why" not "Do you think".

[Opinion Owner]

bc there's a standard that society planted on the mind of the people that women should be thin and sexy than fat and overweight.

[Learn2_farm]

Who planted these Ideas.. it seems to have started long ago.. but polls and studies show its not really true, men do judge on looks heavily but the majority do not align with medical definitions of obesity. I don't think thin is sexy at all.. it's more likely a boyish figure. Infact I'm pretend my perfect height to weight ratio may teatter on morbidly obese for women... an I'm not obese at all I'm far from it.. I love fitness, shoulder, bicep, and ab veins that are always fully visible so my preference doesn't come from a lack of opportunity. Any it's mostly butt and boobs tho.. I'm fine with a flat chest as long as the got a butt lol... and those things can get huge before become unattractive in women.. or most women. So whose telling women they should be thin, if men actually like them chubby and chubby women report much much more sequel opportunity? If it's men.. their either outliers.. or lying so they don't have to say they like fat girls hahha.. which is interesting too bc men will pick on their friends for it.. and yet prefer fatter women too.. hahaha. The study if it involves manual labor is bc of physical competency and women prolly don't understand the major difference in an overweight guy vs the women and men do. Overweight men are often more powerful than their in shape counterparts at least in short durations.. especially if leveraging body weight is possible and for women... their not that much stronger and significantly less coordinated.. they could be hurt by just losing balance while attempting something strenuous bc a lot larger portion of their strength is needed just to move and maneuver. They would have to follow up with more selective studies tho to narrow the possible reasons down to a workable level. This is a discovery study or tested theory but no way to draw the reason from just this.