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troglobite · 2 years

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just watched a video by a creator i like about shitty trends in body types and the rise of bbls etc

and the entire last half of the video was her talking about her own body issues like as an example

but.

i just.

her partner is a personal trainer and like.

there was just. a lot of talk. about natural body sculpting. and put in the work like adele.

i want to be SO PAINFULLY CLEAR that those were NOT! the takeaway messages that were emphasized!

but BOY did they make my skin fucking crawl!

the creator is thin. or at the very least, is Small and Curvy. conventionally attractive.

but she’s put on weight on her stomach and bbls typically take the fat from your stomach and put it on your ass/hips. so ppl w her shape have these flat stomachs. and she’s like damn i’ve considered flattening my stomach

but instead she’s just like “yeah y’know the normal stuff of like what you eat and exercising” and the whole “calorie deficit” thing and i am

.....

FRUSTRATED.

how do you make an hour long video about the damage that the proliferation of unrealistic body image goals and plastic surgery are doing

AND THEN REPEAT FATPHOBIC GARBAGE???

also i’m not going to shit on a person for getting plastic surgery ever

like among the many reasons that’s the case, hi hello i’m a trans person and while medical transition isn’t part of my life (except maybe breast reduction bc i just got back into Seriously Exercising Again finally, and oh my GOD my breasts are a LIVING NIGHTMARE to work around) it absolutely is for so many trans people

like it’s crucial to mental health and survival, and also like, bodily autonomy. let people do what they want.

HOWEVER

my “exception/however” is that by and large, most plastic surgery things just. perpetuate fatphobia and racist beauty standards and also trends based on them.

and i just think that that DOES need to be laid at the feet of the industry and also health care in general.

like plastic surgery that changes someone’s weight or the structure of their face to match with values that are fatphobic or racist is not morally neutral.

the person getting it is not at fault for it, but the thing itself is like. not morally neutral. it doesn’t make them bad, the thing just Sucks and contributes to like. perpetuating shit in society that is actively harmful.

discussing losing weight and like. applauding adele--who, by the way, has had work done and hasn’t talked about it. like. i’m sorry, her face is not the same, and that is NOT just weight loss. i’ve seen people who were very fat lose a lot of weight over the years, their faces DO NOT CHANGE THAT MUCH.

it’s not a huge difference, but like. christ. how many celebrities just get their eyebrows surgically lifted, y’know?

anyway whatever.

i was just really frustrated that she talked about curating her instagram to make sure she saw as many different kinds of bodies as possible, and like “accepting fat bodies” or whatever and i’m like.

and still. you’re talking about body sculpting and losing weight and calories in and calories out.

like your training partner said “maybe 1 pound lost a week is about as good as it’ll get” and like. yeah at least it’s realistic but also ???

WHY DO WE HAVE TO TALK SO MUCH ABOUT LOSING WEIGHT? AS IF THAT IS SOMEHOW NEUTRAL IN OUR SOCIETY???

and also this idea that people should do what they want--yeah, they should. but what they want does not exist in a fucking vacuum.

are you really going to tell me that people who get procedures done aren’t influenced by beauty standards at the time? or some other thing having to do with like, white supremacy and all its attendant pieces?

again THAT DOES NOT MAKE THEM A “BAD PERSON”

but i AM saying that all of our decisions and preferences are influenced by what is around us and what we take in, etc.

so no, getting a bbl because you want one and it’ll make you feel better--that isn’t. like! that’s not in a vacuum! i mean it COULD be! certainly! i’m not here to be the arbiter of this shit!

i just think this conversation is more complicated than “unattainable beauty standards” and the accessibility (in terms of pervasiveness) of plastic surgery.

i also don’t think (i’m going to repeat this again here!) that plastic surgery is ~evil~ bc it’s not. it’s existed for a long time and does a lot of good in the world in terms of things like transition, etc. and also just like, things that people wanna change about themselves bc like. idk. bad memories, or just being irritated thinking about one of their features too much and like “eh, just get rid of it” or whatever. y’know? there’s a lot of shit and grey and again BODILY AUTONOMY.

i will never, not in a million years, tell someone what to do with their own body (beyond begging people i love to please for the love of fuck not do something that will 100% give them covid)

that’s not the point i’m making

i think, in an ideal world, it would be possible for plastic surgery to exist and be relatively popular or accepted--and for it to not, by default, perpetuate a lot of horrific beauty standards that literally kill people

but i also just. think more realistic and honest conversations about bodies, how they change and grow, REAL discussion about HEALTH by which i mean--things that are unnecessary that can harm you versus the moralizing of health and dehumanization of sick and disabled people, etc. like having REAL conversations about this shit would, i bet, lower the rate of people getting plastic surgery.

there’s just so many harms being perpetuated by the industry and the prevalence of it in media.

and it just. bugs me. that in a longass video discussing just that.

this person. somehow. perpetuated those same fucking problems and praised someone for losing weight.

do you think adele would ever have lost that weight or gotten work done if she wasn’t famous? probably not. at least not to that extent.

do you honestly think the way she lost weight was safe? was entirely by choice? like. i sure as fuck don’t. i also don’t think it’s sustainable without a FUCKTON of extra work and being miserable in your day to day life.

i just. i’m tired. i’m sick of trusting people and still finding casual fatphobia.

she literally said at one point “maybe i need to reckon w the fact that my fear of having fat on my stomach is internalized fatphobia”

it’s not internalized it’s just fatphobia. and yes. you should.

the video is more than 6 months old and the vast majority of people commenting are thanking her for this honest discussion.

bc i wanna be so painfully clear about this, too.

her discussing her own bodily insecurities and then attempting to debunk them IS VERY GOOD! YES! MORE CONVERSATIONS LIKE THAT, PLEASE!

but don’t follow it up with talk about “real” ways to lose weight and BODY SCULPT. you’re perpetuating the fucking problem.

people with eating disorders ALSO ABUSE EXERCISE.

i’m just very tired. hopefully she’s like. idk. had some discussions about it. no one is “perfect”, that’s not my point.

i just wish. that. she had been a little more conscious about how some of that was coming off and what it’s really saying.

also the “why don’t y’all just do it like adele” thing was bitter and more aimed at influencers. but they “joked” about like--

“god forbid people put in some work for once”

//stares blankly

excuse me?

i really can’t tell their full sense of humor or where it’s aiming or what the intent is (bc it was her and friend at that point in the video)

obviously they’re goofing and there is SOME layer of irony.

but. the way everything was edited. and sandwiched with all this talk about body sculpting and shit (which WASN’T ironic in the LEAST), it’s just.

not great. i didn’t like it. i sat through it hoping it would get better because the first half of the video was fine.

i learned a bit about bbls and where they come from and how they work and also how they can kill you (not commonly, but YIKES. enough YIKES to be a dangerous procedures).

like valuable info! good insight!

and then you top it off with fatphobic garbage. i’m tired.

oh no wait i forgot. a thing.

she said at one point that she wished she was either much skinnier, or much heavier. because her in-between weight feels weird.

and i would just like to say

AT NO POINT WOULD YOU STOP FEELING WEIRD ABOUT YOUR BODY

AND ALSO BEING MUCH HEAVIER WOULD INCUR SO MANY SOCIETAL ILLS AND HARMS AND BIGOTRY AND STRUCTURAL SYSTEMIC OPPRESSION

KINDLY DO NOT SAY YOU’D RATHER BE “ONE EXTREME” BECAUSE THE MIDDLE SPACE IS WEIRD

at the same time!!!! i’m saying it here and NOT NAMING OR TAGGING HER because holy shit let people feel what they feel and process it

but oh my FUCKING god don’t act like an extra 40 pounds wouldn’t immediately get you on the fast train to “let’s yell at that fatso” town. no, it wouldn’t be better just because it’s more concrete. it would not be better kindly readjust your thinking and take this into account--and also maybe use it to continue to feel better about your body.

also this is complicated because holy shit race and skin color make everything way more nuanced and complicated! i am ONLY talking about weight--i am not specifying the ways in which fat black women would be treated versus fat women of other races, esp white. my point is just that in general, it’s Not Better than being ~in between~

but also the trauma around being treated as in between? very legit!

i’m tired of having to carry all the nuance idfk man i’m just venting and frustrated. i don’t think she’s a bad person. i think she was right and insightful about a lot of stuff. i think i don’t have a single leg to stand on to tell someone how they should feel about their body or their relationship to it or their trauma or ANYTHING.

i am just frustrated that a video meant to be a net positive or neutral instead ended up saying this stuff that IS FATPHOBIC because it is PERCEIVED AS NEUTRAL because health is still being held as this golden moral standard without her even realizing it.

this is not me railing against HER. i guess i should’ve specified that to. i’m not mad AT HER. i’m frustrated.

because it’s so fucking pervasive that even well meaning people fuck up in ways that aren’t just like “oh shit you made a mistake” but like in ways that are like “yeah, accepting fat people is like. okay. but also. it’s still bad and people should still lose weight because it IS possible, just change your diet and exercise more.”

