The global stage

The global stage Global Media: Foreign Media Organizations in China In the globalization age, information flow, just like commodity flow and capital flow, increasingly takes place at the global stage. Global media and communication, although certainly has its flaws, has become a prominent phenomenon today. This constitutes the international environment in which the current development of media in China takes place. Globalization and Global Media When communications satellites and computer networks took off in the early 1990s, the world found itself faced with a new generation of media technology which not only undermined geographical distances but also national borders. Fueled by a wave of communications policy deregulation, changes in the media industries soon led to the belief that the whole world was now linked by global media which transmit messages in split seconds to audiences everywhere, including those living in the most remote corners of the world. The era of global media thus pronounced itself arrived. In recent years people have come to witness interesting, albeit somewhat puzzling, developments in the world of media, specifically the transnationalization of national, or even local, media in many parts of the world. These developments have painted a media landscape that quite different from what people used to be familiar with. In the discourse of globalization, there does not seem to be a generally accepted definition of the term. On many different occasions the term has been defined as the free worldwide flow of the production elements and resources, as borderless or stateless economy. It is also widely viewed as the cultural, political, and economic, integration of the whole world. Even before the term â€Å"globalization† became a catchword in the academic and popular vocabulary in the 1990s, global operations and transnational corporations in many industries had long aroused academic attention. In addition, many scholars have long been noticing the connection between the media and globalization. For instance, McLuhan, a media theorist, was claimed to have suggested their connection â€Å"by combining ‘the medium is the message with his ‘global village† (Rantanen, 2004:1.) Globalization suggests simultaneously two views of culture. The first, taking a monoculturalist point of view, treats globalization as the â€Å"extension outward of a particular culture to its limits, the globe,† through a process of conquest, homogenization and unification brought about by the consumption of the same cultural and material products (Featherstone, 1995:6). The second one, adopting a multiculturalist stand, perceive globalization as the â€Å"compression of cultures† (Featherstone, 1995:6). While the meaning of globalization remains ambiguous, â€Å"global media† or â€Å"media globalization† have quickly become clichà ©s in media studies. Two questions can be raised about the use of such terms, however. First, what is meant by a globalized media industry, and secondly, can we assume that a genuine globalization of the industry has already taken place? More precisely, what is the direction of changes that we can observe now-globalization, localization, or something else? Too often when the term â€Å"global† is used in conjunction with the media, it refers primarily to the extent of coverage, with the popularity of satellite television and computer networks serving as evidence of the globalization of communications. However, the linkages brought about by the globalization process are largely confined to OECD and G7 member countries, which constitute one-third of the world population. And even when a medium, e.g. CNN, can put over 150 countries on its map, the rate of penetration and actual consumption can present rather a different picture. As Street (1997:77) has said, the fact that a product is available everywhere is no guarantee that it achieves the same level of popularity, let alone acquires the same significance, meaning or response (Featherstone, 1990:10). It is no secret that CNNs audiences normally account for only a small fragment of a nations population. But even with its conceptual flaws corrected, coverage is merely one of the important dimensions of the media industry. The meaning of a globalized industry would be seriously distorted if other dimensions were left out of the discussion. These dimensions, including the dynamics of the market, modes of production, the contents and messages transmitted, are closely related to the perception of the role and function of media in the globalization process, the direction of change in the industry, and ultimately, the cultural images presented by the theories of globalization. What roles and changes, then, should be expected to see in the media industries according to the monoculturalist point of view? Media Development in China Since the 1990s, with broadcasting and newspapers outlets already reaching large numbers, China has moved onwards into a new stage of media development, prioritizing quality improvement, intensive management/operation instead of increase in numbers, and optimization of the industry structure. In the globalization context with a goal of making its media more competitive and more effective in the mass media market, as well as to strengthen the media industry, China has been adopting the strategy of optimization of the media industry structure (Zhang, 2007:78). The country has closed down, combined, or transformed several media organizations that failed to satisfy the needs of the market competition. In recent years, Chinas media development is also mirrored in the adoption of the latest information technologies, most especially the Internet, by media organizations. In the late 1990s, media organizations in the country used computer technologies extensively. The fever in adopting Internet technologies was spurred on primarily