Reel Causes is proud to present Fattitude, in support of Fat Panic!, an alliance of people of all sizes who are committed to ending the oppression of fat people. Fattitude is a body positive documentary that amplifies the voices of a rapidly growing social justice movement.

THE FILM
Fattitude
VIRIDIANA LIEBERMAN AND LINDSEY AVERILL | 90 MINUTES

Fattitude examines how popular culture continues to perpetuate fat hatred and fat-shaming. The consequences of this are dire and result in very real cultural biases and civil rights issues for fat people. For example, did you know that fat people are paid $1.25 less an hour than their thin counterparts? Or that a fat person who excels can still legally lose a job just because they're fat? How about the reality that one in three doctors associates fat bodies with hostility, dishonesty and poor hygiene? Nine out of ten human resources professionals have said they would hire a thin person over a fat person with the same qualifications. Fat people have been barred from adopting children, are often denied access to IVF treatments, and are more likely to experience medical neglect such as having a surgical instrument left inside their body after an operation.

Informed by an intersectional framework, Fattitude is very conscious and attentive to the idea that fat hatred crosses the lines of race, class, sexuality and gender. The film features a range of voices: academic scholars, psychologists, popular culture icons, and fat activists — including the likes of Ricki Lake, Rebecca Phul, Jackson Katz, Marilyn Wann, Sonya Renee Taylor, Virgie Tovar, Jen Posner, Lindy West, Winne Holzman, Guy Branum, Tess Holliday, Andrew Walen and others.

Ultimately, Fattitude is changing the conversation about body image to one of self-acceptance, and encourages us to question and address systemic cultural prejudice.

THE CAUSE

Fat Panic! are an alliance of people of all sizes who are committed to ending the oppression of fat people, and to working towards a society in which no one is taught to hate their own or anyone else’s body, for any reason. They are committed to:

Educating themselves and others about the causes and consequences of fat oppression, always keeping in mind that fat oppression shapes and is shaped by all other systemic forms of inequity.
Creating spaces and events in which fat people and allies can come together to socialize and engage in political activism – while we acknowledge that safety is an elusive and sometimes troublesome concept, it remains a goal worth striving for.
Challenging myths around fatness, thinness and health. This involves, at least, working to: raise public awareness about the abundant and high quality – yet strangely under-reported – research showing that the relationship between fat and health is not at all as commonly advertised; break down the mystique of anti-fat science by equipping people with essential science literacy skill; encourage health care professionals to adopt an approach that is capable of supporting people of all sizes as we make our own choices relating to health, while avoiding the notion that there is a moral obligation to strive for any particular conception of ‘health.’