Editing Fat acceptance movement (section)

==Campaigning themes==
The fat acceptance movement argues that fat people are targets of [[hatred]] and [[discrimination]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Jaffa |first=Karen |title=Forming Fat Identities |year=2008 |isbn=9780549889717 |pages=169–70 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T2EGyNDnohMC&q=Are+fat+people+discriminated+against }}{{Dead link|date=April 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> In particular, advocates suggest obese women are subjected to more social pressure than obese men.<ref name="ifonly" /> The movement argues that these attitudes comprise a fat phobic entrenched [[societal norm]], evident in many [[social institutions]], including the [[mass media]], where fat people are often ridiculed,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cswd.org/docs/media.html |title=Council on Size and Weight Discrimination – Weight Discrimination on Television |publisher=Cswd.org |access-date=2011-12-31 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111220040815/http://www.cswd.org/docs/media.html |archive-date=2011-12-20}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Greenberg |first1=B. S. |last2=Eastin |first2=M. |last3=Hofschire |first3=L. |last4=Lachlan |first4=K. |last5=Brownell |first5=K. D. |display-authors=1 |year=2003 |title=Portrayals of overweight and obese individuals on commercial television |journal=[[American Journal of Public Health]] |volume=93 |issue=8 |pages=1342–8 |doi=10.2105/AJPH.93.8.1342 |pmid=12893625 |pmc=1447967 |citeseerx=10.1.1.530.9981}}</ref> or held up as objects of pity.<ref>{{cite book |last=Jennings |first=Laura Lynn |title=Place Settings: Social Aspects of the Body Image/Eating Relationship |year=2008 |isbn=978-0549641261 |page=9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eCEtM886GHwC&q=Pity+fat+people+media }}{{Dead link|date=May 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Discrimination includes a lack of equal access to transportation and employment.<ref>{{Cite journal |first1=C. L. |first2=A. F. |last1=Maranto |journal=Employee Responsibilities and Rights Journal |volume=12 |pages=9–24 |year=2000 |doi=10.1023/A:1007712500496 |last2=Stenoien |title=Weight Discrimination: A Multidisciplinary Analysis |s2cid=142845902}}</ref> Members of the fat acceptance movement perceive negative societal attitudes as persistent, and as being based on the presumption that fatness reflects negatively on a person's character.<ref name="autogenerated3">{{cite journal |last=Murray |first=S. |year=2005 |title=(Un/Be)Coming Out? Rethinking Fat Politics |journal=Social Semiotics |volume=15 |issue=2 |pages=153–163 |doi=10.1080/10350330500154667 |s2cid=145102272}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Puhl |first1=R. |last2=Brownell |first2=D. |title=Bias, discrimination, and obesity |volume=9 |journal=Obesity Research |issue=12 |pages=788–805 |date=Dec 2001 |issn=1071-7323 |pmid=11743063 |doi=10.1038/oby.2001.108 |doi-access=free}}</ref> Fat activists push for change in societal, personal, and medical attitudes toward fat people. Fat acceptance organizations engage in [[public education]] about what they describe as myths concerning fat people.<ref>{{cite web |last=Hemmenway |first=Carrie |title=Dispelling common myths about fat persons. |url=http://world.std.com/~naafa/documents/brochures/myths.html |publisher=NAAFA |access-date=2017-09-25}}</ref>

