高职务的强势女性更苗条

　　Powerful career women who hold top jobs in law, medicine and business are slimming down, according official figures.They are the only social group to lose weight in the past 15 years while the study reveals everyone else is growing fatter.

　　New data from the National Obesity Observatory (NOO) shows that 15 per cent of professional women were obese in 1997, but that figure had fallen to 14 per cent by 2008.

　　NOO, which has monitored obesity issues in the UK since 2007, highlighted how the percentage of professional men classified as fat rose from 15 to 20 per cent between 1997 and 2008.

　　Two reasons were said to behind the trend for slimmer women - they are still judged on their appearance rather than skill and their ambition to be better than their male colleagues.

　　Professional women are aware of a bias against those who are overweight, according to Andrew Hill, professor of medical psychology at Leeds University.

　　Barrister Helen Jackson, who weighs 16 stone, told the Sunday Times that obese male lawyers were accepted in her profession but female ones were not.

　　He said: ’Appearance is the most important attribute for women in our society. Valuing them only for their appearance is a way for me to subjugate them. ’There’s no doubt that to be fat in our current society is adisadvantage particularly if you are female.’

　　’The pressure on women to look the part has definitely got worse since I was called to the bar in 1975,’ she said. ’Women now are slaves to their appearance more than they ever were.’

　　In a survey published last month in Manchester and Melbourne, Australia, fat women scored worse in an assessment of their leadership potential. The 12 candidates - six obese and six slim - had identical educational CVs, but those who were overweight were judged more poorly by volunteer student who took part in the study.

　　Former Tory Minister Ann Widdecombe was criticised for her appearance and subsequently lost weight when she appeared on the BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing show.

　　官方数据显示，法律、医学及商界的高职位强势女性身材日趋苗条。调查显示，过去15年来，几乎所有人都在增胖，唯独这一群体体重竟是下降的。

　　据英国国家肥胖论坛最新数据显示，1997年职业女性的肥胖率是15%，到了2008年，该比率已下降至14%。

　　国家肥胖论坛自2007年起就一直在调查英国的肥胖问题。该组织发现，1997年至2008年，职业男性的肥胖率已从15%上升至20%。

　　两大原因可以解释女性日趋苗条的现象：其一，社会通常以相貌而非技能来评判女性;其二，女性比男性更容易争强好胜。

　　利兹大学的医学心理学教授安德鲁·希尔表示，职业女性很清楚社会对肥胖人群存有偏见。

　　他说：“相貌对现代女性而言至关重要。看女性外表也是我自己评判她们的一种方式。毋庸置疑，肥胖在现代社会绝非优点，女性要是肥胖恐怕会更难堪吧。”

　　海伦·杰克森是一名出庭律师，体重16英石(224磅)。她告诉《星期日泰晤士报》说，这行业能接纳肥胖的男性律师，却无法接受肥胖的女性律师。

　　“自打我1975年获得律师资格以来，社会对女性相貌的要求越来越苛刻。现代女性越发沦为相貌的奴隶了。” 海伦说道。

　　上月曼彻斯特及澳大利亚的墨尔本公布了一项调查，调查显示，肥胖女性在领导潜能评估上得分很低。胖瘦各半的12名候选人具备差不多的教育履历，但参加调查的志愿者给肥胖候选人的评估普遍较差。

　　前任保守党大臣安·威德库姆曾因外表而遭戏谑，后来她参加BBC《一起来跳舞》节目时，明显瘦多了。

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