A personal essay published this week by Refinery 29—the site that recently pledged to feature more plus-size women—draws attention to a type of workplace discrimination that is hardly ever talked about: the bias against heavier women.
The stats on the topic are pretty staggering: a study found that 60% of overweight women report being discriminated against. Obese individuals receive worse ratings as subordinates, coworkers, and bosses. They are viewed as less emotionally stable and less extroverted than their “normal weight” peers. And over a 25-year career, an average-weight woman earns nearly $400,000 less than a woman who is 25 pounds below the average weight. The detrimental effect of a woman’s weight on her paycheck is amplified as she gets heavier.
Alongside those figures, consider that 67% of American women are plus-size, which means discrimination based on body size is costing women dearly. The essay’s author described how she stood up to one fat-shamer in the workplace, but she also delivered a larger message about the often-overlooked bias: “We have to talk about it. We have the ability to pull prejudice into the light and force it to face scrutiny. The shame is not ours to carry.”
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