Your Fat Dollars - Put Your Money Where Your Fat Is
Fat people's money is just as green as anyone else's. So why do retailers treat us like second-class citizens? And more important, why do we allow this?
Upscale (and some not-so-upscale) department stores are infamous for hiding away the women's fat clothes in some hard-to-find, tucked away spot - apparently so no one will need to be offended by the sight of us fatties buying clothes. This is just wrong. To quote the late Patrick Swayze - nobody puts baby in the corner.
Some companies market to fat people, yet use thin people in their advertising.
Some companies think it's a good marketing ploy to make fun of fatties in their ads. Hello? Subway, anyone?
Some companies are well-known for their fat bigotry, like Southwest Airlines.
And some companies are much more devious. Like Safeway or Whole Foods.
Safeway has a program in place, where they make fat employees pay more of their healthcare premium. Safeway claims that its policy is based on "behavior" - except part of the focus is on weight, blood pressure and cholesterol levels. Last time I checked, these were not "behaviors", these were conditions that may or may not be affected by behavior.
Whole Foods gives employees that they consider "healthy" a greater discount on products purchased at their store. Their health ratings are based on BMI (ARGGHHHHH), blood pressure, cholesterol and nicotine use.
And while I'm on the subject of these employer "health" incentive programs - since when does your employer have the right to access ANY of your confidential medical information? But I guess that's a bitch and moan for another day.
If circumstances make it difficult (or even impossible) to make fat-friendly choices in your spending; that's okay. That's life. If you're up for it, you can let them know that you don't appreciate their policies; or you can tell a fat-friendly retailer that you appreciate what they are doing even if you can't currently buy from them.
All I'm saying is before you spend your hard earned fat dollars, think about who and what you may be supporting.
Upscale (and some not-so-upscale) department stores are infamous for hiding away the women's fat clothes in some hard-to-find, tucked away spot - apparently so no one will need to be offended by the sight of us fatties buying clothes. This is just wrong. To quote the late Patrick Swayze - nobody puts baby in the corner.
Some companies market to fat people, yet use thin people in their advertising.
Some companies think it's a good marketing ploy to make fun of fatties in their ads. Hello? Subway, anyone?
Some companies are well-known for their fat bigotry, like Southwest Airlines.
And some companies are much more devious. Like Safeway or Whole Foods.
Safeway has a program in place, where they make fat employees pay more of their healthcare premium. Safeway claims that its policy is based on "behavior" - except part of the focus is on weight, blood pressure and cholesterol levels. Last time I checked, these were not "behaviors", these were conditions that may or may not be affected by behavior.
Whole Foods gives employees that they consider "healthy" a greater discount on products purchased at their store. Their health ratings are based on BMI (ARGGHHHHH), blood pressure, cholesterol and nicotine use.
And while I'm on the subject of these employer "health" incentive programs - since when does your employer have the right to access ANY of your confidential medical information? But I guess that's a bitch and moan for another day.
If circumstances make it difficult (or even impossible) to make fat-friendly choices in your spending; that's okay. That's life. If you're up for it, you can let them know that you don't appreciate their policies; or you can tell a fat-friendly retailer that you appreciate what they are doing even if you can't currently buy from them.
All I'm saying is before you spend your hard earned fat dollars, think about who and what you may be supporting.