like that is a takeaway that a LOT of people are going to have from that video. and i’m tired. and they’ll swallow it more easily--including ppl w EDs and fat people struggling w body image--because it’s coming from a well meaning person who is sympathetic and educated and kind.

whatever i need to stop. feel free to please ignore this. this doesn’t need to be a discussion. i’m only typing like half of what is happening in my head rn, rest assured that the most unnecessarily nuanced “all sides” Discourse is currently happening in my head and i’m considering not even posting this rant to my own fucking blog.

here’s the other reason it makes me feel bad

i just got back into exercising with this dancing company/app that i like and have been following for a while, but i haven’t done their classes or bought a membership yet. i finally did, bc i’m like, i wanna! a lot of things i wanna do involve being more active and fit, and learning to dance.

and i’m really struggling with how weak and out of shape my body has gotten in the last several years, because i used to be pretty fit. i looked the same, though.

i’ve gained more fat in my stomach and on my back over the course of the pandemic because the SHEER VOLUME OF COMPOUNDING STRESSORS have just continued to go up for the last like. five years.

and there is NO ROOM to exercise in this FUCKING house, so i’m FORCING it now bc i just got. bored and sick of it.

i want to be fit again bc i want to do cool things and feel good about what i can do, and just be more active.

the strength of my legs was something i LOVED and would brag about. i loved cardio kickboxing bc i felt strong and powerful.

and i never lost much weight at all. i was still the same shape.

so that’s not the goal.

though i DO want to kind of help remove some of the extra fat i’ve gotten over the last few years, because i had already reached my set point weight, and this is extra.

i’m NOT going to change my diet because my diet is already such a huge issue for me, and i think my diet is fine.

i am NOT exercising JUST to lose weight. it’s all of the above reasons. and i have VERY realistic goals about what weight i COULD lose and actually keep off (not much--10 pounds? idk, i’m bad at quantifying weight bc it looks so different on everyone and at different points in your life)

and i want breast reduction bc my breasts are so fucking huge that they make a LOT of things i want to do and enjoy basically impossible and also they HURT ME. ACTIVELY. and i hate it.

smaller boobs would make me feel physically better, and also i’d feel more confident.

but i am STRUGGLING. i hate how weak i am. i hate how out of shape i am. i hate my body bc i sweat SO MUCH and it always makes me feel gross and pathetic and weak and ~fat~

but. i don’t know that, even now, i would say that i hate my body. i don’t think i do. i’m REALLY frustrated with it. i hate the passage of time. i hate the fucking world, i hate this country, i’m sick of everything being infinitely harder than it needs to be.

but my body has been so stressed out and panicked and like i get it. if you need to put on some weight about it bc you don’t know what else to do, fine. that’s okay. i will accommodate and adjust. and i will try to take care of you so that the extra weight is just extra weight and not like, declining vitals/blood work, etc.

idk i’m just rambling now, my point was this:

i’m in a really sensitive place with my body. my relationship with my weight and body has been very weird. i’m fat but not a large fat. i’ve been made fun of for being fat but i have structural access to things other fat people don’t. i’ve been fit and i know that being fit doesn’t make me thin, bc that’s just how my body is. i’m short and fat and always will be.

so.

a relatively thin person.

talking about body sculpting.

and putting in the work.

makes me angry.

because IT’S NOT TRUE.

and it riles up those old feelings i used to have, and still sometimes think about. how much easier life would be if i was thin. the clothes, the access--people thinking i’m hot. people wanting to date me.

what would my life have been like if i was thin in high school? if i knew what gender and sexuality was at the time?

i can’t pursue this line of thought, it’s not healthy.

but it makes me MAD.

because that shit isn’t true. and believing that body sculpting and diet and exercise and putting in the work would just FIX my body is like. so fucking toxic.

I LITERALLY KNOW THAT IT WON’T.

it will just make me fitter and more athletic/physically capable. i might lose some weight, so i might look a little more muscular. but i will still have my stomach (though slightly smaller), i will still have big flabby arms, i will still have “thunder thighs” as a fellow 9 year old once told me, my face will always be round.

that’s. like that’s fine. it’s my body. i know what it is. i’m trying to get it back to being fitter so i feel better in general.

and i’m just.

body sculpting is not a fucking thing.

how dare you say that celebrities and influencers saying that bbl results are achievable through diet and exercise are dangerous liars

but YOU saying that BODY SCULPTING is fine is like--not a problem at all.

again, not me mad at this one person.

me mad in general at the things society makes acceptable, even/especially among people who thing they’re anti-fatphobia.

and also just personally. i felt really bad about myself after the first few class-things i did the other day. i felt weak and pathetic. and today was also bad bc i found their “basics of dance” program and it’s. REALLY basic.

and still i was struggling. like intellectually i know it and can do it, but my fit. and my physically limitations.

it sucks. and i hate it.

and i just don’t want people pretending that you can magically fucking change your body--or even acting like THAT IS A NORMAL AND ACCEPTABLE GOAL YOU SHOULD HAVE

i’m tired i’m tired i’m tired

my fingers hurt i have to stop typing

#really excessive and extensive rambling about body image and eating disorders and weight loss #also plastic surgery and other related things like with social media etc #i watched a video and i didn't like the second half and this is me ranting about why #because i think it perpetuated and contributed to fatphobia even though the video's aim was ostensibly to shit on fatphobia etc #and i'm really just tired

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starastrologyy · 2 years

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Astrology Observations ✨

These are a few random observations & tips 🤍

Please do not repost any of my work on any other social media platform 🤍

Keep an eye on your moon transits! Anytime the moon transits your 2nd, or 8th house, you are likely to experience an increase in cash flow. Or you might find that you randomly receive money from other people on those days.

Contrary to popular belief, people who have mercury retrograde in their charts are extremely intelligent. Maybe even a little too intelligent. There’s a tendency to exaggerate and stretch the truth at times with this placement.

In Astrocartography, your Chiron line represents a location in which you will likely experience deep healing, or deep wounding.

In synastry, if there are no ‘obvious’ attraction indicators, you want to look at the rulers of each persons 5th, 7th, & 8th house and see if they are aspecting each other. I’ve also noticed the asteroids Psyche, Eros, & Juno are highly aspected in synastry charts between two people who are very attracted to each other, despite not having the typical ‘attraction indicators’. Examples of having no ‘typical’ attraction indicators are things like two people’s venus’ & mars’ are barely aspected, there are no 5th,7th, or 8th house overlays, they mostly have aspects that are considered ‘platonic’ etc..

Another synastry tip: look to your descendant and the house it rules to tell you what you also look for in romantic relationships. For example, if your descendent is in Aquarius, 11H synastry is something that attracts you and you’re comfortable with. Despite the 11H not being a traditionally ‘romantic house’, the 11H is ruled by Aquarius so anyone with an Aquarius 7H is likely going to value the aspect of friendship in their romantic relationships. Another example is someone who has their 7th house in Gemini, is likely to be attracted to a partner who they have 3rd house synastry with, despite this also not being a romantic house. This is because Gemini rules the 3rd house, and Gemini descendants will likely value communication in their relationships.

People who have venus conjunct pluto in their birth charts, likely grew up with people always making comments about their appearance. They may be the most beautiful person, and not know this, given their experiences in childhood.

If you have your Venus in your 6th house, you may be inclined to own a pet, or multiple pets in your lifetime.

People who have neptune conjunct their ascendant often struggle with their self-image. It’s not uncommon to see these people get plastic surgery. Examples of people with this placement are Kim Kardashian and Kylie Jenner. Alternatively, this aspect can also manifest as other people trying to copy the neptune-ascendant’s individuals appearance and persona.

Moon in the 12H synastry can produce a deeply spiritual Union, or it can create a dynamic that breeds mistrust. The only way for this overlay to work, is if both people are completely open and honest with each other.

I love Jupiter conjunct Ascendant in synastry. The Jupiter person improves the ascendant persons self-esteem and is deeply encouraging of them. Both people likely enjoy being in each other’s company.

Men (cishet) who have water moons often have many female friends, as many of them feel more comfortable expressing their emotional natures in the presence of women.

Whilst I’m on the topic of men, cishet men who have a Pisces 7H love to save a damsel in distress. They often find themselves in relationships with women who have been victimized by life in some way.

People who have pluto or mars in the 11t house, have the tendency to attract jealous friends, or friends who don’t have their best interests at heart. They also can experience a lot of conflict in their friendships, or go trough periods where they have many friends, and then some where they have very few.

People who have the ruler of their 10th house placed in the 4th, may be interested in careers related to real estate, or interior design. Alternatively, these people may work in a career that allows them to work from home. It can also indicate working with family members or working for a family business. Lastly, I’ve seen this aspect in the charts of people who are stay at home parents, or homemakers.

#astrology #astrology observations #astrology tumblr #astro thoughts #astro posts #astro tips #aries #synastry #astrology blog #astrologyposts #astrology readings #Libra

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jeanvaljean24601 · 4 years

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Teen Mom: Ranking the Most Insane Feuds of All Time!

