And not only is this bias acceptable, the results of our survey show—it's out of control.

Skinny Witch vs. Chubby Fairy

What our poll shows about the assumptions women hold

Heavy women are pegged as…

"lazy" 11 times as often as thin women; "sloppy" nine times; "undisciplined" seven times; "slow" six times as often.

While thin women are seen as…

"conceited" or "superficial" about eight times as often as heavy women; "vain" or "self-centered" four times as often; and "bitchy," "mean," or "controlling" more than twice as often.

Even the "good" labels are unfair.

An overweight woman may be five times as likely to be perceived as "giving" as a skinny one. "But it just fits into the stereotype that thin women are not that way," explains Ann Kearney-Cooke, Ph.D. "It's still putting women in a box based on their body size."

From left: Everett Collection. Walt Disney Pictures/Everett Collection

Let's start with our study's findings: As you'll see in the box at right, respondents were six times more likely to label an anonymous overweight woman as "slow" than they were to use that word for a thin woman—and about 10 times more likely to assume she was "sloppy" or "lazy." Slim women, in contrast, were eight times as likely to be seen as "conceited," four times as likely to be viewed as "vain," and twice as likely to be presumed "bitchy." Perhaps most striking, women of all weights hold these stereotypes: Plus-size respondents judged other plus-size women as "sloppy," and skinny types pegged their thin peers as "mean." In other words, no matter what size you are personally, you've internalized these assumptions.

The overwhelming conclusion? All women are now judged by their size. "Fat stereotyping has been well documented," says Puhl, "but this is the first survey I've seen to put hard numbers to the idea that skinny women—and women of all shapes and sizes—are unjustly characterized." It's a sentiment we heard from reader after reader. "I've been judged for being too thin and too fat," says Nikki Nemeyer, 41, a nurse in West Melbourne, Florida, who at 5'10" has swung between 115 and 235 pounds. "You're either a self-centered bitch who is starving herself, or a slob with no willpower who's eating everything in sight."

The price of stereotypes

Many women struggle against these prejudices every day. "I stopped going to clubs with friends because men would say the cruelest things right to my face: Oh, God! How would you like to take a ride on that?'" says Ryan O'Hanlon, 32, of Parker, Colorado, who is 6'0" and 245 pounds. "And in general, people assume that I'm really lazy. Here's the thing: My weight is due to a serious thyroid condition, and I live on 1,200 calories a day. If that's not disciplined, I don't know what is." Heather Melms, who is 5'2" and 240 pounds, says she, too, is fed up with presumptuous people. "In college I was president of Alpha Omicron Pi, which was known as the fat sorority,'" says the 23-year-old, now a graduate student at New York University. "Everyone judged us as lazy, but we were one of the most active groups on campus. I won't let my weight define me. I run three miles a day!"