Obese men get more respect?

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Why are obese/fat guys considered more imposing and often more respected by others than slim/lean dudes?

You can call me out on this and say I am wrong but where I live in the south of England grossly overweight guys are feared and respected.

Nope....they are not.

That's for sure. They are not normally "disrespected"---but they don't get any special "respect" because they are obese. No way.

well in my part of the world they get some respect because they are bigger and a lot of people dont want to mess with them.

Because they’re not stereotyped as gay.

First off, there’s not a single thing wrong with being LGBTQIA+. A gay person has the same rights as any other person.

But as we also all know, people mindlessly stereotype.

I’m now 59 years old. When I was younger, I was kind of a weird, skinny guy. Plus, my voice was nasal like I might live in Boston.

And therefore, in these earlier times when people my same age were younger, too,

in people’s limited vocabulary and limited classification of the world, I was often classified as “gay.”

Other times, a woman might take an interest in me and like me because of my voice.

You can measure weight and percentage body fat

You can't measure "respect"

You did not do a controlled experiment

Where I live, I have not noticed percentage body fat affecting respect obtained. Exception:. Those with extreme appearances get comments

However I do not live where you live

That is because there is a difference between "respect" and "fear".

"Respect" is given to people who show integrity and ethical behavior.

"Fear" is shown to people who are bigger, stronger, and meaner.

Comedian Rodney Dangerfield did not get respect

This is what I was about to say.

Big people are certainly considered more imposing because they can hit / squash smaller people.

That's not to say they're more respected. Maybe more feared. That's different.

Obese people of all genders get less respect than people who are thin or built.

I don't know how you come to these conclusions sometimes Jamesy.

Probably because we live in a society where being unhealthy and obese is so normalised, that if you are thin, people think you are odd.

I find it almost ironic that so many people here in the US are very overweight when the media pushes the image of being extremely thin. There is a stereotype that models & actresses are anorexic & bulimic. For some reason us Americans have to take everything to the extreme for any side we're on. Why cant we do a happy medium & keep things in moderation

I think muscular lean men tend to get the most respect, and obese men and scrawny men both tend to be treated less well.

I guess I'm technically obese. I'm 6 feet 4 inches tall and really solidly built. I don't think I get more respect from being overweight as opposed to when I was 50 pounds lighter a few years back.

In general, people don't mess with me though. I think that's partly because of my size any partly because of the autism. I've come to understand that many people see me as being really intense when in reality my facial expression is just not reflecting my happy go lucky state of mind. In any case, it doesn't bother me that people tend to leave me alone. Not sure if that is respect or fear and I don't really care.

You can throw your weight around if you have a lot of weight. And sorta push your way into a crowd.

But the obese are stigmatized. And not venerated.

Despite jokes about Clinton and Trump being "fat" I can only think of one truly morbidly obese POTUS. Taft. Fat enough to get stuck in the White House bathtub. So obesity doesnt give you an edge at the ballot box.

Does James Corden get respect?

He's 5ft8 and has got down to 200ish pounds.