=== Discrimination ===
Fat people experience many different kinds of discrimination because of their weight.<ref name=":1"/> This discrimination appears in healthcare, [[employment]], [[education]], [[Interpersonal relationship|personal relationships]], and [[Mass media|the media]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Tomiyama |first1=A. |title=If Shaming People Reduced Obesity, There Would Be No Fat People |journal=The Hastings Center Report |date=May–June 2013 |volume=43 |issue=3 |pages=4–5 |doi=10.1002/hast.166 |pmid=23650055 |url=https://escholarship.org/content/qt2nx1p3hs/qt2nx1p3hs.pdf?t=njii67}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance |url=https://www.naafaonline.com/dev2/assets/documents/naafa_FactSheet_v17_screen.pdf |website=naafaonline.com |access-date=20 February 2019 |archive-date=16 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210116014848/https://naafa.org/dev2/assets/documents/naafa_FactSheet_v17_screen.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=By |date=2011-05-16 |title=Some ob-gyns in South Florida turn away overweight women |url=https://www.sun-sentinel.com/2011/05/16/some-ob-gyns-in-south-florida-turn-away-overweight-women/ |access-date=2024-07-27 |website=Sun Sentinel |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Vallis |first=T. Michael |date=2007 |title=Healthcare Professional Bias Against the Obese: How Do We Know If We Have a Problem? |url=https://www.canadianjournalofdiabetes.com/article/S1499-2671(07)14008-9/abstract |journal=Canadian Journal of Diabetes |volume=31 |issue=4 |pages=365–370|doi=10.1016/S1499-2671(07)14008-9 |url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Adams |first=CH |date=1993 |title=The relationship of obesity to the frequency of pelvic examinations: do physician and patient attitudes make a difference? |url=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8372479/ |journal=Women Health |volume=20 |issue=2 |pages=45–57 |doi=10.1300/J013v20n02_04 |pmid=8372479 |via=NIH National Library of Medicine}}</ref> Fat individuals also argue [[Clothes shop|clothing stores]] discriminate against them.{{citation needed|date=September 2023}} For example, some women have complained that "[[one size fits all]]" stores, which offer a single size for each item, do not cater to those above a certain weight.{{cn|date=January 2025}} [[Public transport]] has also been subject to criticism due to lack of inclusivity to fat people as seats and walkways are often too small to accommodate them.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Pitter |first=Jay |date=2015-08-11 |title=Weighing In: Fat Discrimination on Public Transit |url=https://spacing.ca/toronto/2015/08/11/weighing-fat-discrimination-public-transit/ |access-date=2023-06-20 |website=Spacing Toronto |language=en-US}}</ref>

On the subject of [[horseback riding]], there has been disagreement between fat acceptance activists and [[animal rights]] activists.<ref>[https://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/pop-culture-news/remi-bader-says-ranch-wouldnt-allow-ride-horses-due-weight-rcna33330 TikTok star Remi Bader says she was mocked for her weight after being turned away from horse ranch], NBC News, June 13, 2022</ref><ref>[https://people.com/health/tiktok-star-remi-bader-says-ranch-refused-to-let-her-ride-horses-due-to-her-weight/ TikTok Star Remi Bader Says Ranch Mistreated Her and Refused to Let Her Ride Horses Due to Her Weight], People, June 14, 2022</ref>

