If you see a skinny person on the street, do you...

[Lerkfish]

... in your mind make a snap judgement of their character?


If you see an obese person onthe street, do you...

... in your mind make a snap judgement of their character?

[sailor65]

1. I make character judgements of both.....

I ask myself why neither one of them is smart enough to walk on the sidewalk and not on the street.....

Ask a silly question.............

[snooper2]

11. :)

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[Lerkfish]

2. btw, feel free to also comment if you like

[tularetom]

3. The only people whose character I judge

are those who walk down the street carrying oxygen tanks and smoking cigarettes.

Oh and people with jesus fish on their cars.

[Soylent Brice]

71. "...those who walk down the street carrying oxygen tanks and smoking cigarettes..."

that was you laughing at me!!!

JERK.

[tridim]

4. As a thin male I can say I was judged many times by strangers

Everyone thought I was ill. The reality was that even though I am thin, I am also well within my ideal weight. AKA healthy.

I've recently put on about 10 pounds by choice (so I can convert it to healthy muscle via exercise) and am still within the ideal weight range.

There is definitely a stigma out there that "thin" (in males especially) is the same as "sickly".

[RaleighNCDUer]

7. The stigma is not 'sickly' -

it's 'meth-head'.

[tridim]

9. I've never looked like a meth-head

I just don't look like the average overweight American. I'd probably blend in very well in most of Europe.

I'm Obama-thin. :)

[hfojvt]

10. amen, plus there is a large contingent

that thinks we could bulk up if we would just visit a weightroom.

[tridim]

12. I will never join a gym.

I can't stand vain people. Oops, is that a judgement too? :) So be it, it's true.

I also can't stand getting ripped off.

[hfojvt]

17. I lived in a dorm for five years that had a weightroom

plus we finally got dad to buy us some barbells when I was about 17. I worked out 3 times a week for that whole five years. Went from benching 110 to benching 170 but I never got any bigger. The dorm had unlimited food with the meal plan and I tried stuffing myself for years. Finally when I was a sophomore and had just eaten another huge lunch that I knew was gonna leave me feeling unpleasantly full for the next few hours, I decided that it was probably better to just accept my skinniness as something I could not change.

Now, it is not such a bad thing to be 47 and still about at my college weight.

[elocs]

25. I work at a YMCA and so get a free membership, but I don't and won't use it.

Last week we had a gorgeous spring day here in WI with the temps in the upper 60s and our Wellness Center was full of people walking on treadmills and riding stationary bikes????? Next to them were all of the people doing their workouts while looking at themselves in the mirror. Personally, I would rather walk outside and experience being outdoors to walking on a treadmill (I walk in the winter even when it is very cold) and I ride my bike so I may enjoy what I see while I travel. I see most of those people working out as being excessively narcissistic.

[AndyTiedye]

38. For Some People, Exercise is a Commodity that Must Be Obtained in a Gym

I really don't get it.

Dancing and bicycling are way more fun than anything the gym has to offer.
Heck, even splitting firewood is more satisfying than working out.

[elocs]

67. If somebody is out of shape or overweight they will be intimidated at a gym or the YMCA.

Lots of really buff people preening as they watch themselves in the wall to wall mirrors as they work out. Even at the Y I see more muscular guys with tattoos than you would see in a biker bar. Simple walking or bike riding in the great outdoors is much more satisfying to me. I ride a long wheel based recumbent bike which is very, very comfortable. You can even get a recumbent trike that is both cool and easy and comfortable to ride.

[AndyTiedye]

68. Totally, Along With Lots of Bad Memories of "Phys Ed" Class

"Phys ed" class teaches millions of kids to hate exercise, and a gym looks and smells a lot like phys ed class.
Just like "phys ed", it is designed to make the jocks feel good about themselves, and the not-athletic to feel like doo doo.

Now one might think this was a sub-optimal marketing strategy, since there are far more out-of-shape people than jocks.

MY idea of an exercise room is a nice dance floor and good sound system.


Dancing is VERY good exercise.



Even that is better outdoors though.

I ride a long wheel based recumbent bike which is very, very comfortable.

Me too! What do you ride?

[elocs]

70. I've seen that picture of you before. I have a Sun Easy Sport.

I think that this is the 5th year I have had it. I have a clear fairing, but a couple of summers ago one of the mounting bars on the handlebars broke and I never replaced it. I've never had a bike before where total strangers of all ages will call out to me: "Cool bike!" My city is bike friendly and the only real hills I encounter within town are railroad overpasses.

