What ideas do you associate with thinness? With fatness?
If you found yourself thinking of positive attributes for thinness and negative ones for fatness, you understand weight stigma.
Weight stigma is the bias that causes us to associate weight gain and fatness with things like failure and laziness. It’s the reason people feel comfortable expressing concern about a larger person’s health, even if they know nothing about them. Oftentimes, those offering unsolicited health advice in the Instagram comments of plus-size influencers feel as if they’re doing something charitable, because weight stigma teaches us that shaming people for their size will motivate them to lose weight and be “better.” This belief that the intent behind weight-related comments is well-meaning is the reason weight stigma is the most socially acceptable form of discrimination.
But studies have shown that shaming those in larger bodies has the opposite effect. Those who have faced weight-based discrimination tend to struggle with binge eating and are more likely to be diagnosed with binge eating disorder.
The negative perception of higher-weight people is also the reason some people with eating disorders have an intense phobia of gaining weight or perceiving themselves as fat. The bias against fat people in our culture has made living in a larger body something to fear. It convinces us that thinness and optimal health is something we owe to the world at all times.
Weight stigma blames fatness on a lack of self-control and puts thinness on a pedestal. So it’s no wonder why when someone is secretly struggling with a restrictive eating disorder, people tend to be quick to applaud their “self-control” and “discipline.” These compliments keep the eating disorder strong and feed into the belief that weight loss is the key to earning approval.
When we internalize weight stigma, we start to believe that losing weight is the only way we will find love, happiness, and success. We equate weight with personal worth and let it determine whether or not we think we deserve respect.
Whether you are trying to cope with feelings of shame or trying to avoid weight gain at all costs, false beliefs about weight can keep you trapped in your eating disorder.
Countering the assumptions and stereotypes perpetuated by weight stigma can help you heal. Remember that many factors go into body size, health can exist at every size, and that your weight doesn’t say anything about what you eat, how you move your body and most importantly who you are.
Weight stigma is certainly not the only factor that contributes to eating disorders. But in a culture where weight loss is celebrated and weight gain is condemned, it’s difficult to develop a healthy relationship with your body. If we can separate weight from all the meanings we have attached, it’s more likely that we can go on to live lives where weight is not a constant concern.
If you’re a California resident, our team of Health at Every Size-informed eating disorder clinicians can help you undo the harm caused by weight stigma. Schedule a free 15-minute consultation with us to determine if our online eating disorder therapy is right for your recovery journey.
