Men in Uniform = Yum Yum!

This is what more women picture when they think about firemen.

Most ladies can agree that a man in a uniform is always attractive. Whether he is a firefighter, businessman, police officer, or in the military, that uniform drives their attractiveness so high up. And most of the time, when anyone thinks about men in these roles, they think of tall, dark and handsome with six-pack abs that are well-toned and rock-hard. When many women think of businessmen, they automatically think about GQ, or when they think about firefighters, the image of “the sexy firemen” pops into their mind. But what about our bigger men in uniforms?

Did you know that you can legally be fired for being bigger? According to AOL, legally, if you are obese, you might be protected under the Americans with Disabilities act, however, if you are just on the curvier side, you can be fired or employers by refuse to hire you. In the military, according to Slate Magazine, if a man is 27 years old or younger, they must have a body-fat percentage below 26%. Is it really fair to turn away willing young men from serving our country because they are curvy? That doesn’t stop employers from rejecting individuals.

Many employers discriminate against weight all the time, only a few states are actually doing anything to prevent it.

AARP wrote an article where Rebecca Puhl, director of research at Yale University’s Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity said, “In the workplace, it results in inequitable hiring practices, prejudice from employers, lower wages, discriminatory action and wrongful termination.” Curvy men are being discriminated for being big in almost every industry. Those sexy firemen, military men, businessmen and police officers are there, and they aren’t being discriminated against.

Although the military is a place where you think of all men to be fit, that is not necessarily the case. And even though they have rigorous training, not all of the men there are comfortable in their skin. According to Erik Gunderson, a researcher from the U.S. Navy Neuropsychiatric Research Unit, more than sixty percent of men in the navy are dissatisfied with their body weight.

Discrimination is not only race these days. Men and women are being discriminated against because of their body size no matter how qualified they are for the jobs they apply for. It’s time we stop only thinking about men in uniform as handsome men with chiseled abs, but when real men, who have curves, and who want to help our country. Be the one to stand up for curvy men, and help stop this discrimination.

 

Sources:

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/explainer/2008/04/fat_soldiers.html

http://jobs.aol.com/articles/2013/02/20/appearance-discrimination/

Gunderson, E. (n.d.). Body Size, Self Evaluation and Military Effective. Retrieved December 3, 2014. <http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/603578.pdf&gt;