However the reality is that Ricky Gervais is just joking…. Or is he?

The famous comedian Ricky Gervais has rubbed many people the wrong way after saying that he did not think there was enough stigma attached to individuals suffering from obesity. He said that political correctness had gone out of control and that people should call him 'Fatty' and shout at him as he walked down the street.

However the reality is that Ricky Gervais is just joking…. Or is he? He always tries to push the boundary of what he says by never allowing you to be 100% sure whether he is being serious or whether he is just joking. His stand up comedy shows often make jokes about obese people which he just gets away with because he is overweight too.

Among other things that Ricky Gervais recently said is that he has to go to buy new clothes every three months because he grows out of them and that supermarkets should only sell salads. He said that the fatty high calorie foods should be behind a wall which you have to access by crawling through a little tube so that overweight people couldn’t get to them.

What ever the case and whether you are offended by the comments that Ricky Gervais makes the fact is that overweight people suffer from a great deal of stigma because of their weight. Independent testing has shown that most people perceive overweight people to be lazier and have lower IQ’s than people who are of a normal weight.

It is a cruel world out there and overweight people are very often the butt of jokes which they find very offensive. It’s a very easy way to get cheap laughs by picking on overweight people and comedians all over the world do it. Unfortunately at this point in time the only way to prevent yourself from being stigmatised because of your weight is to shed the pounds.