ABSTRACT
One problem we may face in practicing our avoided activities is size discrimination. Evidence of discrimination against fat people, in general, and fat women, in particular, is sobering. Health professionals discriminate against fat patients in ways that harm their health across the lifespan. Many fat patients report being evaluated only for their weight – when they go in for an ear infection or birth control they may get a lecture about obesity. Fat people are discriminated against at work, school, and in other domains. Fatness is also unique as a focus of discrimination in that people who experience it are given the task of avoiding it by changing their bodies. One way of turning down (refusing) programming that we didn't choose – as well as responding more effectively to size discrimination by doctors or anyone else – is by producing our own programming, so it reflects our creativity, self-expression, and values.