by factors like the eagerness to embrace the trend throughout the world, towards building an information superhighway, the need to stay competitive with other media institutions, and the desire to grasp the opportunities for the stations or papers new development (Zhang, 2007:78). The Chinese experience suggests a strong link between globalization and the enthusiasm of the media organizations to adopt Internet technologies. Starting from the year 2000, media in the country have maintained such desire to adopt state-of-the-art information and communications technologies. Along with the ever-increasing media websites, a new type of websites has emerged sites jointly established and operated by several media institutions in a region (Zhang, 2007:78). Presently, new media technologies are in the spotlight in the technological stage in Chinas media industry. For example, CTP technology is widely used in the countrys newspaper industry. Digital TV and digital audio broadcasting have also emerged in China. Internet protocol TV (IPTV) is also one of the highlights in the current development of the Chinese TV industry. In the area of online outlets, news websites have become a recent type of media outlets in the country. News websites are composed of three levels: websites of large national media organizations, major provincial/municipal ones, and city-level ones (Zhang, 2007:79). Moreover, cross-media operations in mass communications constitute another important aspect of the development of media in China (Zhang, 2007:80). Foreign Media Since China entered the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001, the government has eventually opened its domestic media market. Because of the the increasing degree of the media openness, foreign media organizations have begun to enter the Chinese media market. In 2001, from October to December, the government permitted three overseas TVchannels to go into Guangdong province. These are Star TV, Phoenix Satellite Television, and CETV, which is owned by AOL Time Warner. It is the very first time for China to allow foreign channels to be played on local cable and satellite system. Despite these limited entries, the event has caused major ripples throughout the entire Chinese media industry. In addition, in October 2004, the State Administration of Radio Film and Television (SART|FT) enacted two regulation policies allowing foreign media in the country through more diverse formats (Chan and Ellis, 2005:1). It suggested a constantly-open media market toward foreign capitals in China, a fiery trial for the entire country. Due to the easing of regulation, foreign media organizations have started to swarm into China. In 2008, SARFT approved 33 foreign channels. Many broadcasting organizations had branches in Beijing, Guangdong,Shanghai, and Chongqing. These include Time-Warner, Sony, Disney, News Corp, and Viacom (China Business New, 2008:1). Shanghai, for example, houses competitive foreign media organizations like CNBC (US Cable Network), BBC (British Broadcasting Company), FBC (Italy FactBased Communications), NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corp.), and SUNSET (France), with investment flowing from the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Switzerland, Germany, Japan, Singapore, and South Korea, among others. Localization According to neo-Marxists, who advocate a homogeneous world view, one of the major characteristics of globalization is that everyone has the feeling of being a member of one single society. The feeling, as described by Albrow (1990:8-10), is the sense of â€Å"the whole earth as the physical environment, where all are citizens, consumers and producers, possessed of a â€Å"common sense interest in collective action to solve global problems.† The increasing interdependencies of nation-states has been cited as a major cause for nurturing such a feeling. Today the comforts and assurances of local communal experience are now undermined by distant social forces. Communications media, TV in particular, is an important factor in the compression of time and space. It constantly brings distant events and concerns to the homes and minds of people around the world as they happen. This constitutes an intrusion of distant events into everyday consciousness. However, this compression of time and space is not without its limits. As pointed out by Mittelman (1996:229), capital and technology flows must eventually â€Å"touch down† in distinct places. These places, in contrast to the global phenomenal world, are where everyone lives his or her local life. To human beings, wanting a place where one feels a sense of belonging is natural. However, such a sense of place is cultural, as has been pointed out by Hall (1995:178). Despite the intrusion of distant social forces, feelings and perception of people about their environment remain closely associated with the memories and personal ties they have, together with the social, cultural, and even geographical and climatic setting of their environments. The emphasis on what is called a â€Å"local culture† is â€Å"the taken-for-granted, habitual and repetitive nature of the everyday culture of which individuals have a practical mastery† (Featherstone, 1995:92). This and the cultural forms, the common language, shared knowledge and experiences associated with a place, are the essence of the concept of local culture. Global political and economic factors and media technologies serve to compress, but not eliminate, time and space. In addition, the sense of place, something associated with the essence of a local culture, has become a major determinant in the restructuring of the world communications industry. To suggest that media globalization is no more than a part of a process of domination by Western media and ultimately of the Westernization of world cultures conflicts with the advocacy of Asian