===Health===
{{Main|Health at Every Size|Obesity#Effects on health}}

Fat activists argue that anti-fat stigma and aggressive diet promotion have led to an increase in psychological and physiological problems among fat people.<ref name="ifonly" /> For instance, individuals who experience weight discrimination have reported facing more psychological distress, more loneliness, and lower well-being. Along with this, weight discrimination can heighten risk for obesity, chronic inflammation, and disease burden.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Phelan |first1=SM |last2=Burgess |first2=DJ |last3=Yeazel |first3=MW |last4=Hellerstedt |first4=WL |last5=Griffin |first5=JM |last6=van Ryn |first6=M |date=April 2015 |title=Impact of weight bias and stigma on quality of care and outcomes for patients with obesity |journal=Obesity Reviews |volume=16 |issue=4 |pages=319–326 |doi=10.1111/obr.12266 |issn=1467-7881 |pmc=4381543 |pmid=25752756}}</ref> People can indulge in health-risk behaviors, such as avoiding physical activity.<ref name="weightdiscrim">{{cite journal |last1=Sutin|first1=A. R. |last2=Stephan|first2=Y. |last3=Terracciano|first3=A. |display-authors=1 |year=2015|title=Weight Discrimination and Risk of Mortality |journal=[[Psychol Sci]] |volume=26 |issue=11 |pages=1803–1811 |doi=10.1177/0956797615601103|pmid=26420442|pmc=4636946 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Adams |first1=C. H. |last2=Smith |first2=N. J. |last3=Wilbur |first3=D. C. |last4=Grady |first4=K. E. |date=1993 |title=The relationship of obesity to the frequency of pelvic examinations: do physician and patient attitudes make a difference? |url=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8372479/ |journal=Women & Health |volume=20 |issue=2 |pages=45–57 |doi=10.1300/J013v20n02_04 |issn=0363-0242 |pmid=8372479}}</ref> Experiencing and internalizing weight stigma are identified as critical risk factors leading to eating pathology.<ref name="dismantlingweightstigma">{{cite journal |last1=McEntee|first1=M. L. |last2=Philip|first2=S. R. |last3=Phelan|first3=S. M. |display-authors=1 |year=2023|title=Dismantling weight stigma in eating disorder treatment: Next steps for the field |journal=[[Front Psychiatry]] |volume=14| pages=1157594 |pmid=37113547|doi=10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1157594|doi-access=free |pmc=10126256 }}</ref> Concerns are also raised that modern culture's focus on weight loss does not have a foundation in scientific research, but instead is an example of using science as a means to control [[Deviance (sociology)|deviance]], as a part of society's attempt to deal with something that it finds disturbing.{{citation needed|date=September 2023}} Diet critics cite the high failure rate of permanent weight-loss attempts,<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |title=Weight Science: Evaluating the Evidence for a Paradigm Shift |journal=Nutrition Journal |date=2011-01-24 |issn=1475-2891 |pmc=3041737 |pmid=21261939 |pages=9 |volume=10 |issue=1 |doi=10.1186/1475-2891-10-9 |first1=Linda |last1=Bacon |first2=Lucy |last2=Aphramor |doi-access=free }}</ref> and the dangers of [[Yo-yo dieting|"yo-yo" weight fluctuations]]<ref>{{cite book |last=Coon |first=Dennis |title=Introduction to Psychology: Gateways to Mind and Behaviour |year=2008 |publisher=Cengage Learning |isbn=978-0495599111 |page=328 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vw20LEaJe10C&q=dangers+of+yo-yo+dieting}}</ref> and [[Bariatrics#Surgical procedures|weight-loss surgeries]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Kelly |first=Evelyn B. |title=Obesity |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |isbn=978-0313334603 |page=[https://archive.org/details/obesity0000kell/page/138 138] |url=https://archive.org/details/obesity0000kell |url-access=registration |quote=dangers of bariatric surgery. |date=2006-01-01}}</ref> Fat activists argue that the health issues of [[obesity]] and being [[overweight]] have been exaggerated or misrepresented, and that health issues are used as a cover for [[cultural]] and [[aesthetic]] prejudices against fat.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hobbes |first=Michael |title=Everything You Know About Obesity Is Wrong |url=https://highline.huffingtonpost.com/articles/en/everything-you-know-about-obesity-is-wrong/ |access-date=2021-03-29 |website=HuffPost}}</ref><ref name=":2" />

Proponents of fat acceptance maintain that people of all shapes and sizes can strive for fitness and physical health.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ikeda |first1=J. P. |last2=Hayes |first2=D. |last3=Satter |first3=E. |last4=Parham |first4=E. S. |last5=Kratina |first5=K. |last6=Woolsey |first6=M. |last7=Lowey |first7=M. |last8=Tribole |first8=E. |display-authors=1 |year=1999 |title=A Commentary on the New Obesity Guidelines from NIH |journal=[[Journal of the American Dietetic Association]] |volume=99 |issue=8 |pages=918–9 |doi=10.1016/S0002-8223(99)00218-7 |pmid=10450304}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.size-acceptance.org/rfh/ |title=ISAA's Respect &#124; Health Initiative |publisher=Size-acceptance.org |access-date=2011-12-31}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Physical Fitness |url=http://www.naafaonline.com/dev2/about/Policies/PHYSICALFITNESS.pdf |publisher=NAAFA |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110920140203/http://www.naafaonline.com/dev2/about/Policies/PHYSICALFITNESS.pdf |archive-date=2011-09-20}}</ref> They believe that healthy behaviors can be independent of body weight.{{Citation needed|date=July 2024}} Informed by this approach, psychologists who were unhappy with the treatment of fat people in the medical world initiated the [[Health at Every Size]] movement. It has five basic tenets: (1) enhancing health, (2) size and self-acceptance (3) the pleasure of eating well, (4) the joy of movement, and (5) an end to weight bias.<ref>{{Citation |last=Burgard |first=Deb |chapter=What Is "Health at Every Size"? |year=2009 |editor1-last=Solovay |editor1-first=Sandra |editor2-last=Wann |editor2-first=Marilyn |title=The Fat Studies Reader |publisher=New York University Press |publication-date=2009 |isbn=978-0-8147-7630-8 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/fatstudiesreader0000roth/page/42 42–49] |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/fatstudiesreader0000roth |url=https://archive.org/details/fatstudiesreader0000roth/page/42}}</ref>