[ForrestGump]

16. At least you carry some pie around with you,

in case you get hungry...


:hide:

[elocs]

19. Many years ago I lost 30 pounds, going from 180 to 150.

People assumed that I had lost weight because I was sick in spite of the fact that I in no way appeared to be sick at all, just thinner. Actually, at 150 I was much closer to my good healthy weight than at 180. I really felt better not having to haul around an extra 30 pounds all day.

[tridim]

21. I hear ya. The problem is Americans think 180 @ 5'10" is normal.

It's not, unless you're completely ripped.

[Kitty Herder]

53. Hey, just so you know, some of us ladies find thin men incredibly sexy.

I've never gone for the bulked up look. I like thin. Don't know why. Of course, I've dated guys of all builds; I choose who I date based on personality and character, not looks.

[Lerkfish]

57. do you find obese men incredibly sexy as well?

why or why not?

[Kitty Herder]

64. I'll be honest, my personal preference is skinny.

I think it's because my dad was a bulky, strong, barrel-chested man who was a mean, abusive drunk, so I find the opposite attractive, less intimidating.

But, like I said in my previous post, I decide who to date on personality and character, not looks. And I prefer obese men to bulked up muscle men. I guess I'm kind of turned off by the arrogance that I always associate with long hours spent in the gym, whether it's an accurate assessment of the man in question or not.

P.S. I apologize if that was more personal honesty from me than you were looking for, but there it is. And yes, I have met obese men who I found incredibly sexy. It's all about personality, smarts, and character.

[Lerkfish]

65. no reason to apologize for being honest

I asked the question.

[cobalt1999]

5. Honestly?

I'd have to say yes to both. We're humans, we do it all the time. Doesn't mean we can't consciously remind ourselves that our "snap judgment" may be wrong.

[AlCzervik]

6. when i see an obese person i think--that used to be me.

and i hated being that because it was physically uncomfortable and it gets super hot here in the summer and the heavier you are the more miserable you are. Do i make a judgment about who they are as a person, no, how can you based on looks?

[flvegan]

8. I don't make character judgments based on "obese" or "skinny" no.

I admit, I might see someone do something upon which I'm guilty of doing that.

[ForrestGump]

13. Trick question

There ARE no skinny people on America's streets.










My actual answer, though, is neither. I may idly speculate about certain dietary features -- eating disorder, etc -- but nothing I could relate in any meaningful sense to character.

When you see someone who weighs, say, 100 lbs or more over what might be more optimal you don't know what made them that way. Could be drugs, could be that they a year or two ago weighed several hundred pounds more and are losing weight, could be the result of being bedridden by some chronic illness...could be any one or combination of a number of things. Could be pure laziness and gluttony, too, and I don't see that it's our place to judge someone for that combination running away on them, either...yeah, if we knew them we might be concerned and may even advance the subject in a supportive way, but we still have no right to judge or to believe the person a lesser person because of their physical habitus. Weight goes on and it comes off. At the very least, we should keep our damned mouths shut when it comes to publicly blurting out stupid and hurtful stuff about strangers.

Same with people who are far more thin than might appear 'healthy.' Some people are just naturally slender, just as some are naturally anything but, and if overweight people are among the last for which it seems acceptable to mock and deride solely on the basis of appearance, I think perhaps skinnier people have even further to come in the same respect. My thoughts on this are bolstered by the inevitable "get her a sandwich!" comments so common here on DU, including from the keyboards of people who it could be stated have enjoyed more than their fair share of sandwiches and who should be a little more sensitive to the issue. It doesn't help that slim/slender/skinny adults are a distinct minority in this country so probably still fair game for years to come.

Here in Vegas I've seen quite a few women who make me cringe inwardly, try as I may not to, who are so extremely emaciated with the exception of poofy blonde hair and inordinately poofy chest, often tanned beyond the point of tanning (about 2.7 Hamiltons' worth at minimum), and wearing clothes that show off most of the various sinews. It could be that they are naturally slender but it's probably not too much of a stretch to assume that the results we see are fundamentally artificial, whether anorexia is in play or not. I am talking limbs like those in pictures of death-camp survivors, not just some person who's slimmer than average or even Ally McBeal skinny. But do I really know what drives any such woman's extreme ectomorphism? Nope. Eating disorder or other societally-warped body image response, illness, too many of those fat-free potato chips that have a laxative effect, the demands of the very rude fat guy with the big, stinky cigar and medallion next to her (okay, with some of them at least one assumption's probably a fair bet: Republican!)?

