Realwomen.co.nz

In 1999 I got too large to sit in the movie seats around town, seating is nightmare for real women, anyway I wanted to see movies so I sat on a armless seat in the wheelchair space on a number of occasions. It was so uncomfortable, so I wrote to Hoyts who assured me that their seats were within building code requirements, in other words. Too bad!

In 1999 I got too large to sit in the movie seats around town, seating is nightmare for real women, anyway I wanted to see movies so I sat on a armless seat in the wheelchair space on a number of occasions. It was so uncomfortable, so I wrote to Hoyts who assured me that their seats were within building code requirements, in other words. Too bad!

But they did say they would look at the problem when they built another movie theatre. So the Regent was built still no decent seating. So I went and bought a ticket anyway. I intend to get these idiots even if I have to go to Fair Go.

Seating is the reason I can't go places, I have no access, people who are in wheelchairs are better off that fat people. I thought of buying one at one stage but being fat is not a disability, fat people are being excluded from taking part in life.

Anyway this is my submission to the Justice and Electoral Select Committee in Parliament submissions close on the 28th September 2001. I am sorry I was unable to access this site sooner.

September 2001

SUBMISSION ON BODY SIZE DISCRIMINATION

To the Justice and Electoral Select Committee
On the Human Rights Act
Introduction
This submission is from Lynette Plank, Christchurch

General Summary
I support the current Human Rights Act and The Discussion Paper called “Re-evaluation of the Human Rights Protection in New Zealand”. Despite this I strongly feel that changes must be made to the Human Rights Act 1993 to prohibit discrimination that currently exists against people that are fat or the obese body size.

Incorporating ‘size’ as a substantive ground into the Human Rights Amendment Bill needs to be addressed, as body size discrimination is not covered by the current Human Rights legislation.

It is assumed incorrectly that “obesity” is a disease and that the Disability section of the Act can be used to help those who are discriminated against because fat body-size. The term “obesity” is a medical category for a body size. Obesity is not an illness or a disability therefore does not fit under any of the current criteria laid out in the Human Rights Act 1993.

I believe “body size” as a title category speaks for itself, if the leglisation includes a definition of body size, it risks defining discrimination by only covering a person with the defined size rather than anyone whom is being discriminated against because of his/her body size. The best definitions I have been able to find are in the City and County of San Francisco (Appendix H). The category must be very broad, as it must be left up to the Courts discretion to make a decision based on the case before them.

I suggest the following wording be used:
PUBLIC ACTS / H / Human Rights Act 1993 / Part 2 — Unlawful Discrimination / 21
Prohibited grounds of discrimination
21 Prohibited grounds of discrimination
(1) For the purposes of this Act, the prohibited grounds of discrimination are —
[add as amendment]
(n) Body Size
I also support Sections 24-35 of the Human Rights Act, which outline the current exceptions in relation to employment.

Supporting Comments:
I am a large person from a family of large people whose size is biologically determined by genetic make-up. Very often the reaction to my fatness is that it is up to me to change my size if I am to be a valued human being. The way in which this is done is by excluding me or pressurising me to become an acceptable weight.

It is my belief that I should have the right to be any size I choose; I know that I am seen as different but any difference should not be used prejudicially against me. Currently I have no protection under the Human Rights leglisation so unfortunately I am the target of discrimination. I have provided the following information and examples to show how I am being demeaned, devalued and discriminated against.
1. Accessible to seating in public places:
Discrimination in relation to size can be so subtle it happens in all sorts of places I have been excluded from venues by providing only small seats with immovable arms. It is not that I am insinuating that this is done on purpose although I have been told that the seating problem should be an incentive for large people to loose weight. I contend that it is mostly economics that drives the decision to provide seats of certain size and a large hip size doesn’t have to be considered when specifying seats for a venue. My collective experience of seating problems is as follows:

a Parliament (the Public Gallery)
When I visited the Gallery I was unable to sit down in the small seats so I stood, but I was subsequently told to sit down by an official. When I explained I was unable to do this and asked for another type of seat, I was then told that there was none available so there was no choice left but to leave.
b The Christchurch District Court:
I have been called to serve on a Jury twice at the Christchurch District Court. On the first occasion I approached the Clerk of Courts and explained that I was unable to sit in the Juror’s chairs provided. He then spoke with Judge who said in front of everyone present “that I can see you would be most uncomfortable” and excused me from the Jury. A few months later I was called for Jury service and then I could see myself being humiliated in public once again so I approached the Clerk and said your seats are too small for me. So before he went to see the Judge I said, “What would you do with a disabled person in wheelchair?” he said, “We can fit a wheelchair in there” so I said if he could find me a chair without arms and put it there it would solve the problem.
I wonder how many Jurors have faced the pain of being wedged into these seats? These uncomfortable seats would have caused me to loose concentration and it would have been torturous maybe to the extent of affecting a verdict, as even in the short time I was imprisoned in my seat I could not wait to be freed from the pain being inflicted upon me. As for exempting fat people from Jury service, well I am sure the Judge was just looking after my interests, I was relieved although I did complain but it was the judge’s decision.

A few months later I was called again, I was tempted to seek an exemption because of the seats but instead I was so angry at the situation I decided to make a point. It seems to me that it is hard enough to get Jurors now without exempting them because they are unable to fit the Jury seats. Isn’t a large person who is accused of a crime got the right to be judged by a group of his/her peers and that must include fat people?

c The Christchurch City Council’s New Bus Exchange:
Recently the Christchurch City Council opened its new bus exchange; the seating had immovable metal arms. I complained to the Council, thankfully for me the Council was embarrassed enough to put in extra more appropriate seating.

d The Christchurch Town Hall
Last year I graduated from the Christchurch College of Education and the ceremony was held at the Town Hall. I knew the seating was going to be a problem as previously I had been invited to a concert and I was unable to fit the seats. As a result of this I really wasn’t sure whether I wanted to go to the Ceremony or not. Anyway with my husband’s encouragement I decided to go and contacted the Town Hall who organised a seat without arms at the end of the row. I did not sit with my class and explaining why I couldn’t was a real nightmare.

e Hoyts Movie Theatres
It was back in 1999 when I went to the Hoyts 8 movie theatre when I realised that the seats were too small for me, I ended up sitting on a bar stool for 3 hours in the wheelchair space. It was an uncomfortable and embarrassing episode so I complained to Hoyts movie theatre management and I enclose their reply (Appendix A).

f Airline Seats
It is assumed that Airline seat size is dependent on economic status as can be seen in the difference between Business class and Economy class. It is not possible for me to use Business class seats as they have wide immovable steel arms. Economy class seat arms do move so that a person can use more than one seat. A passenger with a hip size of over 100cm (a size 14) is only ever going to be able to sit in Economy class with the arm rest up.

It is Air New Zealand’s policy regarding the accommodation of fat passengers to provide seat belt extensions and if your flight is not full they are happy to provide to an empty seat next to yours so that you can be comfortable. Unfortunately, if the flight is full which happens frequently when traveling overseas and the passenger needs extra seat room they are charged for the extra seat cost.

Polynesian Airlines; I have been told have larger seats to cater for the cultural body size difference of Pacific Island People (see Appendix B and C Body Size Chart from a food and nutrition study by the Ministry of Health called NZ Food: NZ People, Key results of the 1997 National Nutrition Survey).

The data especially upper arm circumference statistics contained in this chart could be used to conclude that Maori New Zealanders are larger than other New Zealanders are. I also include the Executive Summary of the study (Appendix D) in which the Ministry of Health has determined that 17% of the adult population (15% males, 19% female) are obese.