Some proponents also claim that people with obesity can be [[Metabolically healthy obesity|metabolically healthy]].{{citation needed|date=September 2024}} Some medical studies have challenged that "healthy obesity" concept,<ref name="Is Healthy Obesity a Myth">{{cite web |url=https://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_145981.html |title=Is Healthy Obesity a Myth? |publisher=nlm.nih.gov |date=30 April 2014 |access-date=31 May 2014}}</ref><ref name="British Heart Foundation">{{cite web |url=http://www.bhf.org.uk/default.aspx?page=16993 |title=Dispelling the myth of 'healthy obesity' |publisher=British Heart Foundation |date=1 May 2014 |access-date=31 May 2014}}</ref><ref name="KramerMetaAnalysis">{{cite journal |last1=Kramer |first1=CK |last2=Zinman |first2=B |last3=Retnakaran |first3=R |s2cid=9431877 |title=Are metabolically healthy overweight and obesity benign conditions?: A systematic review and meta-analysis. |journal=Ann Intern Med |date=Dec 3, 2013 |volume=159 |issue=11 |doi=10.7326/0003-4819-159-11-201312030-00008 |pmid=24297192 |pages=758–69}}</ref><ref name="BeyondBMI">{{cite journal |last1=Roberson |first1=Lara L |last2=Aneni |first2=Ehimen C |last3=Maziak |first3=Wasim |last4=Agatston |first4=Arthur |last5=Feldman |first5=Theodore |last6=Rouseff |first6=Maribeth |last7=Tran |first7=Thinh |last8=Blaha |first8=Michael J |last9=Santos |first9=Raul D. |display-authors=1 |last10=Sposito |first10=Andrei |last11=Al-Mallah |first11=Mouaz H |last12=Blankstein |first12=Ron |last13=Budoff |first13=Matthew J |last14=Nasir |first14=Khurram |title=Beyond BMI: The "Metabolically healthy obese" phenotype & its association with clinical/subclinical cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality – a systematic review |journal=BMC Public Health |date=Jan 8, 2014 |volume=14 |issue=1 |doi=10.1186/1471-2458-14-14 |pmid=24400816 |pmc=3890499 |pages=14 |doi-access=free }}</ref> although the definitions of metabolically healthy obesity are not standardized across studies.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Blüher |first1=S |last2=Schwarz |first2=P |title=Metabolically healthy obesity from childhood to adulthood — Does weight status alone matter? |journal=Metabolism |date=Jun 19, 2014 |volume=14 |issue=9 |pages=1084–92 |doi=10.1016/j.metabol.2014.06.009 |pmid=25038727}}</ref>

===Gender===

====Fat women====
{{Main|Big Beautiful Woman|Fat feminism}}
[[File:Kira Nerusskaya 2 by David Shankbone.jpg|left|thumb|Documentary filmmaker Kira Nerusskaya released her film ''The [[Big Beautiful Woman|BBW]] World: Under the Fat!'' In 2008.]]

The issues faced by fat women in society have been a central theme of the fat acceptance movement since its inception. Although the first organization, National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance, and the first book, ''Fat Power'' (1970), were both created by men, in each case they were responses to weight discrimination experienced by their wives. Women soon started campaigning on their behalf with the first feminist group, 'The Fat Underground', being formed in 1973. Issues addressed regarding women have included [[body image]], and in particular the [[thin ideal]] and its effect on women. Critics say NAAFA, which opposes dieting and weight-loss surgery, is an apologist for an unhealthy lifestyle. But NAAFA says it does no such thing, that some people are just bigger and no less deserving of the same rights as everyone else.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Fletcher |first=Dan |title=A Brief History of the Fat-Acceptance Movement |url=http://content.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1913858,00.html |date=2009-07-31 |magazine=Time |access-date=2020-03-20 |language=en-US |issn=0040-781X}}</ref>