The bottom line is that we don't know what's going on with people we see around us, or what they've come through or are currently dealing with, so even if it's in our nature to speculate, extrapolate, and even snap-judge it'd be in the interests of all of us to at least bear in mind that we don't know the person's backstory and that they do not owe it to us. We have not walked in their shoes...

[supernova]

15. Well, showgirl costumes

only come in certain sizes.... so I hear.

:yoiks:

I hear ya, though. It's disturbing how some woman want to look and think it's desirable. :crazy:

[rucky]

14. How skinny?

i guess my honest answer is "both", or "neither" because I see eating disorders as a medical condition - not a character flaw.

So my snap judgement is making a medical diagnosis without knowing jack.

[bridgit]

18. The premise of this sample seems too porous to offer a conclusion

[Lerkfish]

33. in what regard?

[bridgit]

45. As a for instance...

The sample tends to close the door on issues of 'low self esteem' that may be contributory to obesity as well genetic considerations that enable some to survive times of societal stressors such a famine and offer little other view into "character" with a suggestive end-result there being that the character of folks living within such frames can be perceived or construed by yet others still as somehow off-colored to include what is usury in the extreme, wanton gluttony, or even sloth

With some variations in the other direction; similar doors are closed to "a skinny person" though I'll give you this...

Some people whether skinny, fat, obese, well preserved, straight hair/curly hair, smell like flowers, candy, fresh baked cookies or a fish market they're just assholes and that's all there is to it and those are able to sustain snap character judgments too though with the couple some threads I've seen on the topic of obesity here at DU of late, and now the 'snap character judgment' upon skinny people a case could be made to have expanded the response options

[Lerkfish]

46. I think you're introducing an additional vector

the question wasn't "self esteem" but whether an outside observer came to a judgment based on weight. What does self-esteem have to do with that?

what other poll options would you suggest, dealing with the perception of others, rather than self-perception?

[bridgit]

48. What is the point of your poll? What are you trying to determine?

[Lerkfish]

55. Do you grill evey poll to this degree as to its purpose?

why does this one disturb you?

I think the poll itself is fairly self-explanatory. It was to explore to what extent the difference, if there was one, between perception of two bodytypes and character judgments related to those body types.

since I have to see results before I make a determination, I wanted to know if there was an equity in perception of either end of the weight spectrum.

thus far, the poll seems to skew towards more people, of those stating exclusive preference, make a character judement of obese people than skinny people.
I find this an interesting result thus far, as whenever threads are started about obesity, many people claim that obese people are thin skinned or paranoid to think their charactger is being judged based on their weight.


What is it about this poll that rubs you the wrong way?

[bridgit]

62. If easier, think of it as having a like-gravity to that of 'jury selection'...

Where you might prefer a judgment passed upon the effects of your character that was handed down by a jury of your peers, or at least people that were aware of your circumstance and able to bring a balanced consideration hopefully on your behalf. Firms gathering info from mock juries are a vibrant concern these days. With so much money sometimes in the balance, the screener is often intense locating people with considered blends of knowledge, education, experience & empathy to name a couple-some. I liaison over sample design for a living but don't worry...there are no billable hours in this for me

"What is it about this poll that rubs you the wrong way?" - This isn't about me it was about your poll but that moment in time has already seasoned have a lovely evening :)

[Touchdown]

20. I say. "Hey Swizzle Stick! Shine my shoes!"

No. I don't say anything.

[damntexdem]

22. I don't make character judgments about those beanpoles -- they're hard enough to see on the street.

;-).

[havocmom]

23. Wish somebody would do a poll like that but ask doctors

Some of them don't see a person and ask questions, they see overweight and fail to ask what came before it.

[Lilith Velkor]

24. Of their character, no.

Of the aesthetic quality of their appearance, you betcha.

[Statistical]

26. Overweight would be analogous to underweight

Obese would be analogous to anorexic.

To equate someone who is morbidly obese with someone with a slender frame is not exactly a fair comparison.

[NeedleCast]

27. I throw donuts with hooks and string attached at skinny girls

I'm going to catch one someday...

[specimenfred1984]

28. I yell "Hey skinny, yer ribs are showin"

Then I sit on them.