From on-camera brawls to social media feuds and legal threats, the cast of Teen Mom and Teen Mom 2 sure know how to go hard. Moments that made you cringe 'cause they were so painful, or smile ear-to-ear. Scenes that were fights, or made you fight back tears.

The franchise really does have it all, and as such, it's become one of the most entertaining in the history of the reality TV genre.

Below, we look back at some of the MTV gang's most explosive feuds, and however you might rank them, this much is undeniable: Way back then. Not so way back then. Last year. Last month. Last week. Probably right now. There is no shortage of beef.

NOTE: We’ve saved the craziest for last, so we suggest that you a deep breath, sit back, grab a hat and hold the f--k onto it …

When Briana DeJesus joined the Teen Mom 2 cast in 2017, she was not welcomed with open arms. In fact, she quickly became persona non grata at her first get-together with the cast - with one exception. Jenelle Evans, Briana said, “is the only one who was acting like her s--t ain’t stink. Plus she was the only one who wasn’t acting fake and choosing sides.” Leah Messer’s response was to “pay no attention to those who try to bring you down … they’re just envious of where you are and how well you’re doing.” As we'll get to in a bit, relations haven't exactly gotten more amicable since.

Maci Bookout and Taylor McKinney's relationship has produced three kids, and they seem very happily married ... most of the time. Like, 85 percent of the time. Bookout alarmed fans with the confession a few years ago that revealed some trouble in paradise: “Eighty-five percent of the time we’re good to go … Fifteen percent is hell. All of our stress and emotions, we take out on each other. When the cameras leave, we’ll drink and freak out. It’s always literally the smallest things. It’s such small stuff but it blows up. It’s not going to go away.” Yikes ... but at least they've had plenty of time to work on things?

So Jenelle has this weird thing about Chelsea -- she accused her of copying her because she made a website for herself after she'd already made her own, because making a website is something totally special and unique. She also kind of accused Chelsea of copying her when she gave birth to Watson the day after Jenelle gave birth to Ensley, which is just wild. On another occasion, Jenelle went off about Chelsea ignoring her older daughter, Aubree, after having Watson, insinuating that she's a bad mother. Chelsea liked a tweet from someone who called Jenelle "pathetic" for bringing up Aubree, which is pretty much the most she's ever participated in this feud.

This one is pretty weird -- one time Babs "jokingly" threatening to "kill Kail" during an Instagram Live session with Jenelle. Lowry was understandably not amused and threatened to quit the show over Barbara's threats. That didn't happen, of course, and it's no longer an issue since Jenelle and her family are no longer on the show, but how bizarre, right?

Brooke Wehr was never a Teen Mom 2 cast member, but due to her mercurial relationship with Jeremy Calvert, her impact was felt just the same. A few years ago, the couple's engagement ended after Brooke accused Jeremy of cheating on her with multiple women, one being a Teen Mom 2 producer, another being her best friend, and a third possibly being his ex-wife Leah Messer. Brooke even shared a screen shot of a text message conversation between Jeremy and the best friend as proof, while Calvert responded in a drunken stupor that yes, maybe he did sleep with Brooke's best friend, but ... only because Wehr slept with some other guy first. Or, as he put it, Brooke was "f-cking his brains out, every day," and he was single, so "my dick was happy to do whatever the f-ck it wanted to do, and it did." Shocking that these two didn't work out ... but neither party was completely off base with their allegations. Just saying. Jeremy and Leah did hook up.

Briana hooked up with Luis in a bathroom while she was drunk, and she got pregnant. They tried to make a relationship work, but he cheated on her and was generally just not great. He's never really been around for their daughter, Stella, but he did come back around last year for a bit. Briana even decided to give him another shot -- except this time, she got the clap. So yeah, they're not on the best terms.

Devoin is the father of Briana's first child, Nova, and they haven't gotten along for many, many years. Briana says that Devoin is a deadbeat dad, Devoin says that Briana won't let him be an active father, it's this whole thing. However, things got especially bad last summer when Briana let him take Nova for an overnight visit and he ended up getting drunk while he was with her alone at a pool. More recently, she criticized him for not giving her any money to help with Nova.

This feud has been going on for years, but has taken on many new forms due to ever-changing circumstances and new tensions. The main point of contention for awhile was Javi's relationship with Briana DeJesus, who came on board the cast of Teen Mom 2 in 2017 amid a lot of controversy. Bri and Kail are bitter rivals (more on that later), so it's not surprising that Ms. Lowry would take issue with DeJesus hooking up with her ex ... or proposing to her. Kail was so salty over Javi's new relationship that she even canceled plans to collaborate on a pair of memoirs with Marroquin. android tv boxThese days, the two of them seem to be doing OK for the most part, but of course that could change at any moment.

Jenelle and Leah used to be friendly, but then things changed -- possibly because Leah became so close with Jenelle's mortal enemy, Kailyn Lowry. Jenelle has thrown plenty of jabs at Leah on social media, like the time she claimed CPS removed the twins from Leah's care and that there were more shocking details about all that that no one knows about. She's also criticized Leah for allowing her daughter to wear makeup and short skirts for cheerleading. As for Leah, she doesn't really seem to pay too much attention to anything Jenelle's ever said about her, although she did speak out after David killed Nugget, Jenelle's dog.

There was a time when Jenelle and Farrah were friends, but no more -- to be honest, both ladies seem to have trouble maintaining friendships with anyone. Jenelle has made remarks about Farrah's plastic surgery and her adult entertainment ventures, and Farrah has called Jenelle out on her bad parenting and her horrific taste in men. After Jenelle left David last year, Farrah offered her support, then ultimately decided to block her on social media because it's none of her business.

Jenelle didn't like Cheyenne from the moment MTV announced she was joining the cast of Teen Mom OG because of some tweets she'd made about white people several years ago. But the feud really started last year when Jenelle made a comment about Amber Portwood's assault charges -- Cheyenne tweeted that Jenelle "should be the last person throwing shade." Jenelle told her that she had no clue what she was talking about, then Cheyenne hit back with "Coming from the real racist, dog killer, abuser and honestly the most unstable individual I’ve witnessed.. GREAT STATEMENT.. get custody of ALL your kids and stay out of court before you talk about me." Jenelle tried to come back from that by calling her a "replacement," but Cheyenne said "And you're fired... soooo?" Beautiful.

Mackenzie has often criticized the network that made her a D-list star -- she once blasted both MTV itself and Teen Mom viewers who have been critical of her relationship with Ryan, particularly her decision to let him drive to their wedding while he was so high that he lost consciousness behind the wheel. "It’s easy to show the ‘half truth’ and portray it as a whole," Mackenzie wrote in a lengthy social media tirade. "But that’s ok because regardless of what happens, whether right or wrong, you’re considered scum.” She's also accused MTV of making her and her husband look bad with editing, but we'd argue that Ryan has always made himself look bad just because of who he is as a person. android tv box

Jenelle Evans' relationship with David Eason has been suspect from the start, even to members of their inner circle - and their own families. One of the loudest voices of disapproval of Jenelle is David Eason's sister. Her complaints were nothing new - Jenelle's a bad mom, a violent criminal, a drug addict, etc. But just because Jenelle's heard these criticisms before, that doesn't mean she took them lying down. In a public Facebook exchange that was at once amusing and horrifying, Jenelle tore into Jessica Eason Miller, accusing her of child abuse and hard drug addiction. Jess shot back by accusing Jenelle of going to great lengths to keep her numerous abortions a secret. Needless to say, these sisters-in-law won't be meeting up for cosmos anytime soon.

Following a slew of gossip stories shared by her co-stars a few years ago that she deemed unflattering, the Carolina Hurricane unleased her legal fury ... to widespread mockery. Jenelle sent cease-and-desist letters to a number of her co-stars, including Leah Messer, Chelsea Houska, and Chelsea's father, Randy Houska. She also took legal action against peripheral friends such as Ryan Dolph, and even her own mother, Barbara Evans. It's yet another reminder that Jenelle is not someone you want to mess with. Not because there's any legal merit to what she was alleging, but just because she's certifiably bonkers and when you kick a hornets' nest of that size, you open yourself up to all kinds of mayhem, bedlam and chaos.

Farrah hasn't gotten along with her former co-stars for years, but on one memorable occasion, she hopped on Instagram to allege that Lowell is a closeted pothead and Baltierra is secretly gay. Yes, for real. Catelynn was unable to defend herself as she was in rehab at the time being treated for various emotional issues; Tyler simply dismissed Farrah's claims as the ravings of seriously unstable woman. Probably the best way to conduct one's self in that situation, but they don't always brush it off. Tyler later stirred the pot once more when he said MTV was right to fire Farrah for her porn career, to which Abraham responded with an iconic word salad in the third person. android tv box

Catelynn has also attacked Farrah over the years - who could forget when she called her fellow Teen Mom a "hoe bag," or when she pretended not to know who Farrah was and instead started talking about Farrah Fawcett? What about the time that she charged out during Farrah's reunion fight with Amber yelling "TRASHY BITCH"? And then there was the time that Catelynn posted this just before Farrah's canceled boxing match with Hoopz. Stay classy, everyone!

