Design assumptions are drawn about the size and shape of the users (height, weight, proportionate length of arms and legs, width of hips and shoulders). we can observe many public facilities shaped by this 'normative' body, including: telephone booths, drinking fountains, bleachers, bathroom outlets (sinks, toilets, stalls), chairs, tables, turnstiles, elevators, staircases, vending machines, and doorways. Sizeism is aligned with the social construction of the ideal or 'normal' body shape and size and how that shapes our environment. Sizeist attitudes can also take the form of expressions of physical disgust when confronted with people of differing sizes and can even manifest into specific phobias such as cacomorphobia (the fear of fat people), or a fear of tall or short people. Sizeism often takes the form of a number of stereotypes about people of particular heights and weights. Examples of sizeist discrimination might include a person being fired from a job for being overweight or exceptionally short though their work was unaffected. As a general rule, sizeist attitudes imply that someone believes that their size is superior to that of other people and treat people of other sizes negatively. Another manifestation of body variance is muscle mass and skeletal size, often with associations of degree of compliance to one's born sex, but do not necessarily affect gender to deviate from sex. Depending on where in the world one is and how one lives their life, people may have a tendency to be especially tall, slender, short, or plump, and many societies have internalized attitudes about size. Sizeism can be based on height, weight or both, and so is often related to height and weight-based discrimination but is not synonymous with either. Therefore, size discrimination in the workplace can be illegal under federal law if it is not a job requirement. Therefore, unless job-related, inquiries about height and weight should be avoided. A number of states and localities have laws specifically prohibiting discrimination on the basis of height and weight unless based on actual job requirements. Height and weight requirements tend to disproportionately limit the employment opportunities of some protected groups and unless the employer can demonstrate how the need is related to the job, it may be viewed as illegal under federal law. In the US, the list of anti-discrimination acts does not explicitly include sizeism as an offense (though 'any other factor unrelated to merit' is included). Sizeist stereotypes (such as 'overweight people are lazy' or 'underweight people starve themselves') are often ingrained in modern society.

There are not currently any specific anti-discrimination laws to prohibit sizeism, despite the issue being extremely prevalent. This type of discrimination can take a number of forms, ranging from refusing to hire someone because they are considered to be too short or too tall, to treating overweight and underweight individuals with disdain.

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