[TahitiNut]

29. Moi?

O8)

[Gator_Matt]

30. Overweight people treat normal people as if they're emaciated

It works both ways.

Given that most people are overweight or obese, they act as if those at a normal weight are "skinny." I have a BMI of 23.7 and get this all the time, yet if I were to call them out and say "you're fat. I'm normal" I'd be the one considered insulting.

Do I make judgments about obese people? Absolutely. With a few rare exceptions, most obese people strike me as having a shocking lack of willpower. It's the same as if I saw someone chain smoking.

[Lerkfish]

34. outrageous

and frankly, unbelievable. I've never witnessed an obese person picking on a normal-weight person, unless it were in response to an attack to them first for having a "shocking lack of willpower".

[blondeatlast]

36. Poor you. Perhaps they aren't judging your lack of physical mass, but your obvious and astonishing

lack of intellect and emotion.

I'm considered to have a great body now but it wasn't always that way. Losing the weight was relatively easy for me, I never dieted, just made some adjustments in my habits, but my sister eats very much like i do and can't drop more than a few pounds.

[fizzgig]

42. nice broad brush there

:eyes:

i was once, based on my bmi, considered obese and it had nothing to do with willpower, but not being able to afford much and living on a lot of ramen, mac and cheese and other carb-heavy foods. my sister once weighed over 200 pounds and stands at about 5'4" and, you know what, it had nothing to do with willpower but a medical condition.

but i do make judgments about assholes like you.

[ejpoeta]

31. i am an obese person. and i feel the stares. especially if i take my kids

to wendy's or any other establishment.

[Lerkfish]

32. I'm amazed at how many posts in this thread

defend or are concerned about discrimination against the skinny.

....which seems to run against the poll results.

[tridim]

37. I think people who do it don't understand that they're doing it.

I used to get, "Wow, you're really skinny!" all the time. It didn't bother me all that much, but I can see it bothering someone who is self-conscious about their genetic thin build.

Would the same person also believe it's fine to say, "Wow, you're really fat!"?

[Lerkfish]

39. you've actually witnessed an obese person disparage you because you were skinny?

honestly?:

"wow youre skinny" is not the same thing as "you have no willpower" or "if you'd only get up from the table" or "why don't you take better care of yourself?"

[REP]

66. Commenting on another's body is hard to do tastefully

Naturally thin people get shit just like fat people do, and that even what is meant as admiration can sound like judgement (which can be even worse if the person isn't naturally thin, but has an eating disorder). Even with close friends, it's probably better to say something like, "with your build, just about anything looks great on you!" than "you're so skinny!" if anything needs to be said at all.

Fat or thin, having strangers give their opinion on body and lifestyle is tiresome. The correct to response is to invite them to kiss the the thinnest (or fattest) part of your ass.

[blondeatlast]

35. Having been at the inner edge of both, I make no value judgments, though as a definite slender

person now I notice more making judgments of me than did when I was slightly overweight. FWIW, I've kept the weight off for more than 6 years now.
The weight came off from eating a more healthy diet, but many assumed that I was "sick" or forcing myself--neither was the case.

[Lerkfish]

40. how much is "slightly" overweight?

if its the inside edge, as you mention, I doubt others would view it as visually remarkable as obese.

[blondeatlast]

41. In my case, I looked slightly larger than the average woman so your point is well-taken.

I've definitely been subject to more disdain now and yet I am at my doctor recommended weight; it's just that many people believe I'm unhealthfully thin. Not the case; I'm right where I should be.

[JackRiddler]

43. How obese is obese?

I love big women!

[EFerrari]

44. I must be a great big mom because if someone is too thin

aka, looks anorexic, my first thought is to worry about them.

lol

[Mike 03]

47. Great question. I voted "neither."

My parents are obese, and I'm underweight. I'm sure some people look at me and think: "Crack addict" or "meth addict."

So I'm in no position to judge anyone.

I say: leave people alone unless it is a dire moral issue where someone is in danger of being hurt or harmed.

[Gwendolyn]

49. As a skinny person, I make more snap judgements about "my kind" especially if they look like...

lunch ladies, or are so skinny they appear to need help. I make snap judgement calls about very obese people walking out of a food court at the mall, still sucking on some ice cream dessert thing or a mega-sized soda, especially if they have children in tow. I make snap judgement calls about bleached blondes (or really red, "the-higher-the-hair-the-closer-to-god" doo's) with obvious hooter enhancements too. It's difficult not to. But usually it passes in about 2 nano-seconds.

