There have been undercurrents of weight discrimination in the workplace for years, but a Texas hospital decided to go anti-fat full throttle.

A Texas newspaper uncovered the story recently reporting about a fat-adverse Texas hospital — Citizens Medical Center — and it’s unheard of policy of refusing to hire anyone with a body mass index of more than 35.

The policy, according to The Texas Tribune, states:

… an employee’s physique “should fit with a representational image or specific mental projection of the job of a healthcare professional,” including an appearance “free from distraction” for hospital patients.

“The majority of our patients are over 65, and they have expectations that cannot be ignored in terms of personal appearance,” hospital chief executive David Brown said in an interview. “We have the ability as an employer to characterize our process and to have a policy that says what’s best for our business and for our patients.”

The hospital’s policy may cause outrage, but it’s an extreme example of an obesity bias that has been percolating in the nation’s workforces, starting with seemingly benign measures such as encouraging workers to walk at lunch. (more…)

In honor of International Women’s Day, we should bring back the power suits of the 1980s. I know, they were hideous, but it turns out they may have actually given gals magical powers.

A study by researchers at Kellogg University found that what we wear impacts how we feel about ourselves and how we perform in our jobs.

“Clothes can have profound and systematic psychological and behavioral consequences for their wearers,” according to a study on the effects of clothing on employees by professors at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, which was published in the recent issue of the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology.

The research found that work garb associated with “attentiveness and carefulness” actually makes workers more attentive and careful. (more…)

Tonight the starlets are coming out in full force. One TV commentator just commented on how flawless one actress’ skin was.

Well folks, that ain’t the reality for many of us out there, including yours truly. I battled acne all my life, and the worst of it came when I was a naive teen trying to get affirmation from a bunch of other naive teens. Well, it never came. I was made fun of instead.

But now, in my forties, I’m able to let people look straight at my face. Yes, it’s still a bit scary to do that, but it’s me. I often wear makeup to hide my flaws. But I’m baring it all in this post. (more…)

“Whatever car commercial I just saw, Kelly Clarkson is FAT. Put on a blazer and hide those piggy arms. You live in the spotlight, honey.”

“Kelly Clarkson is fat now. yes. fat. stop with excuses that she just gain a “lil weigh” n bla bla bla. plz. are u blind? she’s fat. F-A-T”

“Kelly Clarkson stop singing you fat cow”

These are some of the women-empowering tweets I came across on Twitter this morning. I started looking into Kelly Clarkson today after reading a few stories about her concert at Radio City Music Hall Saturday and how she took ongoing criticism of her looks and turned it to her advantage. (more…)

If you doubt sexism is still alive and well in this world I want to share something with you. Say hello to the boxing mini skirt:

The International Boxing Association, or AIBA, decided this is what female boxers should wear for the upcoming Olympics, and actually sent these skirts to women who are competing now to wear to finalist bouts. Not surprisingly, the president of the sporting organization is a male and so are the 24 members of the AIBA’s executive committee who made the decision. Can you imagine what would have happened if there was one female on that committee. She probably would have screamed: (more…)

There’s an article in the Wall Street Journal today about the former CEO of Olympus Corp., Michael C. Woodford, and how he was a big neat freak when it came to his employees.

When he was at Olympus, according to the story, “Woodford laid down the law about what personal items employees could keep on their desks—nothing but photos of family members and pets, as well as children’s drawings.”

This got me thinking of a guy I worked with at a newspaper in Florida who’s desk was considered a fire hazard. It was piled high with folders, paper, food, and lots of missing items from around the office, like the tape recorder I lent him which he was unable to find.

Despite all this, he was one of the best reporters in the newsroom, thorough and always on top of his beat. What if someone like Woodford decided to make him organize his space? Turns out, it wouldn’t be a good thing. (more…)

Despite continued tough economic conditions most employers will be getting their party on this holiday season, and many of them plan to serve booze.

A study released today by outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas found alcohol will be flowing at many companies this year.

“The most surprising finding of the survey was that about half of the respondents said their companies would be serving alcohol at their holiday parties,” said John A. Challenger, chief executive officer for the firm. “In addition to the added cost, serving alcohol adds a level of risk that most companies should strive to avoid. However, despite the increased cost and risk of including alcohol, many companies still embrace it as part of the festive atmosphere.”

Employers want you to party hardy, but that doesn’t mean you should whip out the lampshade. (more…)

Someone tell me why Amazon was out of the Deluxe Charlie Sheen mask on Friday?

Something happens to us when we graduate from school. We lose our understanding of what’s appropriate in certain settings.

Take Halloween. My 4th-grader son decided to dress as Brody, the cursing cop from Jaws, because he loves the movies so much. Well, when he realized there was going to be a Halloween parade at school he quickly changed his plan. It was OK to be Brody when he was going around the neighborhood, but being Brody around his school chums and the girls he likes (but doesn’t admit to) was another matter.

“Only old people will know who Brody is,” he proclaimed when he came home from school last week with a note about the school parade.

OK, I said, “what do you want to be instead?”

“Boba Fett,” he said. You know, the character from Star Wars.

Seemed easy enough. I’m big on going to thrift stores every year to get costumes for the whole family, and usually it works out great. Well, my son was not keen on this because cobbling together a Boba Fett costume from old clothing seemed crazy to him. “What about the mask?” he asked. I looked at the character online and decided I could make him a mask out of cardboard.

He did something he rarely does in response to my idea, he cried. (more…)

My intern Christina and I have been pondering lately whether women will ever get a break when it comes to their appearance.

An endless stream of articles on why women have to wear makeup, or look a certain way, got us both fuming. So I asked Christina to write her first post for CareerDiva about the topic.

By Christina Pingaro

Women may find themselves jobless if they don’t spice up their appearance—at least that’s what some would have you believe.

Over the past two weeks there has been an onslaught of news articles related specifically to women’s attire, makeup, hair and emotions in the workplace. Why this sudden media influx of concern for how women look and feel at work? (more…)

Get up now! That back fat you’ve been trying to lose is actually desk fat.

Yet another study shows that sitting for hours in our desk chairs is really bad for our health, and has also led to the rising obesity rate in this country.

PLoS One, an online medical and scientific journal, reported this week that a reduction in manufacturing and agricultural jobs in the last 50 years has led to more of us sitting at the office and engaged in very little physical activity. And that’s made us all thicker around the mid section.

This from the report’s conclusion:

Over the last 50 years in the U.S. we estimate that daily occupation-related energy expenditure has decreased by more than 100 calories, and this reduction in energy expenditure accounts for a significant portion of the increase in mean U.S. body weights for women and men.

I’ve been beating the standing-desk horse for a while. And that’s why I now have a standing desk. Here’s a photo of what I rigged up in my home office: (more…)