This was a feud no one saw coming. Apparently Ryan was active on the dating app Tinder, despite the fact that he's, ya know ... married. When Mackenzie found out about this RIGHT AFTER they tied the knot, she was understandably not pleased. Catching your husband swiping and chatting with other chicks after you married him days earlier? Insane. But, instead of taking out her frustrations on Edwards himself, she decided to let loose on a random girl he was chatting with online. Edwards' Tinder Girl was the undisputed victor in this one, destroying Mackenzie's argument simply by stating, “Your husband is the one on Tinder.” Enough said, really. Incredibly, they stayed married, Mackenzie got pregnant ... TWICE. To quote the legendary Kieffer Delp, "You know how choices be."

Jeremy has never been a fan of David and Jenelle -- he spoke out against the homophobic remarks that got David fired, and he got into a spat with Jenelle after she was shown pulling a gun on that guy (he called her a "dumb bitch" in case you forgot). Later, David commented on a photo that Jeremy shared to tell him that he looked "like a bitch," and Jeremy went off on him in a long rant that concluded with "keep f-cking with me and I'll fly my ass to nc and I'll show u what kind of bitch I am pretty boy." So yeah, they don't like each other.

Where do you even start with these three? Ryan and Maci have experienced their share of rough patches over the years as they've struggled to peaceably co-parent their son, Bentley, but in the past, they've always been able to sort out their differences eventually. But then Ryan started doing heroin and brought Mackenzie into the picture, and that's not really the case anymore. Maci thinks that Mackenzie enables Ryan, Mackenzie thinks that Maci stresses Ryan out -- it's a mess. The two ladies have said plenty of nasty things about each other over the years, while Ryan went in and out of jail and rehab. Like we said, it's a mess. Poor Bentley.

Farrah has said a lot of things about the network that made her famous, like that time that she bizarrely claimed that MTV forces stars of the Teen Mom franchise to continue having children, even when they'd prefer not to. Abraham also accused the producers of encouraging Amber Portwood to attack her during their reunion show melee (more on that later), and even claimed she was fired from the network for partaking in "adult" pursuits on the side. Even more amazingly than the fact that she threw around the term "hate crimes" to describe how MTV treated her? The apparent fact that the folks who made her famous are actually willing to continue working with Farrah. Or were, until she finally got fired or quit, depending who you believe. With Farrah, every day is another day in the Post-Truth Era.

Where do we even begin with this. In late summer 2019, a 911 call was placed from Javi's home, following a dispute there. No charges were filed, but the truth came out. You see, Javi had recently gotten engaged to Lauren, with whom he welcomed his second son. Not long after that, he got busted cheating on her, banging one of the members of his CrossFit gym ... IN HIS BATHROOM while Lauren was asleep (or so he thought) IN THEIR HOME. As if that weren't crazy enough, he then called Kailyn to mediate; Kail later put him on blast, claiming he'd been cheating on Lauren back when she was pregnant and chastising him for wanting her to "clean up their mess." Don't worry, Javi posted a cheesy apology on Instagram, for everyone to see, and it was all good with Lauren after like 12 minutes.

There's always been some seriously bad blood between Farrah and Debra -- remember that time that she hit her in the early days of Teen Mom OG? Deb forced Farrah to become a mother when she insisted she wasn't ready, she didn't support her after Sophia's father passed away, and she was just generally awful towards her. Things got so bad between them that at one point, Farrah said that she'd wished that her mother would "just f-cking die already." They've been estranged for a long time now, although Farrah does sometimes allow Deb to see Sophia.

Jenelle Evans and her mother, Barbara, have always had a tumultuous relationship, with Babs unafraid to dish it out as much as she's forced to take it. In previous years, they would fight a lot and trade zingers (such as this classic image), then eventually put it behind them. For a good long while, Jenelle and Babs were at each other's throats more often than not, and the stakes couldn't have been higher. Barbara now has permanent custody of Jenelle's oldest son, Jace, and Jenelle has mostly come to terms with it. Thankfully, they're not fighting so much these days -- yep, they're actually managing to get along. For the moment, anyway.

Things neared a boiling point between Amber Portwood and Matt Baier after he vowed that would never marry her ... because she wouldn’t marry him on the spot in Las Vegas, obviously. “I will not marry her,” he said. “I will not marry her now, ever! I’m not gonna let her [brother] dictate my life. That f—king f—got. She wants to marry her brother. That’s who she wants to marry. F—k her. She just humiliated me on TV. I’m done!” Matt, who was livid at Amber’s reasoning for not eloping in Vegas - her brother Shawn not being present - went on to tell a producer, “I don’t care who you have to give oral pleasure to, keep the Amber and Matt wedding thing off [the air]. She just embarrassed me in front of 12 million people.” We’re pretty sure you did that to yourself, Matt …

As if it wasn't bad enough that Matt Baier offered Catelynn Lowell a Xanax before a press event, casting serious doubt over whether or not he remains drug-free, he ultimately took a lie detector test to prove his faithfulness to Amber Portwood ... and failed. The polygraph revealed that Matt made sexual advances toward other women during his relationship with the Teen Mom star, and that was it for her. "Trash! TRASH! I got you money. I got you deals! And you tried to f--k her! F--K YOU!" Their breakup, which was a long time coming, was not undone despite a stint on Marriage Boot Camp ... though she did meet crew member Andrew Glennon while on the set and went on to have his baby. Matt also got married (seriously) to Jen Conlon. Funny how life works out. h96 max tv box

Perhaps the longest-running feud of the franchise, Chelsea Houska and Adam Lind face off mostly through their lawyers these days, because the derelict of society can't stay out of trouble or pay child support. In recent years, he's failed drug tests with meth in his system, and he's also been arrested more than once for domestic violence. Because of all of that, he's only allowed to see his daughter with Chelsea at a visitation center (which he rarely seems to do), and he gave up his parental rights completely for his other daughter, Paislee.

Amber and Jenelle have never interacted all that much since they were on different shows, but still, Amber felt the need to speak out after one of David's many abuse scandals -- she ranted about it on Instagram, calling him names like "bitch" and "disgusting clown." Jenelle told her to leave her family alone, and she also said "You’re the one who went to jail for domestic violence but you’re sitting here pointing fingers at my husband?" Amber then threatened to beat her up, because of course she did. Their feud was reignited months later when Jenelle started saying that it was unfair that she got fired when Amber got to keep her spot on the show. Amber never responded, but a source did report that “She doesn’t feel the need to get into a feud with Jenelle with everything going on in the world right now."

This feud has been going on for a long, long time, and it started back in the day when Jenelle needed Kailyn to post bail for her, but then she never paid her back. These two have traded insults over the years, and Jenelle was actually low enough to leak the news of Kail's pregnancy with Lux. Since then, they've been making snide remarks about each other on social media, with David even joining in to insult her about things like her weight and her sexuality. Most recently, Jenelle took a break from her newfound body positivity to call Kail "a giant compared to me," and Kailyn hit back by saying that at least she has custody of all of her children. Classic stuff there.

Nathan and Jenelle were terrible together, and things didn't change after they broke up. The big issue was that she didn't waste any time in getting with David, and David has always hated Nathan. Like, a lot. The feeling became mutual after a while, and Nathan started claiming that Kaiser had told him that David was abusive. Nathan once even tweeted photos of some suspicious bruises on Kaiser that he said were from David hitting him with a stick, but Jenelle turned it around, suggesting that Nathan was the abusive one. Nathan has been talking about getting custody of Kaiser for a while now, but of course he has his own issues on top of everything else.

Amber Portwood and Farrah Abraham’s iconic beef may never be topped, at least in terms of how it came to a head on an MTV reunion special with the cameras rolling. It was pretty standard - or at least it was until Farrah said that Amber's then-boyfriend, Matt Baier, looks like a pedophile. With Farrah and her then-boyfriend, Simon Saran, just trolling Matt incessantly, Portwood hit her breaking point off camera. She stormed the stage, trying to fight Farrah, hurling insult after insult at her rival, and even throwing a punch that missed. Baier and Farrah's father, Michael, then got into it physically, forcing security to break it up. Crew members stormed the stage to pull Amber away from Farrah and it was all a mess. An epic, chaotic and glorious mess. h96 tv box

The bad blood from their epic reunion fight lingered long after the dust settled and only worsened in the years since.. Farrah said Gary Shirley should have full custody of Amber’s daughter, and that Amber needs to stop "using me to get attention … I want nothing to do with [her] criminal behavior or lying evil groups of people [she associates] with.” Fast forward to 2019, in the wake of Amber's arrest for assaulting Andrew Glennon (below), Farrah said again: "I do not speak to others who are very vulgar and abusive. I haven’t spoken to her. I feel that children, adults, family members, everyone associated should be treated with care, love. And that’s where the society and the world is going. I really hope that, not only Amber, but I hope Catelynn, I hope Maci… gets some help. They seriously need it." Vintage Farrah word salad.

