I’d like to discuss fields where intellect and savvy are supposed to be the primary consideration, but often aren’t. My inspiration for the thread is an interesting blog post at collegemisery.com. A new tenure-track colleague at her first committee meeting discusses her fellow members’ discrimination based on appearance, age, and perceived sexual orientation. Her post got me wondering about barriers to entry for fat people in academia.
Obviously illegal discrimination is occurring, even if only off-the-record and behind closed doors. I don’t think anybody doubts this (although it’s a little disconcerting to see it done so cavalierly). But why? Is it because there is a collective opinion that fat people are less intelligent than thin ones? Because they think a lack of willpower somehow extends into their professional life? Or something else entirely? It boggles me that a highly-degreed professional could look at someone’s very long and successful CV, then completely refuse to consider them as a colleague based solely on their weight.
Size/weight is at or near the bottom of criteria of what I consider a good colleague. I’ve had great co-workers who were fat and thin. I’ve had terrible co-workers who were fat and thin. I’ve known some very smart, motivated fat people and some very stupid, unmotivated thin people–with most people falling somewhere in the middle. Size/weight just doesn’t register as an employment criterion to me (outside of fields with stringent bodily requirements, like modeling or heavy labor). But then, I’m a fat person myself.
Just some background: as an undergrad, I dated an entomology grad student. I also had friends in a couple different master’s programs. While I never participated in academia myself, I was privy to the rumor-mill… I *know *the backstabbing gets nasty. But I never heard my boyfriend or any of my friends talking about the size or looks of a colleague as a mark against them.
Also, if anyone has experienced size/weight discrimination in another discipline (like upper management or human resources, where I assume similar goings-on transpire at least occasionally), your input is most welcome. Or even if you’ve never experienced this, you probably still have an opinion. Please weigh in with your thoughts!
I originally considered posting this as a poll in IMHO, but I think there’s far too much nuance to separate answers into radio buttons. I also think the topic is sufficiently divisive to warrant consideration as a debate. But if a mod thinks it belongs somewhere else, I won’t object to a forum move. Thanks and stuff!
Why is it obvious that illegal discrimination against fat people is occurring in academia? It’s not obvious to me that it’s happening, but I’m not very attentive…
Yes, sorry, my mistake; I thought you were originally claiming it was intrinsically obvious, not obvious from the blog post, which I’ve read and been horrified by now.
No problem! I’m naturally cynical, so I may be overestimating the frequency with which this happens. But, given that it does happen more than never, I’d like to hear the other side.
One could argue that there’s no reason to take the extra risk of a fat person keeling over from a heart attack 2 months into their job. But it’s taking it a bit far, and the same argument could be applied to women who “might” get pregnant (and that’s certainly illegal here in the UK).
I’m surprised by it being an issue in academia though. What will happen to all the jolly, bumbling, rotund professors?
To answer the question in big red letters at the en of the post “Is this normal?” In my experience: no.
We have remarked and chuckled over really botched interviews, awful letters and Cvs, but never about age, weight, ethnicity etc. I’ve been on a lot of academic searches and I’ve never seen what’s being described occur. However, it wouldn’t surprise me, because there are plenty of jerks in academia, and all it takes is one or two to set the tone for a meeting of any type. So the author could be working with a particularly toxic group of faculty. However, I would be floored if my experiences were the outliers and the described ones were at all typical.
Please remember the purpose of College Misery. It’s a forum for venting and dragging out your most extreme cases of unhappiness. It’s not meant to be a nuanced discussion of academic issues. That’s what the Chronicle for Higher Ed is for.
Unfortunately, even in academia, some people do judge by appearances. It’s faster (although as you pointed out, less accurate), and for some people, that’s what matters.
I don’t know why people are continually surprised that the short, the ugly, and the fat are still discriminated against. I never expect it to change. Thankfully, my chocolate and peanut butter help me feel better about it.
I know that there have been debates over whether a company could/should be able to discriminate against smokers, on the basis that they were more likely to have health problems that could affect their ability to do their job and cost the company more for its employee health insurance.
It’s a good question whether, or how much, an employer should consider the general level of health of a person they’re considering hiring; and it’s another good question just how much it’s reasonable to guess about a person’s probable level of health just by what you can see about them (e.g. their size).