====Fat men====
The fat acceptance movement has primarily focused on a [[feminist]] model of [[patriarchal]] oppression of fat women, most clearly represented by the encouragement of women to diet. However, Sander L. Gilman argues that, until the 20th century, dieting has historically been a man's activity. He continues, "[[Obesity]] eats away at the idealized image of the [[masculine]] just as surely as it does the idealized image of the [[feminine]]."<ref>{{cite book |last=Gilman |first=Sander L. |title=Fat Boys: A Slim Book |year=2004 |publisher=University of Nebraska |isbn=978-0803221833 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/fatboysslimbook00gilm/page/1 1]–10 |url=https://archive.org/details/fatboysslimbook00gilm |url-access=registration |quote=fat men.}}</ref> [[William Banting]] was the author of an 1863 booklet called ''Letter On Corpulence'',<ref>{{Cite book |title=Letter on Corpulance |last=Banting |first=William |publisher=Cosimo, Inc. |year=2005 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=72Vzw7S4f2MC |isbn=9781596050853}}</ref> which modern diets have used as a model. Men respond to being [[overweight]] differently, (i.e., having a [[Body Mass Index]] of 25 or more), being half as likely as women to [[dieting|diet]], a quarter as likely to undergo [[bariatric|weightloss]] surgery and only a fifth as likely to report feeling [[shame]] about their weight.<ref>{{cite book |last=Oliver |first=J. Eric |title=Fat Politics: The Real Story Behind America's Obesity Epidemic |year=2005 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0195347029 |page=80 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DtQ0olwnQ4AC&q=fat+men}}</ref> Irmgard Tischner identifies this behavior as rooted in notions of masculinity that require disregard for healthcare: "Men do not have to care about their size or health, as they have women to care about those things for them".<ref>{{cite book |last=Tischner |first=Irmgard |title=Fat Lives: A Feminist Psychological Exploration |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0415680943 |pages=105–6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Oyz6VaOi7kQC&q=Men+sexualise+fat |year=2013}}</ref>

Some [[gay men]] have moved beyond disregard for size to fat acceptance and fat activism with movements like [[Chub (gay slang)|chub culture]], which started as [[Girth & Mirth]] clubs in San Francisco in 1976<ref>{{cite web |last=Suresha |first=Ron |title=The Birth of Girth and Mirth: an interview with Reed Wilgoren |url=http://ronsuresha.com/?p=4093 |date=2016-02-07 |access-date=2017-04-08 |archive-date=2017-04-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170409112331/http://ronsuresha.com/?p=4093 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and the [[Bear (gay culture)|bear culture]] which [[Sexual fetishism|fetishizes]] big, hairy men. Ganapati Durgadas argues that fat bisexual and gay men "are reminders of the feminine [[social stigma|stigma]] with which [[heterosexism]] still tars queer men". In a comparison of queer fat positive [[zine]]s, the lesbian-produced ''Fat Girl'' was found to have political debate content absent from gay male orientated zines such as ''Bulk Male'' and ''Big Ad''. Joel Barraquiel Tan comments: "If fat is a feminist issue, then fat or heft is a fetishized one for gay men. Gay men tend to sexualize difference, where lesbians have historically politicized it."<ref>{{cite book |last=LeBesco |first=Kathleen |title=Revolting Bodies? The Struggle To Redefine Fat Identity |year=2004 |publisher=University of Massachusetts Press |isbn=978-1558494299 |page=90 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W7Wz4EKksUcC&q=men+sexualize+their+fat}}</ref>

A fat heterosexual man is known as a "Big Handsome Man" (BHM), in counterpart to a Big Beautiful Woman. Like some fat and gay men, BHMs have sexualized their difference and receive validation of this identity from BBWs or straight women known as "Female Fat Admirers".<ref>{{cite book |last=Monaghan |first=Lee F. |title=Men and the War on Obesity: A Sociological Study |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0415407120 |page=53 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fP14YLpzR_kC&q=big+Handsome+Men |year=2008}}</ref>

