I don’t think it rises to the level of prtected class. But, it is worth debating. When it comes to a job an employer can argue that how someone looks affects their ability to do the job, and if weight means sales and revenue would be lower, then the business would be within their rights most likely. It’s tricky though, because giving in to the public’s prejudice might be why sales would be lower. What if a black person would not be received well in a certain market, then only hiring I white person for that job might be considered discriminatory, unfair, probably illegal.
You have to be pretty big to have trouble because of your weight. There are some places in America where the majority of people are normal weight or thinner, but most of America has about 50% overweight, 30% being obese, and so many things are made in a larger size anyway. I was in an airport not too long ago (I can’t remember which one) and realized all the wheelchairs were wider than the typical ones I used to see.
I have wondered if the movement in the last 30 years to help overweight people feel good about themselves, big is beautiful type of thing, has actually hurt our population. A horrible double edged sword, because of course we don’t want people to be unhappy about themselves. During this movement people were on TV over and over again proclaiming their doctor tells them they are healthy. At least now doctors like Dr. Oz are saying if you are very heavy you are not healthy.
Is it our job as a society to keep each other healthy. Does a sort of shunning help keep people on a better path? I don’t like the idea of something so extreme, but shame has effectively manipulated society in the past. I don’t even like shaming anyone, but the threat of it is maybe enough? If we start accomodating people who are obese, it will happen more and more I think, it becomes normal.
Laws are supposed to protect people. Are we protecting those who are very obese by accomodating them? If their obesity causes medical problems and early death, is that helping? If the weight disables them, they are already accomodated in that way. I guess we need to think of govermenment and societies role regarding health issues, along with discriminations considerations.