Edited for typo.

[bigwillq]

50. Sometimes I do

Sometimes I don't. Make judgements. Depends on what mood I am in or how busy I am that day.

[CTyankee]

51. I must say that I am usually unprepared when I see someone who is hugely overweight.

It almost shocks me. I don't know if that is "judgmental" or not. I just wonder how that person got to be so big. Was it a special condition or just overeating to the max? I can understand how people can be pudgy or 20 lbs overweight, but when I see someone who is obviously over 300 lbs I think that something is terribly wrong with them. And then I feel an enormous amount of empathy for them as it must be so difficult for them to simply live their lives...

[mitchum]

52. Yes, I think, "There is a fellow member of a minority...

and we're not going to let the man push us around anymore...no matter how big he is!"

[vixengrl]

54. None of the above?

I've been a "little" underweight, my senior year in college. I dieted my 5'6" big-boned frame down to a jr's size five, my immune system was hurting, and I was kind of a mess. I just about lost my boobs. People told me I looked *great*. I was doing with a strict maybe 800 calories a day, but it was good. Because I was skinny. But for me, a "little" underweight is a lot.

It didn't last, couldn't last, I'm glad I didn't try and make it last. When I figured out I needed to eat, I'd already done a number on my metabolism. I went on the pill right about the time I started eating "normal" again, and got big, fast. I can hit a "normal" BMI with effort, but I generally keep about 20-30 lbs overweight. I'm broad-shouldered and bosomy--one of the lucky body types that can hold extra weight without really looking "fat." But I guess you could say I am. I've had my weight as low as 120 lbs (at my unhealthiest low) and as high as 190 (unhealthiest high). And at all weights, my character was the same. I wasn't an "ambitious" thin person. I wasn't a "lazy" fat person. I wasn't "virtuous" at one weight and "gluttonous" at another. It never was about my "character". It was about my habits, my comfort level with myself, and who I was at the time.

I think that's why I don't necessarily see "fat" or "thin" first when I see people. I guess if someone was "Maury Povich Show" obese or looked kind of ill I'd notice, but I'd be inclined to wonder what was wrong with them physically before I thought it had to do with some character failing. And when I work with people or relate to them, I think I'm kind of weight-neutral. What a person's body-weight is, is more of an issue for them than it is for me.

[Lerkfish]

56. the last choice is essentially "none of the above"

just worded differently.

[madokie]

58. damn near 61 years old

six foot one weighing in at 162 lbs with a 31 inch waist. Been thin all my life and have heard probably all the smart ass remarks there is.

[lonestarnot]

59. Offer to buy them a burger?

:evilgrin:

[Neoma]

60. I couldn't decide if it was both or neither.

So I flipped a coin and it was neither.

[zanne]

61. I make character judgements of obese people....

And I'm obese.

[Withywindle]

63. I checked neither, cause mostly I don't notice.

I'm just not that visually oriented. Unless someone is truly terrifyingly concentration-camp emaciated, or really, massive, can't-fit-down-a-bus-aisle obese, it just doesn't get my attention.

One thing I do wonder about, as a skinny person, but it's a behavior issue.

What IS it with middle-aged women (and I'm being very precise; I have NEVER had a man do this) who aggressively push food on you and won't take no for answer, with this sort of fake-mom smile even though we don't have any kind of family relationship that would make this sort of thing less rude and presumptuous?

I treat it like a man hitting on me: the first time, I say no thank you politely. The second time, I'm still polite but a little more snarky, with a little more of a "back-off" growl in the voice. The third time, damn straight I'll bite your head off. It's a boundary issue, and no one should ever have to say "no thank you" more than twice.

[alcibiades_mystery]

69. I'm not gonna lie...I do it

It gets worse in restaurants, too. If an obese person orders a lot or unhealthy food around me, I definitely have a different reaction than if a thin person did does the same. Bordering on physical revulsion. If it's an obese FAMILY, ordering unhealthy food for obese kids, I am certainly disgusted to the point of wanting to leave. That's honest. I'm working on it, but it's an affective response.

[ecstatic]

72. Depends on the context? Where are we--the beach? A buffet?

:shrug:

[closeupready]

73. If they are of either extreme, I may find it curious.

But aside from that, I mind my own business.

[mnhtnbb]

74. Equal opportunity snarkiness from me, I confess. Sorry, pc police.