values in Asia and is reductionist. To modify the monoculturalist image of culture, Featherstone (1995:6) suggested that globalization may be better considered as a form, a space or field, made possible through improved means of communication in which different cultures meet and clash, or simply a stage for global differences. According to him, this conception points directly to the fragmented and de-centered aspects of the globalization of culture, and in the mean time suggests greater cultural exchanges and complexity. One may argue that a multiculturalist view of globalization does not advocate the localization of transnational media as the only venue for communication as a platform for cultures to meet and clash. But powerful as the idea may be, this view does not offer a clear picture, nor an indication of, how the structure of the world cultural industries has, and will, change; how different it is from what we used to have, and how the ideals of meeting/clashing points may be achieved and professed. According to cultural and media imperialism theories, the demise of local cultures and cultural industries was something predictable, as a consequence of the importation of television programs. By the 1990s, however, it has become evident that the theories have suffered from a lack of evidence. Destructive or Constructive? Since many foreign media organizations have penetrated China, it can be argued that Western media products transmitted in the process will challenge or damage the local culture. However, the impacts of these organizations in the local media market in China appear to be constructive, not damaging, to local cultural heritage. Foreign programs offer great opportunities for reflexive awareness. Audiences do not just receive meanings passively. They are critical and active during the reception process. Watching Hollywood movies and foreign TV shows does not mean the local audience are being American. Instead, in theory, Chinese viewers form a reflexive awareness (who am I? or, who am not I?). Also, many studies in China and the rest of East Asia have suggested that the opposition to foreign culture has been engendered by watching overseas TV shows and thus evokes a protective attitude toward their local culture. While the purity of cultural identity remains a much debated issue, there is no denying that the Chinese audience are also reflexively considering their own identities while being faced with increased importation of foreign cultural products. Regional or national consciousness more than a homogenous global identity enlarges as exposure to alien cultures speeds up. In spite of some visible evidence of cultural homogenization as part of the everyday life, like westernization, it seems that people have a stronger sense of membership in their groups (Morris, 2002:278). In addition, according to Harvey (1989:306), â€Å"localism and nationalism have become stronger precisely because of the quest for the security that place always offers†. On the contrary, there is little evidence of â€Å"cultural abrasion†, instead there is an increasing protective attitude and reflexive awareness within the receiving nations (Varan, 1998:58). The entry of foreign media organizations in China appears to be constructive, not destructive, when one views localization as a form of cultural adaptation. Cultural adaptation, in the mass media context, refer to a comprise strategy, like adding Chinese subtitles for overseas programs. It also refers to an active devotion into the local culture made by the transnational media. Foreign media organizations not only provide Chinese subtitles to achieve high ratings, but they also do research and make compelling contents for the local audience in China. In order to produce a program that will fit with the Chinese culture and one that will not offend sensibilities, many foreign media organizations actively delve themselves into local cultures. They also try to penetrate the market by employing local production groups, such as producers, directors, and performers, as well as as original scripts.. The contents are produced to satisfy the local taste, full of cultural factors and traditional background. Thus what transnational media organizations have brought to the country seems not to be the threat of foreign or western cultural products, but the significant amount of foreign investment used to produce local cultural programs. From the cultural point of view, these programs owned by foreign media organizations would not damage Chinese native norms or values. This is because many shows are produced considering the local audience and embedding with them strong traditional cultural background. From the economic point of view, the significant amount of foreign capital brought by the large media organizations can help the local media market prosper. Basically, local media companies benefit from the competition by cooperating with foreign companies. The localization process of the media in China not only induces the indigenized strategies of global companies; it also induces the globalized reactions of local media industries. The strategy of localization cannot be understood simply as a unidirectional flow of global power on the local media industry. Mutual influences suggest a complex and complicated reciprocal interaction between the global and the local, taking into consideration the reverse effects that the local brings to the global. For example, AOL/Time Warner promised to air CCTV 9th channel through its cable network in Houston, Los Angeles, and New York. CCTV 9th channel contains music, news report, travel and leisure, nature, as well as mandarin education specifically designed to expand the Chinese traditional culture. The aim of such move appears to be the reeducation of the Americans and Chinese Americans and changing of their attitude toward China (Rowe, 2001:1). This