===Legislation===
In the 1970s, fat people in the United States began seeking legal redress for discrimination based on weight, primarily in the workplace but also for being denied access to, or treated differently in regards to, services or entertainment. The results of these cases have varied considerably, although in some instances the [[Americans with Disabilities Act]] (ADA) has been successfully used to argue cases of discrimination against fat people.<ref>{{cite book |last=Theran |first=Elizabeth E. |title=Legal Theory on Weight Discriminationin Weight Bias: Nature, Consequences, And Remedies |year=2005 |publisher=Guildford Press |isbn=978-1593851996 |page=195 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FRszpOfV5o0C&q=weight+discrimination+laws}}</ref> Roth and Solovay argue that, as with [[transgender]] people, a major cause for the variation in success is the extent to which litigants are apologetic for their size (with more apologetic plaintiffs finding more success):
<blockquote>
What is the difference between a million-dollar weight case award and a losing case? Like the difference between many winning and losing transgender cases, it's all about the attitude. Does the claimant's attitude and experience about weight/gender reinforce or challenge dominant [[stereotype]]s? Winning cases generally adopt a legal posture that reinforces [[social prejudice]]s. Cases that challenge societal prejudices generally lose.<ref name="Dylan Roth and 2009 170">{{cite book |last=Dylan Roth and |first=Sandra Solovay |title=No Apology: Shared Struggles in Fat and Transgender Law in Fat Studies Reader |year=2009 |publisher=NYU Press |isbn=9780814776407 |pages=168–170 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XtLWPWNO8gUC&q=fat+acceptance+gender}}</ref>
</blockquote>

The Americans with Disabilities Act continues to be used as there is no USA federal law against weight discrimination; however, the state of [[Michigan]] passed a law against weight discrimination in 1976.<ref>{{Cite web |title=ELLIOTT-LARSEN CIVIL RIGHTS ACT (EXCERPT) Act 453 of 1976, MCL - Section 37.2102 |url=https://www.legislature.mi.gov/Laws/MCL?objectName=MCL-37-2102 |website=Michigan Compiled Laws}}</ref> The cities of [[Washington, D.C.]], [[San Francisco]] (2000), [[Santa Cruz, California|Santa Cruz]],  [[Binghamton, New York|Binghamton]], [[Urbana, Illinois|Urbana]] (1990s), [[New York City|New York]] (2023),<ref name="news.bloomberglaw.com">{{Cite web |title=NYC Worker Protections Grow With Rare Ban on Weight, Height Bias |url=https://news.bloomberglaw.com/daily-labor-report/nyc-worker-protections-grow-with-rare-ban-on-weight-height-bias |access-date=2024-07-03 |website=news.bloomberglaw.com |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=May 26, 2023 |title=Mayor Adams Signs Legislation To Prohibit Height Or Weight Discrimination In Employment, Housing, An |url=http://www.nyc.gov/office-of-the-mayor/news/364-23/mayor-adams-signs-legislation-prohibit-height-weight-discrimination-employment-housing- |access-date=2024-07-03 |website=The official website of the City of New York}}</ref> and [[Madison, Wisconsin|Madison]] (1970s) have also passed laws prohibiting weight discrimination.<ref name=":3" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Wagner |first=Hannah Harris Green, Marika Proctor, Tony |date=2024-03-29 |title=This is why weight discrimination is legal in most of the U.S. |url=https://www.marketplace.org/2024/03/29/this-is-why-weight-discrimination-is-legal-in-most-of-the-u-s/ |access-date=2024-07-03 |website=Marketplace |language=en-US}}</ref> In the cities that have a weight discrimination law, it is rare for more than one case a year to be brought, except for San Francisco which may have as many as six. Opinions amongst city enforcement workers vary as to why the prosecution numbers are so low, although they all suggested that both overweight people and employers were unaware of the protective legislation and it was also noted that the cities with anti-weight discrimination laws tended to be liberal college towns.<ref name=":3">{{cite web |title=Weight Bias Laws: Tipping the Scales Against Prejudice? |url=http://mn.gov/mdhr/education/articles/rs10_2weightlaws.html |publisher=Minnesota Dept. Human Rights |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140424044637/http://mn.gov/mdhr/education/articles/rs10_2weightlaws.html |archive-date=2014-04-24}}</ref>

