I’m not your typical doctoral student, I have tattoos and piercings, I run a fashion blog and I’m actually not that intellectual (I hated school and would often play truant) so surely there would have been a careers path better suited to me. At 26 (24 when I applied), I’m quite young to be doing a PhD. I’m also quite young to be certain that this is, without a shadow of a doubt, what I want to do. I went to university almost out of a sense of obligation, it was the thing you did after A levels, all my friends were doing it and I didn’t want to be left out, plus it meant I could put off becoming a ‘real adult’ for a few more years. I picked a subject I enjoyed, without much thought for what it would mean for my future, it wasn’t until I did my masters that I developed a passion and interest in the politics of the body and the marketplaces effect on the plus size body, which is my current area of research and I knew I wanted to make a contribution in this area larger than just my blog as I am inherently passionate about this topic as it something which affects my everyday life.
We, and the first person is used intentionally, are not allowed to have fat as part of our identity, yet at every turn; we are reminded that we are fat. Every day, we see and hear hundreds of negative messages about weight in the world around us, from the news stories about the “obesity epidemic”, magazine covers about some celebrity’s latest weight loss or gain, advertising for weight loss products or diet foods, to public service announcements about living a “healthy lifestyle” which always imply that healthy equals thin. Society needs to recognize the social problems that stigmatization is causing, such as oppression among individuals and communities resulting in marginalization. I turned online, to blogs advocating fat acceptance and showing that big can be beautiful. I now want to give something back the community that did so much for me by doing research that shows a) this is a viable market, b) they are worth while researching and c) you don’t have to fall victim to the ideology, there is an alternative path for you.
So what have I have learned in my first year? A PhD is an exhausting, emotional struggle. You are forced to confront all of your fears, insecurities and doubts you have about yourself and somehow overcome them. It's terrifying. Is starting a doctorate degree motivated by love for knowledge, dreams of joining the intellectual elite or financial gain? For me, I have a burning desire to share my research so that hopefully I may shape the future of marketing and become a leading authority regarding the ‘fatosphere’ and its implications for marketing. I want to achieve something significant. I have what is boarding on an obsession about my topic and I feel it is important to both to the field of marketing and society.