shows that Chinese TV officials have already realized the significance of exportation of Chinese programs. By borrowing resources from foreign media organizations, China is able to to send out locally produced products, shaping western attitude toward China and its culture ideologically. It is also noteworthy that many other broadcasters throughout Asia have already begun to target people in overseas market. For example, TVB has been serving Chinese speaking subscribers in North America and Canada. Likewise, MBC, a Korean broadcaster, has established a channel aimed at Koreans in the US. Zee TV, a South Asian broadcaster, has also penetrated The US and the UK (Chadha and Kavoori, 2000:415). As media globalization goes intensive, further reaction taken by the receiving societies is not limited to the cultural resistance of the local audience any more. It now has changed to the active competition among media organizations as well as the exportation of cultural products outside China. Such active activities from China, and also the developing countries in Asia, are seen to increase in the next few decades. With a stronger than ever economic development, the exportation of media contents will became more and more. It can be argued that there is actually no absolute weak and strong culture in the media globalization trend. Every culture changes over time no culture is exempt from this fact. In economic arena, the :Third World† or â€Å"developed countries† category has constantly been facing challenges and has been forced to change. The same is true in the media and cultural arena. No one culture in the world will be the stronger or weaker culture forever. Conclusion The influx of foreign media organizations in China has not yet threatened the local culture as seriously as many observers have proclaimed. There is a conscious effort among transnational media organizations to adapt culturally in order to produce programs that cater to the local taste and ones that embed traditional culture in them. Local Chines audience have a strong reflexive awareness, making them active viewers not passive. This safeguards local culture. Similarly, the local media industry is not passively waiting for challenge; rather, local media organizations actively pose serious competition with media conglomerates, borrowing their resources to promote Chinese culture outside China and to educate people around the world about their culture. Cultural hybridization is expected to be promoted by the strong influences of local responses. Recent exporting activities in China and other Asian nations suggest a novel reciprocal interaction between the global and the local. What the globalization of media brings to China, and the less developed countries in Asia, is not only the difficult challenges, but also the many benefit. While the eastern and western cultures become increasingly because of the media globalization trend, local cultures are also given the opportunity to keep its own characteristics and its independence. Overall, the consequences of media globalization to China seem to be constructive rather than destructive both from local cultural and economic points of view.

Horsmandens Journal of the Proceedings Essays -- Analysis, Daniel Hor

Daniel Horsmanden’s Journal of the Proceedings was written with a specific purpose in mind which he openly acknowledges in his introduction. Horsmanden claims that it was for â€Å"the public benefit† (Zabin, p.46) and inspired by the fact that some individuals believed â€Å"there was no plot at all† (Zabin, p.45). He hoped that by displaying the facts of the case he could prove to the people of New York City that the proceedings were just and that there was a great need to keep close supervision on their African slaves (Zabin, p.45). Having such an obvious bias the Journal is far from a perfect historical record of events, but under close examination Horsmanden’s account gives a vast amount of insight into the sharp divisions that characterized eighteenth century New York and can help explain why the people were so ready to believe in such a grandiose conspiracy. One can even see ways in which the conspiracy brought New Yorkers together and how it drove them apart. An analysis of Horsmanden’s work paints a picture of the social divisions present in the city. Race was a fairly obvious division, exemplified by Horsmanden’s statement that Peggy was the â€Å"worst sort† of prostitute because she was â€Å"a prostitute to negroes† (Zabin, p.49) and that blacks were much more prone to suspicion which can be seen in the fact that roughly 30 blacks were executed compared to four whites (Zabin, p.175). Economic status also shines through as a source of division. This is apparent by the fact that the Hughsons, who owned a disreputable public house (Zabin, p.48), were tried and executed largely on the testimony of Mary Burton. However, when Ms. Burton cast suspicion upon some people â€Å"in ruffles† (those of better means), the court quickly wrapped up the ca... ...stered togetherness among the people. Horsmanden’s journal provides a wealth of information about eighteenth century New York if one is willing to analyze it critically and ignore the bias present in it. If one does this they catch fascinating glimpses of a divided world, one where people are partitioned by race, economic status, homeland and religion. A world filled with fear and suspicion caused by the tension inherent within such societal division. The same tensions that either gave rise to a massive conspiracy to destroy the town of New York or gave credence to a nightmare constructed by the minds of the people and fed by individuals’ self-serving nature. Regardless, eighteenth century New York was a troubled place and Horsmanden’s Journal of the Proceedings gives us a partial but valuable insight to the lives and interactions of colonial New York’s peoples.

