Support Genevieve Studying Body Image in Scotland

I first want to say thank you for being here, if you clicked this link and chose to support me, it means more than you'll ever know. I am so thankful for you.

Who am I?

My name is Genevieve Gates and I am raising funds to follow my dream of attending the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland in their Gender Studies MSc program. I intend to focus my work on topics around Body Image and Fat Liberation . I am a plus-size, first-generation college graduate, who comes from a low-income background that is currently residing in the US. I have always had a love for education and body liberation work. I have been accepted into the program and am excited that I have been offered the Dean's International Excellence Award, which covers about 1/4 of tuition. I am fully self funding this degree, supplementing with student loans, but I still have a $5,000 dollar gap I need to make up for in order to attend and be able to afford housing. 

Note: All donations will go directly towards tuition and housing costs for this degree. 

Why I want to go back to school

I believe all bodies deserve to be treated with respect and dignity, including large bodies. The field of body image and fat studies has been building in popularity both socially and academically over the past two decades, which I see as vital for the liberation of marginalized bodies. Throughout my education, I have found myself drawn to body liberation and conversations around fatness and anti fat hatred. Most specifically, I am passionate about the ways in which anti-fatness and fatphobia are informed by gendered expectations and beauty ideals. 

I have had the opportunity to be a part of such conversations over the past few years, which have furthered my passion for this field. Please see below for examples of the work I have already done in this area:

• Vocal Vault Podcast: Fatphobia and Diet Culture

• Program Presenter at NASPA Florida Drive-In Conference on the topic of Fatphobia in Professional Work Attire

• Two time speaker at the Luann Dummer Center for Women on topics surrounding Body Image and the Pandemic. Titles included:

    -Distant and Isolated: At home in our bodies

    -Consuming Fatphobia Online: Deconstructing diet culture and social media

• Panel Participant

    -A Revolutionary Education- Just say you're fatphobic and go: Sizing, fat hate, and the bastardization of the body positive movement

• Workshop founder and host for The Weight We Carry, an inclusive body liberation workshop series. For each session, I created a worksheet for participants to use throughout. These included discussion, small group, personal reflection, and powerful conversation. Below are the titles of the sessions I have hosted:

    -Battling our Bodies: How conversation can free us from self hatred

    -Hating Ourselves Thin: How diet culture effects women's bodies for the worse

    -What is self care in a body positive framework?

    -Our Jolly Bodies: A discussion of the holidays impact on our bodies

    -Please don’t perceive me: The toll of the pandemic on our self image

    -Our bodies as rebellion: How self love can be a radical act (Virtual)

Throughout these experiences, I have found myself drawn to continue this work through pursuing formal education, which I intend to do with this degree. 

Why abroad?

The golden question! And one I love answering.

First, due to financial and personal constraints, I was never able to study abroad. Because of this, I have always wanted to move abroad and experience a different culture and country. When I started contemplating going back to graduate school, I immediately was drawn to programs abroad.

Second, The program costs and tuition fees (which I will detail below) cost the same as they would if I were to go to a prominent graduate program in the USA.

Third, the program is 1 year. This is a perfect amount of time for me to study intently and also explore the area.

Lastly, I firmly believe that getting out of your comfort zone in pursuit of your dreams in important. I see this as a personal and academic growth opportunity.

Lastly 2.0, Glasgow is an AMAZING city and the UK has so much to offer to students.

What are you going to do with it?

As I have looked towards my future career pursuits, I believe my path is pushing me towards consulting on body image topics. I believe there is a gap in education for youth, college students, and adults in the world of body image and fatphobia, and I would like to grow a career in hosting such discussions. I see that this program will provide me the space to study gender and the body more intentionally, while also allowing me to have a broader understanding of the impact of gender on our global society. I intend to study more closely the impact of fatphobia on women’s bodies throughout the various classes in the program, in hopes to illuminate threads between sexism, fatphobia, and gender. I intend to use my time in the MSc program to hone my skills, utilizing my previous knowledge to actively participate in classes and assignments. Ultimately, I hope to create a career in body image consulting, where I can share my passion with organizations and groups by educating them on such topics in relation to their work.