it may definitely make a difference in first impressions. but i have never felt that people meet me and automatically assume i'm sloppy, dirty, ignorant, or untalented.

regardless of what you look like, if you're great at what you do, that's the only thing that matters. i am notorious for doing my own thing at work, not fitting into the corporate mold – but my work speaks for itself.

i am respectful, smart, no-bullshit, and i work incredibly hard. i'm proud to say that my work speaks for itself. i am an asset to a company, and i don't need to weigh 120 pounds for that to be true.

of course, if you're fat AND you suck…. well, there's not much to be done about that.

Penelope talks often about the importance of focusing and finding a tight niche market. I have a hunch this one will be very successful! Thanks!!

Do you have a blog?? You should! Your comment really reasonated with me. I never had compared the plight of gays with that of the overweight, but the analogy is strong.

It was a great response to d above who I think was trying to argue that employers would rather have an overweight employee than a gay one. I would add that both groups have an extra challenge in getting hired, and I couldn't say who has less difficulty.

I'll add to your analysis that I think gays became more accepted in the workplace because companies recognized positive attributes about them that they could use to their advantage, such as being more available for travel or long hours since we are less likely to have children at home.

I think being overweight carries much more shame than being gay because, as you said, being gay is widely believed to be out of a person's control while being overweight is usually thought of as more of a choice. Articles like this promote this shame, and it is completely unfair.

I have known many overweight people who want more than anything to be thin because they are made to believe that they can't be happy or feel good about themselves if they are not.

I believe Penelope's intention is to show how and why these factors influence hiring. It seems like she wants to encourage people to exercise and eat healthy for their own personal and career good. Sure, her tone is strong, but that is her trademark.

I wish, though, that she would use these statistics to urge us readers to fight this unfair discrimination when we are the ones doing the hiring. Once we are calling the shots, we can change the status quo. We can learn to look beyond differences that in the past were considered negative attributes. We can learn to accept people for what they bring to the table and not for their waist size.

Just because there is discrimination now does not mean that it will or should be around forever.