Ellen Maud Bennett was diagnosed with cancer and didn’t have long before her passing, but she died surrounded by family and loved ones. She was a citizen of Canada and lived to be only 64. Since her death this summer, her obituary has been read by thousands of people for addressing a topic no one ever talks about (source: Buzzfeed News)
Her obituary, which was published in the Times Colonist newspaper, included her dying wish for overweight women to be treated fairly in the medical world (source: The Guardian). Because of her battle with cancer “she sought out medical intervention and no one offered any support or suggestions beyond weight loss”. Her goal for including this in her obituary was for “women of size…advocating strongly for their health and not accepting that fat is the only relevant health issue (source: Buzzfeed News).
People have been sharing their own experiences, and a new light has been shed on this issue. Many people, across different countries, have felt discriminated against by healthcare professionals, claiming that their medical needs have been neglected because of it. According to Independent, women for decades were told their medical concerns were only caused by weight issues, and were being misdiagnosed because doctors refused further testing past putting them on a scale Some women argued that being a minority, and overweight, was even worse.
Not only does discrimination against patients prove to negatively affect their mental health, but it can lead to “delay in seeking health care, reluctance to return visits, or lower trust in the providers and their recommendations”, but also people are being neglected the medical treatment they need by being misdiagnosed (source: Independent). Thousands of twitter users have been agreeing with this topic; Huffington Post found that one user even said she could tell the difference in how she was treated by doctors after gaining a significant amount of weight, and it “shocked me. In one particular incident a doctor – well – I don’t want to repeat it here- but it was hate. Not shaming. It was hate.”
The American Psychological Association (APA) did a study in 2017 that proved the presence of medical discrimination against overweight patients. Joan Chrisler, a psychology professor who presented APA’s study, said the study found that the first source of fat shaming in someone’s life is from family members, and the second comes doctors (source: Huffington Post).
People found it common for doctors just to tell them that they should lose weight in order to solve their medical issues, while people who were thinner were told to get CAT scans, blood work, or physical therapy for the exact same symptoms. Eric Sherman, a NYC psychotherapist, explained that the stereotypes of overweight people being lazy and weak were prominent beyond the medical field (source: Huffington Post).
Legacy is a website where people can see Bennett’s obituary, here, and sign the guest book with their own responses for Bennett’s family and the public to see. I decided to write this article about Bennett’s dying wish because it’s a topic I’ve experienced in my own life. There are so many subtopics under feminism, including unequal pay, sexist treatment in certain fields, feminine products’ taxes, misogynistic women roles, and so on. Many tweets made in reaction to Bennett’s obituary pointed out how heavy women were most likely the victims of discrimination by doctors. Doctors are supposed to give all patients equal treatment, without judgement or discrimination. If police officers, coaches, and movie directors are boycotted, fired, and arrested for discrimination and sexist acts, then why aren’t doctors?