Interview with Jennifer Jonassen by El Correo for FAT Film May 10, 2010 2:44PM

Interview with Jennifer Jonassen, star of upcoming documentary FAT.  This interviw will be published in both English and Spanish in El Correo.

Carlos Benito for El Correo: Do you think size-related discrimination is getting worse in the USA? Could you give some example which supports that claim?

Jennifer Jonassen: According to Obesity Journal, fat discrimination has increased 66% in the past decade. From my experience, I do think that size discrimination is getting much worse in the USA. The issue is everywhere in the media from the way celebrities are  treated (Kirstie Alley & Gabourey Sidibe) in popular entertainment to serious hard core politics in Washington. Michelle Obama's campaign to end childhood obesity plays a big part in this. Alarmingly, the war on "obesity" in America seems to be eclipsing the real war we are engaged in overseas. Everyone is suddenly concerned about the money spent on medical issues due to "obesity" and no one seems to care that we are spending far more on a real life and death war which is costing an awful lot more I'd wager. On a personal note, when we first started filming FAT three years ago I said in an early interview that I was not really made fun of for many years which was true. In the past few months with Kevin Smith being in the media and the war on obesity raging, I have had a few incidents where strangers on the street have harassed me, yelling things like: "keep eating that way fatty." That comment really struck me hard because the underlining belief seems almost to be that being thin makes you immortal somehow and only fat people die.

Carlos Benito for El Correo: Is it worse for women?

Jennifer Jonassen: Yes, I believe it is. There is a Yale study which says that women are twice as likely to report fat discrimination as men. All larger people suffer from many forms of discrimination. But as a woman in this culture- and even as far as the women's movement has come- women are still primarily considered valuable by their appearance. I have struggled enormously with this issue in my life and it is well documented in FAT. You will be able to witness my intimate journey towards self acceptance in the film. Women are given the message from a very early age that their worth is wrapped up in their appearance. Every advertisement and image in the world is there to remind us how we need to be beautiful, sexy and desirable and the message right now is that these are not a possibility if you are fat or even just fatter then what society has agreed to be the ideal form. In my life, I have been told repeatedly by men that I am the perfect woman except for my weight. I have lived most of my life feeling unworthy of love.

Carlos Benito for El Correo: What kinds of discrimination has a fat person to face in a normal day?

Jennifer Jonassen: Your human dignity is almost always in jeopardy. Absolute strangers feel that they can say anything to you. I have had people smoking cigarettes tell me that my weight is a problem! Also it is often harder to find a job. It is harder to find a seat in a restaurant. And you have to worry if you will be shamed when ordering food in a restaurant. It is harder to find clothes. You have to worry about flying on airplanes. You have to worry about seats on the subway. You have to worry about finding a doctor. Finding health insurance that will accept you. Billboards & advertisements everywhere remind you that you are less than everyone else in the world simply because you
weigh more.

Carlos Benito for El Correo: Opponents to 'size acceptance' say that size is not comparable to race or sexual orientation in terms of discrimination, because it's reversible, you can correct it. What do you think about that?

Jennifer Jonassen: Would we ever ask someone who is black to "correct" their color? And then, if they could change their color should they? We would never dream of asking someone to change their religion, sexuality, color etc. Why is it different for size? How profoundly disturbing is it that we think it's ok to tell someone to change their body- which is arguably more personal then race, sexuality or religion. No one has the right to tell someone what to do with their own body. Isn't that the most basic human right?

Carlos Benito for El Correo: Don't you agree that the proportion of healthy people is higher among the thin ones?

Jennifer Jonassen: Not necessarily. Many of my thinner friends have serious medical conditions: diabetes, cancer, lupus, graves disease, high cholestoral and one of my leanest friends even had a serious aneurysm . All of them are thin and from perception & face value judged as a lot healthier than I am. But ironically they are not. Health is incredibly personal and individual. It is dangerous to make medical assumptions solely based upon weight. There are studies that document benefits to fat as well. But we never hear about that in the media. Fat can increase survival from diseases such as cancer, HIV,
pneumonia etc. Fat also prevents certain medical conditions such as osteoporosis.

- Carlos Benito