I have felt it was necessary to survey various venues and public offices in Christchurch.
Venue: Seat Size Woman’s Body Size
(Width arm to arm) Seat will fit up to:
Christchurch District Court (Jury Chairs) 43.3 centimeters (cm) Size 8
Christchurch High Court (Jury Chairs) 43.3 cm Size 8
The Theatre Royal in Christchurch 45.75 cm average Size 10
The Christchurch Town Hall 44 cm Size 10
The James Hay Theatre 43.7cm Size 8
The Christchurch Bus Exchange 44cm (as at April 2001) Size 10
Hoyts Movie Theatres 47 cm Size 12
Work and Income NZ (Stanmore Rd) 51.5cm Size 16
WestpacTrust Centre 43 cm Size 8
Inland Revenue 45 cm Size 10
Christchurch Public Hospital;
Outpatient Waiting Area 51.5cm Size 16
Admissions Waiting Area 48 cm Size 12
Air New Zealand Airlines;
Business Class 50 cm Size 14
Economy Class 42 cm Size 8
Christchurch City Council Debating Chamber; Public Gallery 45 cm Size 10

Results of the Seating Survey
My survey is by no means scientific, I have selected some places in which seating has been a problem for me, also a number of places were selected at random. Seating sizes ranged from 43 cm to 51.5 cm, the average being 45.8 cm. It quickly became evident that there is no such thing as a standard sized seat. Equating these measurements with the New Zealand population Body Size statistics is useless, body size is measured by weight, height, body mass index, waist to hip ratios, triceps skinfold, subscapular skinfold and upper arm circumference. I was unable to find documents that related to New Zealander’s hip size.

Pattern Makers in the clothing industry use size standards, these standards must not be confused with the sizes of clothing available in the industry as garment sizes change from manufacturer to manufacturer and New Zealand apparel is known to very generous in its fit. As an example; I have known a woman who has a hip size of 137 cm to fit anything from a size 20 to 26 skirt bought from the store but to make pattern for her it would actually be a size 30. I have included a standard pattern making size chart from “Metric Pattern Cutting” by Winifred Aldrich (Appendix E); from the chart it is evident that women of size 18 or over are not catered for in the various public venues that I have surveyed.

Seating Size Standards
According to the architects and movie companies which I have communicated with there is a set standard for seating and the venues are not in breach of any building code specifications. I have contacted both the Christchurch City Council and the Department of Labour and according to them these seating standards do not exist.

2. Size Prejudice in the Workplace:
I first experienced fat prejudice in the work force when I had been made redundant. I had signed up with a number of employment agencies and I went along to a lot of job interviews but still no job offers, finally I asked my consultant at the employment agency why I wasn’t getting anywhere. She said “it was because of my weight, the employers were really interested until they met me then they saw how big I was I wasn’t even in contention for the job”. She was very sympathetic and said I would have an excellent chance of getting the position I wanted, if I lost weight. She also said until then I shouldn’t waste my time and I should definitely not apply for positions in the fashion or music industry and that it would be easier if I sought a position behind the scenes and not in the public eye.

3. Exercising in public:
I know I attract attention because of my body size but everyone needs exercise, I no longer exercise in public because the following incidents:
a Cycling
I decided to take up cycling I got a few stares but that was fine until a couple of adults yelled at me “Hey fatty your tyres are flat, you need to diet”.
b The Gym
I enrolled in women only gym. I have never seen anyone as large as me attending the gym and I feel uncomfortable and out of place especially in the communal changing room. I was constantly stared at, it was not a friendly stare and then I hear a group of members talking unfavorably about my body size. “What is she doing here?” “I never want to get like that” It is like I shouldn’t be despoiling place of the beautiful people.
c Swimming
This form of exercise has been suggested a number of times by people including my previous doctor. I decided that swimming posed more problems, as I felt even more exposed than the gym.
Communal rooms are not satisfactory and I need to have a size-accepting environment to feel comfortable exercising in public.

4. Leisure Activities:
In 1992 I started singing in public and I decided to enter some singing competitions. I did very well but never won anything but it was not of concern me as I was really only singing for fun. When I entered and won the novice award at a competition in Christchurch I was elated. Later I met one of the judges who told me “ that judges were marking me down because of my weight.” She told me that “if I wanted to impress judges I would have to lose weight that all the singing ability in the world wasn’t going to get me anywhere. That people didn’t just come to hear a singer they came to look at them too and therefore my size was important.”

I was totally disheartened by the singing judge’s comments; to me all the enjoyment went out of performing and it made me feel that people didn’t want to look at a fat singer.

