After years of seeing gay guys write “no fats” on their Grindr profiles, a recent study from Florida State University’s College of Medicine identified two personality characteristics that can incline people to be fat-phobic.
Researchers surveyed 3,000 women to measure their personality traits and their attitudes towards big-bodied people. Their personality traits were measured using a common “Big 5 model” which scores people’s levels of agreeableness, extraversion, openness, neuroticism and conscientiousness.
The study concluded that people with high levels of neuroticism and conscientiousness were more inclined to express an irrational fear of fatness (fat-phobia).
To be clear, neuroticism here is defined as persistent worrying and anxiety that can cause people to dwell on negativity. Conscientious here is defined as an awareness of the impact that their own behavior has on those around them.
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Neurotic and conscientious people were “more likely to hold negative attitudes toward obesity, and were also more likely to engage in ‘fat talk’ around their friends and children,” criticizing other people’s bodies or obsessing about their own and other people’s body size.
Related: “You’re too skinny”: Body-shaming in the gay community works both ways
A lead researcher said that both neurotic and conscientious people tend to internalize societal attitudes and “let them guide their behavior and attitudes.” Thus, in a society that values slimmer people as healthy and more sexually desirable, largeness is viewed as bad and unhealthy.
Just so you know neuroticism and conscientiousness aren’t entirely bad: Concentrating on the negative can sometimes help people spot problems beforehand. Conscientious people tend to be ambitious, goal-oriented and like preparation and organization.
But there are definite downsides to internalizing and perpetuating fat-phobia. The National Eating Disorder Association (NEDA) estimates that gay men are seven to twelve times more likely than straight men to report binge eating and bulimia. Approximately 15% of gay and bi men will develop an eating disorder during their lifetimes, and 42% of men with eating disorders identify as gay or bisexual.
Overvaluing thinness and fearing fatness both contribute to the trend, so it’s important to understand the other attitudes that contribute to help blunt the growing trend of queer men who hate their bodies.
Tallskin
It’s not a mental illness to not want to sleep with great obese bun-monsters
Fat bastards are fat because they eat too much
put down the bags of doughtnuts and walk away, the police have been called
winemaker
How rude and uninformed you are. These guys who’re ‘too fat’ might have a medical problem are aware of it and are trying to lose waight. Some admittedly eat the wrong things and let them selves get that way.. Sadly the gay community has too damned many judgemental guys, too fat, too skinny, too old etc., bottom line, judgemental people will always be with us, their intolerance stems form their own insecurities, pure and simple
JoshGL
“Tallskin”?
Well there you go.
Davidparacka
Some of us don’t mind being fat, so I’ll keep my bag of doughnuts and my awesome butterscotch brownies! There’s always someone who like us bun monsters!
Morrisson
Another psychological study the results of which cannot be repeated; this falls squarely into the replication crisis. P.S there is no such thing as fat-phobic. We along with all other mammals seek healthy partners, with some animals evolving displays to demonstrate health and virility to potential partners. With the exception of fetishes such as chubby chasers and feeders, most just don’t find obesity attractive as it just isn’t healthy and in the overwhelming majority of causes demonstrates a lack of self control (which is a pretty bug character flaw)
Vince
Isn’t phobic a fear of something? I don’t fear it or the men how are obese. I have some great fat friends. However, not going to be hitting them up on a social app either. I take care of myself and it’s as simple as wanting a partner that takes care of their bodies as well.
gymmuscleboy
Once again, Queerty misinterprets a scientific study. Nowhere in the study is the word “fatphobia” mentioned, or even “fear”.
On a different note, I have a hypothesis: “If you’re fat-enabling, you might have this personality trait: Virtue signalling”
Queerty, get down off your high horse and start delivering some real news. This is the second time in only a few days. Your readers deserve better.
Heywood Jablowme
It’s strange but Queerty is always confusing hookup apps with the entirety of gay life. It’s almost like they don’t have any non-sexual friends so they can’t imagine any gay guy having non-sexual friends.
At any rate, the opening sentence is ungrammatical: “After years of seeing gay guys write ‘no fats’ on their Grindr profiles, a recent study from Florida State University’s College of Medicine identified two personality characteristics that can incline people to be fat-phobic.” Wait… what? The STUDY looked at Grindr for years? The study was annoyed at seeing gay guys write “no fats” on their profiles? That’s some study.
