What We Don't Talk About When We Talk About Fat

by Aubrey Gordon

Anti-fat bias doesn’t just impact our ability to get hired—it also impacts our wages. Scientists at the University of Exeter found that, in England, women who are just one stone (14 pounds) over their BMI-mandated weight earned over 1,500 pounds ($1,867) less than a thinner woman.31 In the United States, the findings are even more troubling. A 2010 study published in the Journal of Applied Psychology found staggering salary inequities based on size. “Heavy women earned $9,000 less than their average-weight counterparts; very heavy women earned $19,000 less. Very thin women, on the other hand, earned $22,000 more than those who were merely average.”32 Conversely, men’s salaries increased with weight gain—until those men became fat.