This feud never really stops, but boy does it take more twists and turns than we can even count. Most notably, Javi started dating Briana, and even proposed to her in 2018, resulting in a lot of bitter feelings from Kailyn. THEN, he broke up with Briana and started dating Lauren Comeau ... who quickly became pregnant with his child, prompting more feelings from both Kailyn and Briana. THEN Kailyn revealed that after his split from Briana, but prior to him impregnating Lauren, Javi tried to bang Kailyn repeatedly. After that, it came out that Javi was actually juggling all three women at the same time. Who has the energy?

One of the best, for obvious reasons. As we mentioned, Bri's was dating Kailyn's ex-husband, Javi Marroquin, a move that effectively drove a dagger into the heart of their friendship - whatever that consisted of. They had a very heated argument at one reunion, and at the next, they wanted to physically fight each other. First, Kail invited Briana for a private chat in a room backstage, but Briana left before things could get bad. Later, when it was time for all the girls to to onstage together, Briana tried to attack Kailyn, but security guards were able to keep them away from each other. They don't do reunions together anymore, but they do get sassy about each other on social media!

There's a lot here, so let's just breeze through, all right? Kailyn met Chris at college, she slept with him when she was still married to Javi, and he ended up impregnating her when the marriage was over. He was never around throughout the pregnancy, and she even said he had another girlfriend, though he did show up for the birth and for a little while after. Kail has said that things went bad a few months later, and she's even claimed that he broke into her house and broke a window in her bedroom at that time. Still, she had a big thing for them, and they hooked up every now and then. Eventually, he got her pregnant again, and she soon got an order of protection against him. Right now, she's nearing the end of that pregnancy, and things don't seem to be much better with Chris.

Nothing funny about this one. On July 5, 2019, Portwood was arrested and charged with two counts of domestic battery and one count of criminal recklessness with a deadly weapon after she struck her boyfriend, Andrew Glennon, in the neck as Glennon held their son James in his arms. She then threatened to commit suicide by overdosing on pills, and used a machete to attempt and break into the room where Glennon was hiding with their son. She was convicted on felony charges of domestic battery and intimdation, and she's currently on probation. Later, audio recordings were released in which Amber could be heard verbally abusing Andrew, and in one she even admitted to punching him in the face. There's no contact between them now, and Amber has been allowed visits with their son. h96 tv box

Where do we even begin? Jenelle and David have always gotten in awful fights, and they've only gotten worse as time has gone on. In the beginning, they argued a lot, but a couple of years ago, she called 911 in hysterics, claiming he pushed her down so hard she thought he'd broken her collarbone. She called again a few months later because she'd locked him outside and he was beating the door down. Last year, she left him for a while after he killed her dog, which resulted in them losing temporary custody of the kids, and she even got a restraining order against him after telling a judge she feared for her life. She went back to him, but things definitely haven't been good -- she recently left him again and threatened to get a restraining order. She didn't, and we guess things are supposed to be OK right now, but it's only a matter of time until things get bad again.

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pointlessutility · 5 years

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Deciphering rise of BTS through their content

Korean Culture

Koreans are deeply influenced by the Confucian philosophy, which emphasizes cultivated knowledge in comparison to creativity and a collectivistic society. Which is quite different from the Western thought.

Despite the political unrest after the Korean War that resulted in the division of the region, these two countries still share the same culture and traditional values.

The French Institut national de l'audiovisuel defines K-pop as a "fusion of synthesized music, sharp dance routines and fashionable, colorful outfits”. Songs typically consist of one or a mixture of pop, rock, hip hop, R&B, and electronic music genres.

The Confucian thought has a huge influence on Eastern political ideas; shaping the moral system, the way of life, social relations between old and young and their work ethic.

This gives us some insight about the highly systemized, regulated k-pop industry owned by three big names YG, SM JYP. That control every aspect of artist’ career to control publishing, licensing and advertising and in the end operating a star-making academy leaving the artist with no creative freedom. These trainees are put through years of intense musical and chorographical training; they have to sacrifice all guarantees of personal freedom, sleep and comfort. These trainees are monitored for height, weight and figure; they are put through extreme diet regimes, sometimes get plastic surgery done to resemble anime like body proportions. --- to produce idol groups designed to present the very highest standards of beauty, dance, and musicality in Korean popular music.

Korean pop stars have become cultural icons in the region and globally.

Kpop and BTS:

The Korean Wave Hallyu refers to the global popularity of South Korea’s cultural economy exporting pop culture, entertainment, music, TV dramas and movies since 1990s. And since 2000, the Korean government invests great sums in the country’s pop culture to appeal to an international audience. The South Korean government has dedicated a department solely to K-pop to promote the music in Korea and beyond.

It was within this environment that in 2010, a man named Bang Si-hyuk began to quietly build a different kind of studio, and to cultivate the band that would become BTS. His belief is to give the members creative freedom to work on solo tapes, producing and writing. BTS was first launched in 2013.

Where other modern day boy/girl bands have stuck to singing about love and heartache, from the beginning he has encouraged BTS to tell personal stories, and made it imperative to speak about things the group is feeling individually, in a whole that is the reason for the socially critical and introspective lyrics. Honest musical expression of one’s creative anxieties — would become a crucial element of BTS.

BTS is inspired by a hip-hop trio called Seo Taiji & Boys in 1990s who challenged norms around musical styles, song topics, fashion, and censorship, which was unprecedented for a culture whose musical production had spent the past few decades subjected to strict government oversight. They are considered pioneers of rebel music against the system in K-pop.

Seo Taiji, who’s been called the ‘Culture President, recently proclaimed Bangtan Sonyeondan (BTS) to be the true heirs of the original Korean pop ethos he gave birth to decades previously. While collaborating with BTS on his 25th anniversary on his song “ Classroom Idea”, which criticizes the oppressive education system of Korea. This song was written by Seo Taiji in 1994 when all teenagers were forced to stay in school from 7 am to 9 pm. For people without a college degree it would be hard to get jobs, they’d be treated as underdogs, paid no respect, and kept invisible in the society. (Video will be played and explain from it)

Education is considered crucial because of the Confucian tradition of respecting, learning and the particular national desire for greater achievements.

From BTS’ 2013 album O!RUL8,2? song N.O. also talks about students being overwhelmed by the expectations placed on them by elders, and the effect it has on their mental wellbeing. (in relation with the education system, BTS also has a song for it)

Then their 2015 album The Most Beautiful Moment in Life, Part 2; entails one of their most political song “Silver Spoon” or “Baepsae” it’s a bird in Korea translated as “Crow Tit” which is a small bird, considered as a weak one compared to a stork, crow tit has short legs and a stork has very long legs. The idiom goes “ a crow tit following a a stork will tear its legs”. Meaning when you try to do something out of your reach or capabilities you are likely to fail. Here storks are referring to people in power; big companies, conglomerates and the older generations. The crow tit being the younger generation. (they flap their hands like birds in their choreography).

They also use the metaphor of a teacher to refer to the older generation who are born with a golden spoon. So during the age of the storks or baby boomers (Baby boomer is a term used to describe a person who was born between 1946 and 1964) in South Korea they were experiencing huge economic growth and was extremely easy to get jobs, housing etc. But the economy of South Korea is now maturing and the side effects of ultra-fast economic growth have boomeranged to haunt the current generation. Millenials are facing high pricing of houses as well as high disparity between the rich and the poor and also all-time high youth unemployment.

Lyric, ‘Passion pay’ is a common practice in Korean society where companies pay young workers below minimum wage or nothing at all in return for experience. (lyrics will be shown in slide)

Speaks much about our society’s treatment to interns who go into the field to work. And the ‘given up generation’ saying that millennials are the generation who have given up on what may be considered as basic human rights and wants because of extreme high youth unemployment rates.

Sam-po-sadae (show the lyrics here) (read from ppt and explain these things gen Z has given up on). Millennial's giving up of romantic relationships, marriage, children, proper employment, homes, and social life in the face of economic difficulties and societal ills while facing condemnation from the media and older generations.

Then they go on to say that they want to change the system. Like this is not a normal situation. Society is sick but it also says we are not at the top yet and we have to push further. (video played and then this is explained).

Then BTS addresses how the older generation blames the millenials for their struggles saying that it is due to the lack of effort. Baby boomers seem to neglect the fact how society is completely different now compared to when they were growing up, also their economic situation is different. Saying that a lot of the problems millenials face today were infact caused by the baby boomers. But they seem to ignore this fact and tell the crow tits to work harder, try harder, put more effort.

Moving on to to their newer album “Wings”, song Blood Sweat tears, which is rich in literary and art references. Wings album is based on “Demian” a 1919 Herman Hesse novel that explore the psyche of the narrator as he grows up and loses his innocence and is on a journey to find himself. The ideologies presented in Demian are heavily influenced by the German philosopher Nietzsche. Nietzsche often wrote about the creation of the self. And more of his ideas in grounds of self-realization is central to Demian. (video playing in bg) There are motifs of mentorship shown in the video when each younger member is paired with an elder one. Jin the oldest member seen standing alone admiring the painting of the fall of rebel angels, the battle between good and evil. While gazing at this painting, Bminor plays in the background. Jin stands between two door, black and white, one good one evil. In Demian, Sinclair finds some freedom when Demian introduces him that the world cannot be categorized in binary such as good and evil. But rather there is good in all evil and evil in all good.

