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Wellness in the Headlines
(Don's Report to the World)

Is Jazzercise Wise To Reject A Large-Bodied Person As An Instructor?
Tuesday April 9, 2002

In the course of my involvement with the Healthy America Fitness Leaders Program, I met and became familiar with Judi Sheppard Missett and the vast program she created over a 30-year period called Jazzercise. Briefly, Jazzercise is the largest aerobics or "dance-fitness program" in the world. It is a multi-million dollar business with over 5000 certified instructors. It is the standard in the broad aerobics industry. In the last year alone, it sponsored 21 conventions in the U.S., England, Scotland, Italy, Mexico, Australia and Japan and raised over a million dollars for varied charities.

Jazzercise consists of a 60-minute blend of jazz dance choreographed to pop tunes, country, funk and, of course, jazz, incorporating moves that the management claims reflect the latest understanding of conditioning principles gained from exercise science. Jazzercise offers a brisk cardiovascular workout that incorporates resistance training and stretching moves designed to improve muscle tone, flexibility, balance, strength and endurance. All this plus the movements are said to be easy-to-follow. True, I suppose, if you are a woman and are flexible and can follow directions, but some men (including this one) do not consider Jazzercise or any other aerobics class to be a walk in the park where we can outdo the women-folk! Yet, I digress.

Lately, the company has been in the news in a manner that does not seem good for Jazzercise's image or, for that matter, the morale of their partners or customers. I refer to the controversy it got itself into with Jennifer Portnick, a 5 foot, eight-inch 38-year-old aerobics instructor of 15 years standing -- who happens to weigh 240 pounds! For this reason, and this reason alone, Jennifer was rejected. Evidently, Jennifer's appearance is at odds with the image Jazzercise seeks in its instructors. Naturally, this led to legal action and a blizzard of publicity that has made Jennifer famous and Jazzercise just a little less famous and a lot more infamous!

This incident might have been little noticed save for the fact that it occurred in San Francisco which, as one columnist (Ellen Goodman) observed, "seems to be an epicenter of both fitness obsession and fat activism."

Many would agree with Jazzercise that a fat person is not a suitable candidate for a job as a fitness instructor. However, in San Francisco, it is illegal to discriminate against anyone who is overweight, either in employment or housing (probably in dating, as well, but I don't know that for sure.) However, this is not to suggest that the city does not allow free speech, for it also hosts a billboard ad for a fitness center proclaiming "When the aliens come, they'll eat the fat ones first." I'll bet fear of hungry aliens drives many a customer into fitness centers!

I'll spare you the details of this drama and get right to the important part of this essay, namely, my opinion about the matter! I think Jazzercise made a big mistake, on many levels, and if the courts have not already ruled as such, should admit it made a mistake and make this woman a welcome and well paid member of its 5000 member staff of instructors. Here is a summary of why I think so.

Jennifer is right to proclaim that she should be judged on her merits, not her measurements. If she can learn and perform the routines and otherwise do what is expected of other instructors, she should be welcomed into the Jazzercise fold as an inspiration for other large women (and men.)
There is an "epidemic" of obesity in this country, says the Surgeon General in a "Call to Action" last December. If you doubt it, just look around. Let's give everyone with weight problems a chance to do something constructive other than dieting and pill taking -- a large sized instructor who can move would be a great role model for any aerobics class.
There is enormous discrimination against fat people -- anything that enables a person to feel less miserable about being overweight should be encouraged.
The emphasis of all exercise programs should be on fitness and fun in exercising, not appearance and the need to conform to a stereotypical body size. The leaders of Jazzercise surely know that not everyone who is fit is thin, and not everyone who looks overweight is fat. Jennifer can dance circles around just about anyone who shows up for her classes, according to the news reports I've seen!
Jennifer is, in my opinion, the best possible model for an aerobics instructor. She looks more like most of the customers than the thin model-types favored by Jazzercise. However, she is also universally acknowledged as a "large, muscular and graceful woman" and the last two qualities are goals that Jazzercise should emphasize more than weight loss.

I do hope Jennifer wins her case or settles with Jazzercise and becomes a huge star in the aerobics business, whether with Jazzercise or perhaps her own rival organization. She could call it "SizeandJazz" or "ExerSize" or something like that. In any event, three cheers for Jennifer. Go girl!

Be well, lighten up and always look on the bright side of life. Cheers.

(Note: This essay will be filed in the archives in the PHYSICAL DOMAIN under the skill area of adaptations and challenges. Additional articles related to this theme may be found there.)

(Ed. Note: Views expressed in this and other columns are those of the author and not necessarily those of the SeekWellness Editorial Board.)

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