Then it turns out the study surveyed 3,000 WOMEN! Presumably the women weren’t looking at Grindr profiles for years. Well, nowadays you never know but probably not.
kcXanadu
I live in NYC and I never see “no fats” on profiles anymore. I haven’t seen that in years actually. I also don’t see “no blacks/no Asians” anymore either. Maybe the rest of the country still does it which is shocking. However, I have seen an increased problem with fat people trying to shame non fat people for not wanting to sleep with them. They try and guilt me into sleeping with them all the time, as if I’m a bad person for not wanting to sleep with someone that I’m not attracted. This action does not come from people who are just over weight. I need to lose about 20 pounds myself. However, I eat well, I go to the gym and even tho my body is by no means a typical Chelsea bod, I am still a solid guy with shape. People who don’t try to take care of themselves is a turn off for me. That goes for anyone. I don’t go for drug addicts, for alcoholics or food addicts. I want to be with someone who cares for themselves because they’re a reflection of what I want for me. I like caring about myself. I do want that perfect beach bod which doesn’t seem to be happening no matter what I do. But people with those bods like me anyway because they see someone who cares about themselves. I’m just tired of the fitness shaming by fat people to try and guilt me into sleeping with them. I’m a great person who cares about themselves and I want to be with like minded people. I don’t want to be with people trying to manipulate into their world of lies. I’ve been with plenty of over weight people(like myself) and they’re hot but they also care about themselves. Then there’s the “other ones” which I can not use a label for because they’re so overly sensitive about the truth of their personal health(fat people). Even saying this I know they’re already thinking of avoidance statements. Like, “you can be skinny and unhealthy”. Anything that deflects from reality of their own health. As long as we don’t see their doctors health reports on them, then they keep pretending like they’re healthy when they can barely make it up the subway stairs. I am NOT an enabler, and I refuse to play along with nonsense just so they can go on living in their imaginary world that everyone else has the problem, and they’re perfect little angels, with nothing to work on about themselves. They can set on the couch, do nothing, and then except they deserve sex from people that don’t share their belief system. Meanwhile, I refuse to give up on obtaining the body I want to have and I refuse to blame not having the body I want on age, genetics or other people. I most likely won’t reach my idea of perfection, but I WILL have something I’m proud of and I will NOT accuse other people of being a bad person for not wanting me.
topshelf
Agree 1000%. Frankly, what impresses me is someone who is driven. I see near-obese guys enroll at my gym all the time. They are awkward and uncomfortable at first, and most of them don’t maintain their membership. But some of them are very determined to improve their health. They lose the weight, their confidence builds, and they become more virile and sexy. People don’t need to be perfect to be attractive, and I don’t mind a little extra belly on a guy as long as it isn’t hanging over his belt. It’s the guys that show resolution and willpower that are incredibly attractive to me.
kcXanadu
@topshelf Thank you so much for agreeing. Sometimes, even though I feel right, I don’t post things pertaining to this issue because I don’t want to look like a bad person. Then I realized, I’m not the bad person. I’m the realistic one. Right now, I am 6’3″ and 260. I don’t mind the number at all. Honestly, I like saying I’m 260. But I am proportionate, solid and thick. A REAL thick type. I find that I can not use words like average, husky, bear, a little extra, football player build, because they all are now words used by fat people so they can avoid saying they’re fat. So I like my dad bod but I find I can not use accurate words to describe myself because those accurate words are all being used by fat people so they don’t have to say they’re fat. Remember when queer was a dirty word until we reclaimed it and turned it into something acceptable. I wish fat people would do that with their word so they would stop using words that describe me and people like me who truly just have a little extra. My goal is not to lose weight but to reshape what I have. I like being a big guy. BIG guy, not FAT guy. Those are two totally different descriptions of a person.
Davidparacka
Bitch, please…
winemaker
Bravo, all responses so eloquently said!
tjack47
It didn’t take me long to see the discrimination between the subcultures in the LGBT+ community. I’ve been both anorexic and, though less often, a binge eater. I’ve lost 155lbs ill and put on about all but 60 during recovery. As a young boy, I put on weight around 2nd grade. I was chubby or husky in those days. I’ve been called fat in both English and Spanish. It was very hurtful at one time, but now I find the ignorance of people who shame anyone about their size pitifully ignorant. You can clearly see from my school pics that my weight gain began after 6yo when I was molested by a 14yo boy. It was armor. I eat my emotions. I’ve been thin enough that my bones showed and 335lbs at 6’6″. Any person has preferences sexually and physically, that’s not the problem. It’s why they feel the need to write their exclusivity, when they don’t have to communicate with anyone. I have severe mental illness also, believe me that and being more feminine as a child and young man made my skin “tough as boot leather” as we say here in Texas tornado alley, Bible belt and blood red Panhandle.