This concept is represented by the God called Abraxas, the god is nor good or evil but rather the affirmation of the existence of both. Saying that Sinclair will never find himself if he only acknowledges the realm of light he must seek knowledge and learn of both realms.

On the surface level one would say the song is about the dangers of temptation but through the imageries a lot of symbolism is shown, allusions from multiple sources of literature each symbol works harmoniously to create a larger system of meaning.

And their latest album Map of the Soul: Persona, based on archetypes of Carl Jung; is where they identify their stage persona as one part of their whole identities.

So as we see every succeeding album of BTS, one would witness the gradual growth of its members. With group and solo songs of each artist addressing issues like depression, anxiety, social and political injustice. Every member’s own identity plays a crucial role in building themes and concepts for their albums. And how they face these experiences that life brings them is translated in their albums.

Bringing us to the question, what is the machinery behind this idol group?

This boy band is still under a company which has its own producers. Bang-si-Hyuk (the founder), Pdogg (in house producer), Slow Rabbit (producer), Adora,Supreme Boi are the main producers. Main choreographer is Son Sung-deuk and J-Hope (member) takes part in choreography too (as he was a stret dancer earlier). Some members of the group have been credited as producers, RM, Suga, J-Hope and Jungkook.

The Korea Music Copyright Association attributes over 130 songs to RM as songwriter, composer, also including writing for member Jimin's solo song "Promise". The Korea Music Copyright Association attributes over 85 songs to Suga as a songwriter and composer. Suga won the 2017 MAMA (Mnet Asian Music Awards) best producer award for the song Wine. J-Hope produced his mixtape ‘Hope World’. Jungkook produced Magic Shop.

The group’s high-quality visual productions, largely produced by South Korean creative agency Lumpens, are frequently related to the themes of the band’s music. The agency has produced the visuals for some of their hits like Idol, DNA, Serendipity, I NEED U, Fake Love (Forbes article)

Pdogg production in "Love Yourself: Tear" with BTS hit the Billboard 200 albums chart and was nominated for Grammy Awards.

In an interview he was asked, to drop a hint about the sort of music BTS will come up in the future.

He replied, because a new series has started with ‘Love Yourself 承 Her’, we are planning to continue that. After that, [the decisions] will change based on BTS’ situation and the members’ sentiments at that point. The members put a lot of effort to make sure their characteristics can be shown through their music’.

The concept and themes the group work on for their albums come from them. Though the production may not be solely done by them. The ideas originated from the members are worked upon by the members alongside the company. The ultimate example of the members’ creative independence from their company is their personally composed, freely released mixtapes. They reflect each member’s individual personalities and creative orientations.

Bang-si-Hyuk gave BTS autonomy to run their own Twitter and vlog from their studio, and for the rappers to write alongside Big Hit’s in-house production team.

Since 2000, the Korean government invests great sums in the country’s pop culture to appeal to an international audience. The South Korean government has dedicated a department solely to K-pop to promote the music in Korea and beyond. These cultural exports have benefited the economy and country. BTS have become the youngest ever recipients of the Hwagwan (Korea’s) Orders of Cultural Merit for their services to the promotion of Korean pop culture and Hangul, the Korean alphabet.

How is bts so popular?

“We came together with a common dream to write, dance and produce music that reflects our musical backgrounds as well as our life values of acceptance, vulnerability and being successful,” said BTS’s leader, RM, in a 2017 interview with Time. Their latest record, Map of the Soul: Persona, made them the second group in history to have three No. 1 albums in a single year—the first was the Beatles.

There are six main ways BTS breaks with established precedent for K-pop boy bands to carry out this mission:

· They frequently write their own songs and lyrics.

· Their lyrics are socially conscious and especially attuned to describing the pressures of modern teen life in South Korea.

· They create and manage most of their own social media presence.

· They aren’t signed to “slave contracts,” nor do their contracts have the grueling restrictions of other idol groups.

· They tend to focus on marketing entire albums rather than individual singles.

· They talk openly about the struggles and anxieties of their career instead of presenting an extremely polished image at all times. (To be said- Rap Monster also differentiated the group by taking an open stand in favor of LGBT rights, a topic which is still highly incendiary in South Korea. Idols typically don’t take sides in such topics.)

A lot of these elements have been present in other k-pop groups- most notably Big Bang, which influenced BTS more than any other k-pop band. But Big Hit Entertainment systemized these elements in BTS and marketed it hard.

BTS has broken several charts records during each come-back in 2016 and 2017, not only locally but also internationally. Unlike other K-pop fandoms, BTS fans, span every age, gender and ethnic group -- BTS is not a teenage phenomenon, it is an intellectual phenomenon. Language barrier is no hinderance to spreading their message by their active fanbase who translate lyrics, make video compilations and create fan fiction about the band. Their messages penetrate through language, age, ethinicity and gender (need to add videos of older people attending their concert).

Even before their debut in 2013, they already had contents such as covers and dance practices, published through several medias (Youtube, blog, Twitter...). They have constantly tried to update fans on their activities through planned and unplanned interactions. The boy group was one of the first artists featured in the live broadcasting application launched by Naver in August 2015, V App. BTS’ social angle is always cited by the ARMY as the top reason for their ardent support.

This worldwide popularity is confirmed by their growing strength on social media (linked in article).

Besides being crowned music’s hereditary princes by Korea’s "President of Culture” Seo Taiji, some other prominent supporters of BTS include Korean music critics, philosophers, Jungian psychologists, Brazilian authors, American painters.

That BTS happen to have a small, intimate team to aid them in the production endeavour which does not make their work any less authentic, and it differs fundamentally from other K-pop companies.

K-pop, which has swelled in the past five years from a niche genre to a $5 billion global industry. “Somebody always has to be the one to walk down that path and cut through the jungle and make some noise, and I think that group [was] BTS,” says Phil Becker, vice president for content at Alpha Media, which owns 68 U.S. radio stations.

America and the UK have been the powerhouses of popular music — only three of the 30 highest selling artists of all time have come from elsewhere. It means that the dominance, in terms of both cultural influence and commercial prowess, has been held firmly within the grip of the West. In 2019, BTS came second on the worldwide list of best-selling artists across physical, digital and streaming platforms, beaten only by the all-conquering Drake. BTS have almost single-handedly pulled things back towards the East.

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acme-aspirations · 5 years

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A Study of Sandra Bartky

Weedon, Ch. 2

According to the reading in Weedon, poststructuralism states that language doesn’t reflect social reality, but constitutes social reality. The world itself has no fixed meanings that language reflects. Meanings vary between languages, within languages and over time. The theory assumes that “meaning is constituted within language and is not guaranteed by the subject which speaks it” (22). Language is an abstract system of chains of signs made up of a signifier and a signified (the signifier’s meaning). But these meanings are plural and changing. Signifiers are located in a discursive text , which is located relative to other discursive texts, and “is open to constant rereading and reinterpretation” (25). It is through discourse that language gives meaning to the world and organizes social institutions. Any society at any specific time has many discourses, but one is usually dominant and reflects it’s values and interests (35).

The concept of subjectivity is also crucial to poststructuralism. It refers to the individual’s sense of self, their relationship to the world and their conscious and unconscious thoughts and emotions (32). The subjectivity of poststruc. is not fixed, but is “precarious, contradictory and in process, constantly being reconstituted in discourse each time we think or speak” (32). Each individual has multiple subjectivities and they may be in conflict

Feminist Poststructuralism uses these concepts to understand social relations, social institutions, and power relations especially in relation to gender; it also addresses where they came from, how they exercise power, and how they can be changed or opposed. Subjectivity and consciousness which are socially produced in language are the sites where change will occur (40).

Sandra Bartky’s article, Foucault, Femininity and the Modernization of Patriarchal Power, addresses how power is wielded by institutions and becomes internalized by our bodies and minds. Institutions like schools, the military, hospitals, factories, prisons, control not only our bodies activities, but our bodies time and space. Modern technology can control not only our bodies, but our minds, in more social and psychological ways than ever before. The subject knows that she is controlled in both mind and body by the many institutions that she is exposed to. She comes to internalize these disciplinary structures and ends up policing herself (p. 115).

Foucault’s relationship of power to the body is similar in some ways to Grosz’s in that the external inscriptions of power become internalized and lived; but Bartky points out that Foucault sees the body as one, as if there are not differences between women and men, and as if women and men had the same relationship to power. He doesn’t recognize the disciplinary practices that produce feminine bodies (p. 105). Bartky writes of three practices in particular that define the “artifice” of femininity:

1. the size and configuration of the body – practices that promote the ideal of today are dieting, exercise, plastic surgery.