Eating Disorders: Mass Media and Its Influence on Body Image Essay

The influence and power of mass media in shaping perceptions about issues is uncontested. In the recent years however, there are questions being raised about the kind of information media, especially the commercial mass media, is feeding its viewers particularly those in their adolescence. More and more cases of eating disorders have surfaced in the latter years. More often than not, the victims of such disorders report that it was exposure and desire to be like the skinny models and celebrities that influenced them to diet, binge, purge and apply drastic measures such as surgery and starvation diets in order to lose weight. Just recently, Jennifer Love Hewitt made headlines when she hit out at criticisms of her weight after a not-so-flattering photo of her in a bikini surfaced on magazines and the Internet. Her statement â€Å"Size 2 is not fat! † has been welcomed and praised by other celebrities who feel that the media has been exerting undue pressure on women to be slim according to what are often unattainable standards (Slonim & Chiu, 2007). There are researchers who claim that the rising numbers of eating disorders among pre-teens and adolescents are caused by the continued portrayal of beauty as â€Å"thin† in media. It is according to researchers, this very portrayal of â€Å"thin† that fosters a trend of body dissatisfaction among women particularly those in their adolescence (Forbes, Doroszewicz, Card & Adams-Curtis, 2004). What is body image and why does it seem so important to people? Body image is defined as how individuals view and judge their own personal appearance (Morrison, Kalin & Morrison, 2004). This includes personal thoughts, feelings and behaviors directed towards one’s own body (Botta, 2003). This perception is further broken down into two types: the â€Å"body image evaluation† or the way a person critically evaluates his or her own physical appearance, and the â€Å"body image investment,† or the things that people do â€Å"to manage or enhance the way they look†(Morrison, Kalin & Morrison, 2004). People’s body images today run alongside perceptions of self-worth. If one doesn’t fit the stereotypical standard of beauty, it automatically makes an individual feel outcast and ugly. There are two ways by which media may affect a person’s perception of physical appearances in terms of weight: the first is by featuring thin and â€Å"beautiful† people/celebrities while the other is to feature conspicuously fat people who are often represented in comical situations (Harrison, 2000, p. 125). In the study conducted by Harrison in 2000, it was revealed that young adolescent girls who were exposed to media featuring stick thin celebrities experienced dissatisfaction with their own personal appearances. Those who were exposed to shows featuring conspicuously fat people showed an increased tendency toward eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia (pp137-138). What are eating disorders? Eating disorders refer to conditions describing a person’s food consumption behaviors that are considered â€Å"abnormal. † It covers whether people eat too much, or not at all including whether they practice purging after meals. The two most common eating disorders are anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. Anorexia Nervosa. The primary goal of people suffering from anorexia nervosa is to achieve maximum weight loss as possible (Palmer, 2003, p. ). It is important to take note that there is a difference between anorexia and anorexia nervosa. Anorexia pertains to a true reduction of hunger due to other factors such as illness or depression that thereby makes loss of appetite fairly normal and expected. The â€Å"nervosa† in anorexia nervosa is an indicator of a more complex relationship between a person’s eating behavior and the desire to lose weight (p. 6). People suffering from anorexia nervosa panic at any sign of weight gain and very often fail to realize just how abnormally skinny they are getting. Weight loss becomes compulsive. Each pound loss and food denied is a victory for people with anorexia nervosa. They are often given to obsessive dieting and exercise convinced that what little food they eat will turn them into obese slobs (Smith, 2004, p. 6) Bulimia Nervosa. Like Anorexia, the focus of Bulimia nervosa is as much weight loss as possible†¦the difference is that sufferers of Bulimia nervosa have discovered that they can lose more weight quickly if they immediately expel what food they have eaten. Bulimics also go through a series of