FATTISM

noun Also written fatism (People and Society) Discrimination against, or the tendency to poke fun at, overweight people. Etymology: Formed by adding the suffix -ism (as in racism and sexism) to fat. History and Usage: Fattism is one of a large number of formations ending in -ism which became popular in the eighties to describe perceived forms of discrimination (see also ableism, ageism, and heterosexism). This one belongs to the second half of the eighties, a time when general diet-consciousness and an emphasis on physical fitness in Western societies made being overweight almost into a moral issue. It was coined by American psychologist Rita Freedman in the book Bodylove (1988), in which she points out the insidious influence of one's personal appearance on others (in particular the notion that obese people are lazy or undisciplined): Looksism gives birth to fatism, another cruel stereotype that affects us all. It is usually used only half-seriously, though, as is the corresponding adjective fat(t)ist. The adjective appears to be becoming more established in the language than the noun at present, but neither promises to be permanent. Fatist is a refreshing new word to me, as opposed to fattest which is much more familiar. Spare Rib Oct. 1987, p. 5 Dawn French makes no apologies about her size, and any frisson of incipient fattism is instantly quashed in her commanding presence. Sunday Express Magazine 25 Mar. 1990, p. 18 Now Ms Wood looks smarter and has lost so much weight, some of her fattist pieces lose their credibility. Gay Times Nov. 1990, p. 71