2. bodily comportment – gesture, posture, movement – the way women take up space, sit, walk, compose their facial expressions, smile, touch, etc., is different from men

3. use of the body as an ornamental surface – through makeup, jewelry, clothes, care of the skin and hair

All these practices produce a body that sees itself as inferior and deficient. According to the media none of us are attractive enough or measure up to society’s (men’s) standards. In order to even approach the standards set for us we must invest enormous amounts of time, energy and money and still we are destined to fall short of whatever the next season’s ideals are.

I thought Bartky’s paragraph on p.110 describes so well what most women feel: “A panoptical male connoisseur resides within the consciousness of most women: they stand perpetually before his gaze and under his judgment. Woman lives her body as seen by another, by an anonymous patriarchal Other. We are often told that ‘women dress for other women’. There is some truth in this: who but someone engaged in a project similar to my own can appreciate the panache with which I bring it off?” Even the successful practitioner of this regime doesn’t gain power or respect. The fact that she is a women makes her efforts of little worth and women end up being “ridiculed and dismissed for their interest in such ‘trivial’ things” (p.111).

Bartky asks what and where is the disciplinary power that inscribes femininity. It is everywhere and nowhere. It does not reside in any particular institution – it is unbound. And this “absence of formal institutional structure” makes it seem that the production of femininity is natural and voluntary. Actually these disciplines can be voluntary and involuntary at the same time; nevertheless, they “must be understood as aspects of a far larger discipline, an oppressive and inegalitarian system of sexual subordination” (112). Even though there are no formal sanctions or disciplinarians, a woman who refuses to follow these disciplines will find herself facing the most significant rejection of all in a patriarchal society – the refusal of male patronage (113).

Ironically, the same discipline that can bring disempowerment from a larger perspective, can also bring the self a sense of mastery and accomplishment in the skills that she has developed to carry out the demands of the discipline. Looked at this way, a radical feminism that questions the patriarchal construction of the female body might be resisted by some women for several reasons. It would challenge their sense of competence; they would be unwilling to give up what they see as rewards for complying with the standards of beauty; they might see it as a threat of “desexualization, if not outright annihilation” (p.114). But liberal feminism often accepts the conventional standards of femininity while rejecting the sexual division of labor; Bartky finds this kind of feminism incoherent and calls for the “deconstruction of the categories of masculinity and femininity” and an “as yet unimagined transformation of the female body” (p.115).

Native Tongue

Chapters 10-15 deal with the results of Aquina trying to make Nazareth barren so she could live at Barren House and concentrate on the Encoding Project. The women’s main concern with the upcoming investigation is that the House not be disturbed and their secrets revealed. They have to conceal the real Encoding Project, their forbidden books, herbs, medical equipment which have all been accumulated over many years. It would be an irreplaceable loss if these things were discovered by the investigators and understood by the men of the Houses. They agree that the only thing they can do is sacrifice Belle-Anne; they are very sorry about it, but it must be done. I’m not sure how Belle-Anne feels about it, but she goes about her ‘confession’ with no hesitation. She admits to the crime for the seemingly trivial, but really very important, reason that she doesn’t want men messing around the house and upsetting the women’s things.

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danielpayne1 · 6 years

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“Snapchat Saw it First”

There are many idioms within the parameters of modern Medias like Snapchat and Instagram. Despite not being taught, most understand the language and formatting requirements that are necessary to produce a post that is aesthetically appealing and will lead to appreciation from other media users. It could be argued that such a demand for the production of online material has become so extreme that we have become obsessed with achieving such goals.

It was only the other day that I discovered an online article, in which a woman described how she had become tired of editing her photos and in order to look like her snapchat filter had subsequently undergone plastic surgery (Davies, 2018). Though I do not argue against the alleviation of anxiety through such processes, it bears interest that such an obsession can lead to these insecurities. Although most of us will not take it as far as the aforementioned example, it cannot be disputed that we are all guilty of striving for an admirable image on social media.

From the millennial generation onwards, it could be argued that we are almost all obsessed with our phones.

How so?

The Oxford English dictionary describes obsession as:

1. A persistent idea or impulse that continually forces its way into consciousness, often associated with anxiety and mental illness

2. A persistent preoccupation, idea, or feeling.

Though it could be argued as hyperbolic to compare phone obsession with a mental illness, it could be considered ironic that most are habitually preoccupied by their phones. As seen in the title, this phenomenon has also lead to topographically related jargon such as “snapchat saw it first”, and even medically related jargon such as “snapchat dysmorphia”.

The implications of “snapchat saw it first” are that not only has an individual invested time to capture and mould it into some form of content…but they have done this numerous times.

This is not only for specific circumstances as well!

As there are multiple platforms, such as snapchat, Instagram, Tinder, Facebook and Twitter, etc. There is almost an aspect that we can capture for almost every moment of our lives:

Instagram- scenic photos, nights out, good hair days and days out with friends

Snapchat- doing work, chilling with friends, nights out, funny photos, music you are listening to, food and general things you do throughout the day

Tinder- aesthetically appealing photos of you and pictures of you with animals (trust me…a lot do this)

Twitter- things you think are funny, arguing and sharing your opinions

I am sure there are more examples of this (if you have any that I’ve missed out, would love to hear them in the comments below), but I’m sure you get the point.

AAAAAAAANNNNNNDDDDD…

Not only do we have to produce these, but we have to keep up to date with what everyone else we know produces.

Tiring isn’t it!

Can there be a healthy alternative?

There is no getting past the fact that social media is almost a pinnacle of western society. There are many ways you can prevent social media encompassing on your everyday life, such as turning your phone off when you’re not using it, or if this is even too tempting, there are many apps that can be found on both iPhone and android that force lock your phone or certain apps.

Davies, A. (2018). People are getting surgery to look like their Snapchat selfie. Retrieved from: https://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcthree/article/9ca4f7c6-d2c3-4e25-862c-03aed9ec1082

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chronically-illustrated · 6 years

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Ego Activity Timeline

(July 10, 2016 - May 15, 2018)

EDITED: May 15, 2018

Since I’ve only been here a short time, I’ve had to do a lot of research to get up to speed on previous ego appearances and Antipocalypse hints. So, I thought I would put together a timeline to help out other people in the community who are in the same situation, especially since a lot of you have finals going on and you don’t have time to go digging through all of this stuff. It may also help jog theorists’ memories with things that could be linked to the current Seánanigans. I’ve spent a lot of time gathering all this, but it’s not comprehensive, so please feel free to add on!

July 10, 2016

Welcome to the Game #2

- Jackieboy Man's origin

August 11, 2016

Jacksepticeye Power Hour #1

- Marvin's origin, though he is not yet an official ego at this time

September 15, 2016

Jacksepticeye Power Hour #2

- Dr. Schneeplestein's origin

[Hints leading to first Antipocalypse – I wasn't here for this, so I don't know all the places to look, but I think the ones in Sister Location are particularly significant]

October 31, 2016

Say Goodbye

- Antisepticeye's first official appearance

December 24, 2016

Amateur Surgeon Christmas Edition

- Dr. Schneeplestein’s second appearance

March 10, 2017

Antisepticeye takeover at PAX East

April 11, 2017

Bro Average

- Chase Brody's origin

June 18, 2017

Bio Inc. Redemption #2

- Jack kills Chase Brody

- References Dr. Schneeplestein at 16:45

- In-game Chase Brody dies June 18, 2018

- Jack acts as if Chase is not an established character, but a random name he came up with

June 24, 2017

Bio Inc. Redemption #4

- Dr. Schneeplestein's third appearance

August 3, 2017

Kill Jacksepticeye

- Jack feels nauseous, leaves the room, and Dr. Schneeplestein comes in

- Antisepticeye takes over Dr. Schneeplestein while the doctor tries to save in-game Jack

- In-game Jack dies on March 5, 2018

October 23, 2017

South Park: The Fractured But Whole Part 2

- Jackieboy Man’s second appearance

October 31, 2017

Jacksepticeye The Silent Movie

- Jameson Jackson's origin, though he is not yet an official ego at this time

- Anti attempts to take over when Jameson cuts his hand

- “Still here,” “Puppets,” “Run,” and “Still watching” flash onscreen

- Jameson appears to regain control of his body and finishes the video, doing Jack's usual outro

December 5, 2017

Doki Doki Literature Club Part 5

- “imtalkingtoyou” and “irememberwhathapened” are in the tags in zalgo text; these tags are later removed

December 15, 2017

Overnight Watch

[I don't know much about Overnight Watch, but I’ve been told it involved showing previously-used footage of Anti during the night of the holiday stream]

March 14, 2018

Giant Smelly Feet

- Usual intro is missing

- At the end of the video, instead of the usual outro, the camera moves into the bathroom where Jack sits hunched with his feet in the tub, muttering in a Gollum-like voice. When he realizes he's being watched, he slowly turns his head, then lunges toward the camera screaming, “Get out!” The video cuts to black and there is no outro.

April 6, 2018

During his PAX East panel, Jack says he wants to do a story involving all the egos later this year, and confirms Jameson Jackson as an official ego

April 11, 2018

Jack posts a picture on Instagram for Chase's birthday

April 18, 2018

Postcard Incident on Tumblr

- Jack posts what appears to be a postcard that says “Wish You Were Here.” Community members determine the background picture is from a beach in Germany. As the hours pass, the picture changes several times, getting more blood-spattered and glitched with each update. The image is then deleted from Jack's blog less than 12 hours after it was posted.