Not all legal changes have protected the rights of fat people. Despite recommendations from the [[Equal Employment Opportunity Commission]] to the contrary, in 2009 the [[United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit]] decided that fat people will only qualify as [[disabled]] if it can be proved that their weight is caused by an underlying condition, supporting the concept that being obese is not inherently a disability.<ref name="Dylan Roth and 2009 170"/> The [[Supreme Court of Texas]] came to a similar conclusion in 2023. But in 2018, the [[Washington Supreme Court]] provided weight-related disability bias protection without evidence of a related medical condition.<ref name="news.bloomberglaw.com"/> Other countries besides the United States have considered legislation to protect the rights of fat people. In the UK an All-Party Parliamentary Group published a report in 2012 called ''Reflections on Body Image'' that found that one in five British people had been victimized because of their weight. The report recommended that [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Members of Parliament]] investigated putting "appearance-based discrimination" under the same legal basis as sexual or racial discrimination via the [[Equality Act 2010]] which makes it illegal to harass, victimize or discriminate against anyone in the workplace based on several named categories, including size or weight.<ref>{{cite news |last=Adams |first=Stephen |title=Calling someone 'fatty' could become a hate crime |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/9297496/Calling-someone-fatty-could-become-a-hate-crime.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120530115406/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/9297496/Calling-someone-fatty-could-become-a-hate-crime.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=2012-05-30 |newspaper=The Telegraph |date=2017-09-25}}</ref> The Equality Act came into force on 1 October 2010, it brings together over 116 separate pieces of legislation into one single Act. The Act provides a legal framework to protect the rights of individuals and advance equality of opportunity for all.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/en/equality-act-2010/what-equality-act |title=What is the Equality Act? {{!}} Equality and Human Rights Commission |website=www.equalityhumanrights.com |access-date=2020-03-20 |archive-date=2020-03-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200320021852/https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/en/equality-act-2010/what-equality-act |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===Fat studies===
There has also been an emerging body of academic studies called Fat Studies. [[Marilyn Wann]] argues that fat studies moved beyond being an individual endeavor to being a field of study with the 2004 conference ''Fat Attitudes: An Examination of an American Subculture and the Representation of the Female Body''.<ref name="Rothblum and Sondra Solovay 2009 xi"/> The American [[Popular Culture Association]] regularly includes panels on the subject.{{cn|date=October 2024}} In many colleges, student groups with a fat activist agenda have emerged, including Hampshire, Smith, and Antioch.{{cn|date=October 2024}} Fat studies are now available as an [[interdisciplinary]] course of study at some colleges, taking a similar approach to other identity studies such as [[women's studies]], [[queer studies]], and [[African American studies]].<ref>{{cite news |title='Fat Studies' Go to College |url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2010/11/03/fat-studies-colleges-hot-new-course.html |newspaper=The Daily Beast |date=3 November 2010 |publisher=The Daily Beast Company |last=Binder |first=Eve}}</ref> As of 2011, there were two Australian courses and ten American courses that were primarily focused on fat studies or [[Health at Every Size]], and numerous other courses that had some fat acceptance content.<ref>{{cite news |last=Watkins |first=Patti Lou |title=Teaching Fat Studies From Conception to Reception |newspaper=Taylor & Francis |url=http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/ufts20/current |publisher=Oregon State University}}</ref> Taylor & Francis publish an online ''Fat Studies'' journal.<ref>{{cite news |title=Fat Studies |url=http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/ufts20/current |newspaper=Taylor & Francis |access-date=2017-09-25}}</ref> The first national Fat Studies seminar was held at York in May 2008, leading to the 2009 publication ''Fat Studies in the UK'', edited by Corinna Tomrley and Ann Kalosky Naylor.<ref>{{cite web |title=Fat Studies in the UK |url=http://www.rawnervebooks.co.uk/FSUK.html |publisher=Raw Nerve. Books |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120317214349/http://www.rawnervebooks.co.uk/FSUK.html |archive-date=2012-03-17}}</ref>