The Most Unpleasant Experiences in My Life: Discrimination - Essay Example

Thus, I witnessed one of the most unpleasant experiences in my life when I came closer to John, my friend, who has been undergoing the most strenuous exercises and dieting to impress people by reducing his weight.

Whereas losing weight is a natural desire for anyone who is obese, it becomes most repulsive when you are undertaking abnormal and exhausting ways of achieving it, merely to meet others’ standards of physical beauty. My friend has been under the impression that attractive people are more popular in society and it is fundamental to conform to society’s standards of physical beauty, by reducing weight using strenuous exercises and dieting. Significantly, my friend is just another victim of discrimination against or chauvinism towards individuals based on their appearance.

However, undertaking undesirable methods such as strenuous exercises and dieting to conform to society’s standards of physical beauty is most objectionable and disagreeable. First of all, it is essential to maintain that the misconception about standards of physical beauty can lead people to adopt the most unacceptable methods of weight loss and good looks. The best way to maintain physical beauty is to switch to a healthy way of living and positive means of controlling body weight.

My friend John has been blindly following the unpleasant methods of weight loss such as strenuous exercises and dieting to conform to society’s standards of physical beauty. As Tom Bradley suggests, “Weight loss can be achieved without strenuous exercise. The misconception that a person has to work out intensely for hours each day to have a measurable impact on weight loss is simply not true.” (Bradley) Therefore, my friend’s method of undertaking strenuous exercises and dieting to lose weight is simply unacceptable.

He needs to adopt measures that are natural to his body conditions and switch over to a healthy way of living and constructive means of weight loss. Another pertinent matter related to this topic is society’s attitude toward the standards of physical beauty, and it is essential to recognize that there is widespread discrimination in society based on erroneous standards of beauty. It is a widely accepted fact that attractive people tend to gain more recognition and popularity in society, the workplace, etc.

In other words, as the halo effect indicates, attractive people enjoy more occupational achievement and social status. Discrimination based on physical beauty should be treated as an injustice and a crime against fundamental human rights. Significantly, discrimination based on physical beauty compels individuals to adopt unfavorable means of weight loss and the study by Rothblum, et al. (1989) offers convincing evidence in this regard. “Since permanent weight loss is not possible for most obese persons, the results of this study suggest that societal attitudes toward obese persons, particularly toward women, need to change to eliminate the employment-related discrimination and victimization experienced by the obese.” (Rothblum, et al) Therefore, it is essential to be aware of the hazardous effects of discrimination in society, based on physical beauty. However, adopting an undesirable method of weight loss and good looks cannot be justified by any standards.