Grossophobia is a set of hostile attitudes and behaviors that stigmatize and discriminate against overweight people. Contrary to the literal meaning, it does not mean “fear of fat people”, but a feeling of violent or passive antipathy, of revulsion towards overweight people.

In our society of image and body aesthetics, we often associate strong curves with a form of carelessness, lack of self-control. What to do against these received ideas, and against discrimination at work and in everyday life?

This is social discrimination directed against people who are overweight or obese. In a way “anti-fat racism”, this discrimination can affect overweight people in their personal and professional lives, wiping out critical, guilty or even violent comments about their physical appearance. On the part of employers, rejecting applications, or even on the part of the close entourage, of strangers in the street, in public transport, during medical visits: humiliations and inappropriate mockery can arise on the part of of all, in multiple contexts. 

Overweight people must constantly arm themselves to face these violent comments, structures unsuited to their weight (in hospitals, airplanes for example, where the weight of people is limited) or unfair decisions at work.

This discrimination can have serious psychological consequences on overweight people who experience it: 

• withdrawal into oneself;
• desocialization;
• psychological suffering (depression, suicide attempts, etc.). 

These people end up being ashamed of their bodies, most often shut themselves up in their homes and cut themselves off from the world. In addition, when discrimination results from exclusion from a professional position, this can lead to unemployment, social exclusion and precariousness. 

When discrimination comes from the medical world, this can push people to no longer seek treatment, increasing the risk of pathologies, which are higher when one is overweight (cardiovascular diseases, cancer, etc.).

Likewise, these people, suffering from the gaze of others, will avoid public places that can bring them well-being, such as swimming pools, sports halls, parks, where they could possibly get out of the vicious circle of being locked in. self, sedentary lifestyle and reduced physical activity.

If you are overweight yourself, start by making a list of overweight or curvy personalities who can positively influence you and show you that it is possible to be successful by being overweight. 

Even though being overweight has long been associated with dumb, mean or ugly characters in the media and the movies, these mentalities are changing. Indeed, the list of overweight personalities on the front of the stage (journalists, actors, writers, artists, etc.) continues to grow. This finally proves that the qualities are in no way related to the BMI (body mass index).

If you’re not overweight yourself, start by educating yourself on what obesity really is. The received ideas are still very present in our collective unconscious, which still believes that obesity rhymes with negligence, laziness, lack of activity and lack of will. Obesity generally results from a disease that is often hereditary, or hormonal, or other various medical factors. It is indeed a multifactorial disease and not a lack of self-control. We are not all equal when it comes to obesity.

If we want to act against this discrimination, let’s start by avoiding laughing at jokes about “fat people”, and by putting ourselves in their place, when the worst mockery, insults and humiliation on their physical appearance occurs. 

Automatic thoughts are not inevitable, and we should ask ourselves about their origins: are we too afraid of becoming fat and excluded from society?

There is a day against grossophobia, organized by the City of Paris. For this day, 1200 posters were displayed in the city, 50000 postcards distributed in town halls.