â€Å"binge-and-purge† wherein they undergo periods of eating large amounts of food, then getting rid of it through purging (Farley, 1992). Purging is done through self-induced vomiting or the use of enemas and laxatives for forced evacuation. Often, bulimia nervosa comes soon after the onset of anorexia nervosa (p. 15). In contrast to the disorders associated with weight loss, there are also eating disorders where its sufferers do the opposite and eat compulsively. Binge Eating Disorder (BED). BED is demonstrated by a strong compulsion to eat without any restraint. Stress and strong emotions usually bring on these periods. Binge eaters usually feel dissatisfaction until they have answered the urge to eat. However, once having eaten, binge eaters often feel self-hate, shame and personal disgust leading to more depression (Palmer, 2003, p. 7). The integration of commerce, advertising and marketing in media also has its share of the blame in the way adolescents view their bodies. Famous actors and actresses have been employed in the promotion of various products from cigarettes to acne prevention treatments. Such move appeals to most adolescents who seek to emulate the image their â€Å"idols† project. While not all adolescents are susceptible to celebrity and body images projected by the media, those suffering from social and physical anxieties in addition to low self-esteem are often more vulnerable to being affected by body images present in the media. These people often end up having distorted views of their physical selves and are more prone to developing eating disorders (David & Johnson, 1998, p. 53). Emulation of a standard set by a beauty icon is not just limited to living and breathing celebrities. In fact one of the more famous icons that have been used to represent beauty and all the privileges that are perceived to come with it may be found in most young girls’ toy boxes. â€Å"Barbie,† the thin but curvaceous doll with the sparkling blue eyes, long blond hair, gorgeous tan and long legs so admired and desired by their human counter parts has always remained a favorite toy among young girls who often project their ambitions and life wishes onto Barbie as they play pretend. Little girls would brush Barbie’s silky blond hair and dress her up for her â€Å"dates† with the very handsome and muscular â€Å"Ken. † While â€Å"pretend play† is considered to be fairly normal and may even be considered â€Å"healthy† creativity-wise, there are times when the pretense is carried a bit far and extends beyond normal play to the point of crossing into real life. In December 2006, an article appeared in English newspaper the Daily Mail telling of an interview with â€Å"Human Barbie† Sarah Burge (â€Å"I’m the Human Barbie,† 2006, p. 22). In it, Sarah admitted to having had about 26 plastic surgery procedures within the twenty years costing approximately GBP 180,000, even candidly stating that in her whole body, only her feet remained in their â€Å"virgin† state. When asked what she thinks of the label â€Å"human Barbie† Sarah just beans with pride. â€Å"‘I find it extremely flattering,’ she says. ‘Barbie is very beautiful, glamorous and fun. What woman wouldn’t want to be all those things? ‘† (â€Å"p. 22) Burge also goes to point out the additional connection of her being born in the same year the Mattel Company launched the Barbie doll. Tom Knott (1997,p. 2) of the Washington Times probably best sums up the nice but mostly unrealistic and unattainable qualities of Barbie that have been the envy and ambition of females young and old alike: Barbie has had it all for 38 years: the great looks and body, plus the devotion of the equally flawless Ken. It has been a zit-free run. Nothing bad ever happened to Barbie. She did not develop complexion problems. She did not gain weight. She did not start to sag. She did not wake up to find facial hair on her upper lip. She looked as good in the morning as she did at night. Knott, 1997, p. 2) Botta (2003) explains that the problem lies in the fact that women are judged for thinness while men’s masculinity is measured against a rising cultural ideal stereotype of â€Å"V-shaped† muscularity. Botta further states that the connection between exposure to women’s and men’s â€Å"health and fitness† magazines to increasing body dissatisfaction and cases of eating disorders among its readers have already been proven by several studies (Andersen & DiDomenico, 1992; Nemeroff, Stein, Diehl, & Smilack, 1994, Levine, Smolak & Hayden, 1994). Botta, 2003) In addition to these, Botta decries the irony in all these studies was that of all the