5. Advertising:
a The Xenical Drug
In July 2000, I complained to the Broadcasting Standards Authority about the way Roche Pharmaceutical’s product Xenical was marketed to the public. My complaint was forwarded to the Advertising Standards Authority and the Authority sent me copy of Decision (2000/78) which was similar to my own. (Correspondence to be found Appendix F).

Complaint (2000/78) was not upheld, the Authority’s Board viewed the advertisement and they agreed that it was very emotive but rather than reinforcing a prejudice actually invoked an empathy with obese people. In the Board’s opinion they were more often portrayed in a humorous role, because of their size, and this advertisement promoted a product, which actually offered them an alternative. The Advertiser states that the advertisement does not “encourage prejudice against and shame of fat people. If this approach encourages prejudice then advertisements that promise relief from embarrassment of cold sores, acne or dandruff should be banned.

My response is that diseases can cause acne, cold sores and dandruff and I believe that the public has a right to be informed about new products that combat diseases. In my opinion Roche crossed the line and used shame to such an extent and in such a way that it was offensive. To suggest that dumping shame on significantly obese people is a way of helping or assisting them is ridiculous. If shame and humiliation worked as a tool to make fat people into thin ones there would not be a fat person on earth (with the exception of where being fat was culturally acceptable).

Roche pharmaceuticals made millions out of Xenical and impressed the images on the public that fat people are out of control and ashamed. This type of advertising reinforces all the “bad” things about being fat while promising a utopian cure. A person’s weight (especially women’s) yet again is not a private matter but a topic for public consideration and discussion.

I consider the most disgusting advertisement that I have ever seen to be for Xenical. In the advertisement a young polynesian or maori boy has just won a running race at school and his teacher congratulates him and asks where his dad is and why he’s not watching him race. The boy tells his teacher, his father isn’t there and then you see the boy turn and unhappily look at his father in the front seat of his car. It is abhorrent to have this type of advertising thrust into my home by television stations that are funded by my taxes. It feels like I am contributing to my own torture and yet I can do nothing to stop it. I approached the Advertising Standards Authority about the Xenical advertisement; they sent me the relevant decisions regarding the advertisements.

On reading the Deliberations of the Board I decided that it was futile to complain, when only one complaint was upheld and that related to the advertisement being screened inappropriately during children’s television time. The Board states in page 9 of 99/1a and b “taking into account the results possible for obese people who take Xenical, and that obesity is a serious disease in New Zealand. The Board was of the opinion that the emotive depiction not only reinforced the message but it did it in a socially responsible way. The fact is that if being obese was socially acceptable then the advertisements would not have been made is way and there would be little need for such drugs.

Fat people paid the price for the Xenical advertising campaign and not by just buying the products but in self esteem. Roche’s shocking emotive advertisements accentuated the differences of being significantly obese and gave certain bigoted members of society a justified opportunity to ridicule fat people publicly.

b Muffin Break - Guilt-Free Muffins
I applaud Muffin Break for its efforts to gain the Heart Foundation’s approval for its range of healthy muffins however I can’t say I am thrilled with the name of this delicious product (the order form is Appendix G). The category for these muffins is “Guilt Free”; why should a healthy product be called “Guilt-Free?”
What does it say about our society when this type of advertising is used to sell products? Are we guilty and ashamed of what we eat? Some of us must feel this way otherwise why use “Guilt Free” to promote this product.

Conclusion:
1. Seating
It hasn’t been easy being strong in such embarrassing situations as these, it can have an isolating effect and I find myself turning down invitations to go out purely because I am unable to use the seating provided.

2. Size Prejudice in the Workplace
I was very upset to be told that employers were turning me down for work because my body size, it was deeply humiliating. I felt they were discriminating against me, I approached the Human Rights Commission to complain but I was unable to lay a complaint as according to them there was nothing in Human Rights leglisation that prohibited this type of discrimination. My confidence and self-esteem took a deep blow, I started dieting then lost weight and got the job I wanted. I was left with this self-doubt, did I get the job because of my abilities or just because of my ability to diet.

