I don't know why I'm surprised by the findings of the article below. I really shouldn't be as we all work in a culture that prizes the skinny over the curvy in all walks of life, not just at work. And although some efforts are being made to try and turn these attitudes around, there's clearly not enough being done to challenge the media attitudes and perceptions which are then being perpetrated right through every aspect of our lives.
It's clear that there is still a long way to go to address gender equality in the workplace if a larger male is more likely to secure a role than a female of similar BMI and if those 'larger' women are destined to be employed in roles where they are essentially 'invisible' to the public. And it's not just gender equality at stake here, it's equality between women themselves that's also being challenged on the 'fat v thin' argument. How is it that we're not just competing against men, we're having to compete against each other as well?
It would be nice to think that the best qualified people get the job. But this research shows we are a very long way away from that place.
Slender women are more likely to get a job than their curvier counterparts, according to a new report. A new research paper, entitled “Subtle increases in BMI within a healthy weight range still reduce women’s employment chances in the service sector,” found that heavier women were less likely to be hired than their male counterparts in the service sector- The Daily Mail reports. The researchers created four prototypes; low and high BMI female prototypes and low and high BMI male prototypes. They then examined differences in hireability ratings between original and “heavier” versions separately for non-customer-facing and customer-facing jobs. The data showed that the difference in ratings between original and “heavier” versions was greater for customer-facing jobs.
Read the original article here