types of magazines used in the studies, it was the health magazines that presented more stimulus and inducements for their readers to do more body harm. For boys, reading was linked to increased muscularity, which means that the more time they spent reading health/fitness magazines, the more they intended to or took pills and supplements in order to gain muscle and the more committed they were to being muscular. For girls, health/fitness magazine reading was linked to a stronger drive to be thin and to increased anorexic and bulimic intentions and behaviors such as vomiting, abusing laxatives, and fasting. (Botta, 2003) Conclusion Adolescence is well known to be a fragile and confusing phase that everybody has to go through. In seeking to fit in with their peers as well as have an image that is acceptable to all, it is not unusual for young people to try and attain qualities that will make them attractive personally and socially to other people. The idea of beauty with all its accompanying privileges is not a new one. Neither is the fact that people will try to copy or emulate others whom they feel are everything they would want to be. It is a fact that marketers and advertisers are paid to make their wares attractive in whatever way possible. It is also another fact that media survives and makes money through the patronization of advertisers. However, there must and should be a point where the responsibility towards the audience especially those who do not sufficiently possess proper discernment must be factored into the equation. In the recent years, reports of fashion models that have died due to some eating disorder abound. There have been steps to ban stick thin models from the runway, a ban that is yet to be implemented by all the major fashion houses. Young and highly impressionable children are often plopped in front of the television often without any supervision. If adolescents can be so easily swayed by exposure to media, what more of these young kids? Already, news reports of children as young as seven being treated for eating disorders have surfaced (â€Å"Girl of Seven in Diet Danger,† 2006) It is frightening the way â€Å"0† can actually be considered a dress size. Even more frightening when media portrays thin celebrities as â€Å"beautiful† and leading glamorous, exciting lives. What person, young or old, would not want that? Currently however, the way that even celebrities who used to be the standard by which beauty is judged are now facing harsh criticism from their contemporaries is alarming in more ways than one. If celebrities who can afford high priced professional trainers, diets, gym memberships and plastic surgery can still be adjudged negatively, what more of those who do not have access or simply cannot afford all these â€Å"beauty aids†?

Liberace Biography and Profile

Wladziu Valentino Liberace ( May 16, 1919 - February 4, 1987 ) was a child piano prodigy who became a star of live concerts, television, and recordings. At the height of his success, he was considered one of the worlds highest-paid entertainers. His flamboyant lifestyle and stage appearances earned him the nickname Mr. Showmanship. Early Life Liberace was born in the Milwaukee suburb of West Allis, Wisconsin. His father was an Italian immigrant, and his mother was of Polish descent. Liberace began playing the piano at age 4, and his prodigious talent was discovered at an early age. At age 8, Liberace met the legendary Polish pianist Ignacy Paderewski backstage at a Pabst Theater concert in Milwaukee. As a teenager in the Great Depression, Liberace earned money performing in cabarets and strip clubs despite disapproval from his parents. At age 20, he performed Liszts Second Piano Concerto with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at the Pabst Theater and subsequently toured the Midwest as a piano player. Personal Life Liberace often hid his private life as a gay man by allowing public stories about romantic involvement with women to gain traction. In 2011, actress Betty White, a close friend, stated that Liberace was gay and she was often used by his managers to counter homosexual rumors. In the late 1950s, he sued the U.K. newspaper Daily Mirror for libel after it published statements implying that he was gay. He won the case in 1959 and received more than $20,000 in damages. In 1982, Liberaces 22-year-old former chauffeur and live-in lover of five years Scott Thorson sued him for $113 million in palimony after he was fired. Liberace continued to insist that he wasnt gay, and the case was settled out of court in 1986 with Thorson receiving $75,000, three cars, and three pet dogs. Scott Thorson later said that he agreed to settle because he knew that Liberace was dying. His book Behind the Candelabra about their relationship was adapted as an award-winning HBO film in 2013. Music Career In the 1940s, Liberace reworked his live performances from straight classical music to shows that included pop music. it would become a signature element of his concerts. In 1944 he made his first appearance in Las Vegas. Liberace added the iconic candelabra to his act after seeing it used as a prop in the 1945  film A Song To Remember about Frederic Chopin.   