3. Exercising in public
To my knowledge there are no size acceptance exercise groups in existence in Christchurch.

4. Leisure Activities
There is a desperate need to change the attitude that “you can never be too thin” promoted by the music industry. I was shocked that the promotion of the thin body image was being pushed in what I had considered up until then to be an enjoyable pastime. This event certainly changed my awareness of body image issues and I am yet to find a current famous international singer that performs my field of music. They are scared of being obese; their singing careers are in jeopardy if they become fat and this in turn the idea that fat is unacceptable so there are no role models. In the fashion Industry this state of mind also exists.

5. Advertising:
Fat is considered to be shameful in our society, shame sells especially well when dealing with appearance and body image issues. If this wasn’t so, Roche wouldn’t have used these emotions in the advertising of Xenical and no one would respond to the “Guilt-Free” advertising used to sell muffins.

“Shame is also about feeling alone, cut off from others, isolated, and being secretive, unable to talk about something. Shame is about believing you are a bad person, which is different from thinking you have done a bad thing (which is guilt). Shame is deeply woven into women’s feelings about our bodies since our bodies rarely conform to the culture’s definition of acceptable”. “And since the gap between actual body and “ideal” body is enormous shame is felt on a daily basis”. How many times have you heard women say, “I feel fat”? What we really mean by this is “I feel bad.” Saying we “feel fat” has become an acceptable way to express shame”, from page 139-140 of Nothing to Lose by Cheri K. Erdman.

Finally, I believe that the country I live in uses my fatness against me; it seeks to place controls on me because I obviously (in its eyes) haven’t got the will-power to do it myself. There is substantial pressure for me as a large person to become thin and yet all I ever wanted is to be me. Society devalues me because I am fat, this is an outrage and it is an absolute insult that I am unable to find a suitable seat in Parliament’s public gallery.

Size-ism is a prejudice that is no more defensible than racism, sexism or any other discrimination therefore it must be outlawed. Under the current Human Rights leglisation size discrimination is legal in New Zealand. I ask that the government change this Act thereby protecting me from this deplorable prejudice. I believe no one should be legally able to discriminate against me because of my body size.

Recommendations:
1. To amend Human Rights Act 1993 to prohibit discrimination against people who are fat or of obese body size.
2. Leglisation must be introduced to make seating for large people available at all venues and public places.
3. To provide funding for size acceptance groups for fat people.
4. Introduce a de-stigmatisation body image programme that includes positive promotion of fat role models in society and self-acceptance of body size.
5. To amend the Code for Therapeutic Advertising so that advertisers can no longer use shame or embarrassment to advertise health products.
6. Identify prejudicial practices facing fat people in the workforce.
7. Formulate an affirmative action plan that will support fat people into employment.
Appendices:
1: Compliance Guidelines to Prohibit Weight and Height Discrimination
A: Copy of letter received from Hoyts Cinemas (N.Z.) Limited
B: Copy of page 170 Body Size Chart (calculated by age) from Ministry Health Nutritional Health Document called New Zealand Food : New Zealand People
C: Copy of page 171 Body Size Chart (calculated using cultural differences) from Ministry Health Nutritional Health Document called New Zealand Food : New Zealand People
D: Copy of Executive Summary from Ministry Health Nutritional Health Document called New Zealand Food : New Zealand People
E: Copy of Standard Women’s Body Measurement Chart from Metric pattern Cutting by Winifred Aldrich
F: Copies of Correspondence and Decision relating to Xenical from Advertising Standards Authority
G: Fax Order Form from Muffin Break
H: Compliance Guidelines to Prohibit Weight and Height Discrimination

I haven't included the appendix it is so long but you can email me if you want it at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it it is a laughable email name but I am the lucky part of the email address and my husband's nickname in the army was yoda.

I urge other real women to write to the Committee. I spoke with Tim Barnett (who happens to the local MP) and the Committee needs to know the effects of body size discrimination, they want case studies. Even if the changes don't happen this time around I have plenty of years left to see that someday these changes will happen. I believe I am fighting for my right to exist.

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