The Office Collection
Two-thirds of the American workforce is plus-size, but you’d never know that looking at company websites, job boards, or other forms of media. Plus-size people experience significant discrimination in the workplace: hiring managers associate us with negative characteristics and openly admit to being less likely to hire us, we make less than our thin counterparts for doing the same job, and we’re routinely passed over for promotions because of the pervasive bias that fat people aren’t capable of being leaders.
So AllGo created The Office Collection, a collection of stock photography featuring plus-size office workers—available at no cost—to increase the representation of plus-size office workers in media. Please use these photos and share them broadly so others can do the same.
Stock photos are not going to solve these deep-rooted problems. But they can inspire people to do better. They’ll show fat people as successful people in business. They’ll show us as the leaders we are and can become.
These photos are available for all uses and feature plus-size people.
Like all of our stock photos, The Office Collection 100% volunteer-powered. Our sincerest thanks to our photography team, our models, and the fabulous people of Ori and The Riveter, who contributed beautiful clothes and a beautiful location, respectively. While attribution is not required to use the photos, we do ask that you please credit AllGo and photographer Michael Poley of Poley Creative whenever possible so that others may find our stock photo collections. Here’s a caption you can copy and paste for your convenience:
Photo featuring plus-size model by Michael Poley of Poley Creative for AllGo, publisher of free stock photos featuring plus-size people.
Plus Size Business Leaders
There’s no doubt that the effects of racism and sexism compound size discrimination. It turns out that about half of male CEOs are big men, but less than 20% of female CEOs wear plus sizes.
When it comes to very plus-size people though, very few make it to the CEO level, regardless of gender. Only 5% of very plus-size people earn this top spot, despite the fact that they make up 36% of men and 38% of women in the U.S.
Download high-resolution photos via Unsplash here
Plus Size People Deserve Fair Pay
In a 2010 study published in the Journal of Applied Psychology, researchers examined the relationship between weight and income. They found that while very plus-size people are all subject to wage discrimination, the degree of the discrimination varies by gender.
Evidence of this wage gap is particularly clear for women. The study found that “heavy women” earned $9,000 less than their straight-size counterparts, while “very heavy women” earned $19,000 less.
Download high-resolution photos via Unsplash here
Plus Size Employees & Their Rights
Experts say weight discrimination runs rampant because of the almost nonexistent legislation protecting plus-size people from hiring prejudice and wage disparities. Weight is not a protected status in federal or (most) state laws and only a handful of cities offer legal protection at the municipal level.
Until protection is enacted at the local, state, and federal levels, plus size people will continue suffer the consequences of weight discrimination without any recourse.
Download high-resolution photos via Unsplash here
