Gillian Johnson for Youth Leadership Retreat: Workshops

Speakers: Gillian Johnson

Gillian Johnson: Hi, my name is Gillian Johnson. I'm from San Diego, California, and I run an organization called Recovery Meet-Ups. Recovery Meet-Ups helps empower high schoolers who are recovering from disordered eating or an eating disorder by connecting them to each other through weekly meetups. Meetups are led by Meet-Up Mentors, other high schoolers who are passionate about mental health or community service, and meet-ups take place in two parts. The first part being a process section where participants can get to share and feel listened to and empathize with their fellow peers. And the second part being an open group initiative section, where participants can connect to values that they see within themselves, that they see within other movements outside of their recovery, and with their own recovery journey to help fuel the recovery journey all the way.

Gillian Johnson: I am thrilled for the Rileys Way Retreat this year, because previously I participated in the last two virtual Retreats and it was so moving and I loved being part of a group of wonderful, like minded, amazing, passionate people who really wanted to dedicate themselves towards their work, their values, and helping others.

Gillian Johnson: My workshop is called Your Relationship to Diet Culture. Diet culture surrounds everyone. Diet cultured images and rhetoric can be harmful to the way that we perceive ourselves, our food choices, our lifestyles, and our bodies. This is especially true for teenagers or during an individual's recovery process from disordered eating. While diet culture may only seem to appear within a Tiktok wellness trend or on a magazine stand. If anyone still reads magazines, diet culture has a much more extensive history within the United States of profiting off of vulnerable peoples. As consumers, as friends, siblings, and students, we have all been impacted by diet culture and/or Eurocentric beauty standards. Using those experiences and the like minded community of participants at the Retreat, and yourself, participants will have the opportunity to write a letter to the brands, trends, platforms or influencers that have contributed to the diet cultural rhetoric and their relationship to their self image. Participants should attend my workshop because, well, maybe they know someone who has experienced with disordered eating or they are not directly impacted by eating disorders. Everyone does have a relationship to their self image, to culture, and to media and that is not untouched or unscathed by Eurocentric beauty standards and diet culture. Can't wait to see you there!