Liberace was his own personal publicity machine performing from private parties to sold-out concerts. By 1954, he earned a record-breaking $138,000 (more than $1,000,000 today) for a concert at New Yorks Madison Square Garden. Critics panned his piano playing, but his sense of showmanship endeared Liberace to his audiences.   In the 1960s, Liberace returned to Las Vegas and referred to himself as, a one-man Disneyland. His live Las Vegas shows in the 1970s and 1980s often earned more than $300,000 a week. His final stage performance took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York on November 2, 1986. Although he recorded almost 70 albums, Liberaces record sales were relatively small compared to his celebrity. Six of his albums were certified gold for sales. TV and Films Liberaces first network television program, the 15-minute Liberace Show, debuted in July 1952. It didnt lead to a regular series, but a syndicated film of his local live show gave him widespread national exposure. Liberace made guest appearances on a wide variety of other shows in the 1950s and 1960s including The Ed Sullivan Show. A new Liberace Show started on ABC daytime in 1958, but it was canceled after only six months. Liberace eagerly embraced pop culture making guest appearances both on the Monkees and Batman in the late 1960s. In 1978, Liberace appeared on the Muppet Show, and, in 1985, he appeared on Saturday Night Live.   From early in his career, Liberace was interested in earning success as an actor in addition to his musical talents. His first film appearance occurred in the 1950 movie South Sea Sinner. Warner Bros. gave him his first starring role in 1955 in the film Sincerely Yours. Despite a big-budget advertising campaign, the movie was a critical and commercial failure. He never again appeared in a lead role in a film. Death Outside of the public eye, Liberace was tested positive for HIV by his personal physician in August 1985. More than a year before Liberaces death, his lover of seven years, Cary James Wyman, was also tested positive. He later died in 1997. Another lover named Chris Adler later came forward after Liberace died and claimed that he received the HIV virus from sex with Liberace. He died in 1990. Liberace kept his own illness a secret until the day he died. He did not seek any medical treatment. One of Liberaces last public interviews took place on TVs Good Morning America in August 1986. During the interview, he hinted that he might be sick. Liberace died of complications of AIDS on February 4, 1987, at his home in Palm Springs, California. At first, several causes of death were publicized, but the Riverside County coroner performed an autopsy and declared that those close to Liberace conspired to hide the real cause of death. The coroner stated it was pneumonia as a complication of AIDS. Liberace was buried at Forest Lawn, Hollywood Hills Cemetery in Los Angeles, California. Legacy Liberace achieved his fame in a fashion unique to his own personal style. His presentation of shows as a piano-playing entertainer borrowed from classical music traditions, flamboyant circus-style shows, and the intimacy of piano bars. Liberace maintained an unparalleled connection to his core audience. Liberace is also recognized as an icon among gay entertainers. Although he fought against being labeled as homosexual during his lifetime, his sexual orientation was widely discussed and recognized. Pop music legend Elton John has stated that Liberace was the first gay person he remembered seeing on television, and he considered Liberace to be a personal hero. Liberace also played a key role in the development of Las Vegas as an entertainment mecca. He opened the Liberace Museum in Las Vegas in 1979. It became a key tourist attraction along with his own live shows. The proceeds from the museum benefited the Liberace Foundation of Performing and Creative Arts. After 31 years, the museum closed in 2010 due to declining admissions.