[I believe it's around this time that Jack answers a question about which egos are canon during a stream and makes it clear that the six official egos are Anti, Jackieboy Man, Dr. Schneeplestein, Marvin, Chase Brody, and Jameson Jackson]

May 1, 2018

Bendy and the Ink Machine Chapter 4

- “I’m hearing something. Maybe it was the sound of my own brain eating itself alive inside my head.” (5:28)

May 2, 2018

Monster Prom

- “I thought white noise was taking over my brain and I was about to die.” (4:12)

- “There was that sound again. I thought I was going deaf.” (6:09)

- “Sorry, my brain switched off there for a second.” (7:28)

(credit to @videogames-and-stardust for writing this info down)

May 3, 2018

Jack posts a picture of Dr. Schneeplestein on Instagram with the caption, “Vacation's over!”

Jack renames Bro Average and The Silent Movie as Power Hour videos with the egos' names

May 4, 2018

100% REAL DOCTOR l Gastric Bypass, Liposuction Surgery

- “Dr. Jacksepticeye” parodies Dr. Schneeplestein's intro from Power Hour #2

- Dr. Schneeplestein returns, but his “good friend” Jack doesn't seem to recognize him and asks, “Who are you?” Instead of greeting Jack like a friend who's been gone for a while, Schneep responds, “I am the good doctor, and that is my chair!” It has been noted that his expression shows both anger and fear, and that Jack's face displays not confusion, but a startled look as if he's been caught doing something he shouldn't by someone he didn't expect to see.

May 5, 2018

Welcome to the Game 2

- Jack asks, “Where is Jackieboy Man when you need him?”

Stories Untold Chapter 1

- The usual intro is missing. While doing the outro, “Jack” stops and says, “What was that? Did you hear that? It sounded like somebody…” He tenses up as we hear the sound of the door handle turning, and looks over his shoulder as the door creaks open behind him. After a flash of lighting and crack of thunder, we see the desk from the game, and a staticky black-and-white image of Jack appears on the computer screen.

May 6, 2018

Barry Has a Secret

- Jack gets through part of his intro, then goes into a super creepy voice and Anti-like grin.

- At the end of the video, Jack is talking about having nothing to hide, then the video starts to fade to black as he shouts, “Hey, where are you going?” This is followed by a found-footage-style skit similar to that at the end of Giant Smelly Feet. The person holding the camera goes into the bathroom; the video glitches, speeds up and rewinds intermittently as the person reaches out to open a cupboard and finds a small plastic hand inside. Off-camera, we hear Jack's voice say, “Hey, what are you doing?” The camera turns and he is standing very close by, grinning and saying, “Hey. You weren't supposed to find that.” There are more glitches during this part as well. Just like in Giant Smelly Feet, there is no outro after Jack reaches for the camera and the video cuts to black.

Stories Untold Chapter 2

- The usual intro is missing, replaced by the SU-specific intro

- Jack's outro is interrupted as the screen starts to flash white and the facecam video appears to speed up, showing him going limp just before the screen goes white and then cuts to the image of the floating, glowing machines from the game

May 7, 2018

Stories Untold Chapter 3

- The usual intro and outro are missing

- At the end of the video, the screen goes dark and we hear, “Jack. Jack! This is Chase. You need to wake up.” We then get Morse code saying, “Where am I?”

Jack posts a picture on Instagram of him wearing Chase's shirt with Marvin's mask partially visible in the background. The photo is deleted less than 24 hours later.

May 8, 2018

Check Please

- Jack says the word “magic” several times and pretends to do a magic trick with the candle

- Jack talks a lot about his dad leaving the family and being a dad with kids

Stories Untold Chapter 4

- At the end of the video, Jack tosses and turns in bed, and we hear whispers saying, “Close the door.” Jake wakes up, looks directly into the camera, and says, “I remember what he did to me.”

Fortnite Stream

- Marvin's mask is hanging on the whiteboard in the background; Jack takes a “pee break” and removes it after viewers post about it in the chat

May 9, 2018

Try to Fall Asleep

- In the static after “Flee,” we see Marvin several times, Jameson once, and the words “You need to” appear above “Flee”

- More references to magic tricks

Colourblind Test

- Marvin's mask is hanging on the whiteboard in the background

May 10, 2018

Thanos Infinity Gauntlet Mode | Fortnite Battle Royale

- Marvin's mask is hanging on the whiteboard in the background

- Footage from before the stream on the 8th

Jack is out of town this day filming something he can't talk about but is excited to show us

May 11, 2018

Community members notice an emoji in a social media post. Jack usually uses :D, :P, etc., so it was strange to see him use an actual emoji. @viostormcaller was able to predict Chase's appearance on this day from this clue.

Tie – A Game About Depression

- This is Chase playing. We get absolutely indisputable confirmation at the end that we’re seeing Chase. He talks about one of his best friends being in a coma, which is most like Jack, hence hearing him say, “Jack. Jack! This is Chase. You need to wake up.” There is a distinct transition at 11:03 where the shirt he’s wearing changes - it goes from a black shirt to Chase’s shirt. Even before this, he’s talking about being a single dad with two kids and struggling with depression. At the end of the video, we see Chase drinking while looking at a photo of the family he’s lost. He sets his hat down next to the bottle of alcohol at the very end.

- Here is a transcript from @21antisepticeye of all the ego-related statements made in this video.

May 14, 2018

Dark Silence

- The light in the recording room flickers and Jack looks up, saying, “Oh, god” as it appears to shatter and the lighting turns red.

- Toward the end of the video, the in-game character is wandering a hospital with a flashlight when the overhead lights in the hallway start turning off one by one, the darkness coming closer and closer. Jack says, “I know where this is going” just before the last light goes out; we hear the character scream as the screen goes dark, including the facecam.

- We cut to Jack (possibly Chase) flicking on a lighter. He wanders a dark hallway, and we hear children’s cries and whispers similar to those in Stories Untold Chapter 4. A red glow washes over him, and we see Antisepticeye, silhouetted by red light in a doorway. Jack/Chase asks, “Who’s there?” and Anti turns his head, grinning, and a bright green light ignites in his right eye (left to the viewer). Jack/Chase asks, “Where are they? What do you want from me?” Anti stalks toward the camera, glitching, and the video cuts to black.

May 15, 2018

Baldi’s Basics

- The video appears normal except for the skit at the end, in which Jack has changed into Chase’s shirt. He scribbles on a piece of paper and pleads with the teacher, hunching up in fear before the cut to the Sam animation. After the animation, he sits up and smiles, which is very reminiscent of the ending scene from Bro Average/The Jacksepticeye Power Hour - Chase Brody.

Here is a recap from @lum1natrix detailing the events of May 2018 up to May 11.

Here is a playlist of all the videos with ego appearances up to Dark Silence.

To be continued!

#jacksepticeye #mayhem2k18 #egopocalypse

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sappyhat · 2 years

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From digital expectations to physical alterations - Issues to Health (W8)

Physical alterations to the human body in order to suffice one's needs to fulfill their desire of appearance. In other words, it's voluntary body modifications. Such changes are usually made by a form of surgical operation that is usually known as "plastic surgery". The term is prevalent, and it has travelled through every corner of the world, given it is covered by the mass media. Social media platforms do also play an important role in how this practice become common to the individuals who chased after individualistic perfect standards, or so-called "beauty standards".

Why do people want to chase them?

Beauty standards don't emerge out of thin-air. It comes with a long history of how it is formed (that I will not discuss about) which now then propagated by the social media, especially visual-based ones. Visual-based models and influencers fill their content with how an expected "hotness" looks like, then further promote it, the propagate it, then algorithmic platforms start to push them to their favorable target audiences (Carah & Dobson 2016)

All these promotion created social comparisons, making audiences pursue what it is considered to be the best by standard, and then BOOM, we all ended up becoming the victim of media control. Although these alterations are voluntary, after realizing how much the media has promoted the "perfect" image of a human body, such beauty standards soon become a manipulative agent, controlling how we feel about our own bodies.

The most frightening thing about having appearance alterations promoted on the media is that.. we soon forgot about the criticality of its medical-related importance.

Plastic surgeries are, in the end, surgeries. They are medical operations, practiced by professional medical professionals and not some kind of Internet character. It is frightening that people refers to such operations with ordinary, slang-ish names (such as boob-job, nose-job, facelifting, etc) rather than clinically proper terminologies (Dorfman et. al 2018). This is by far the most apparent result of how social media turns plastic surgery into a commodity, for people to buy and sell. More shockingly, the study of the same author shows the disproportionate of proper medical content relating to plastic surgery to simply promotion. About 67.1% are self-promotional, while only half of that contributes to educational content, such content that I believe to be more important, especially for the patient who are planning on taking the operation.

Changes need to be made to fix this imbalanced issue, as social media platforms need to weigh the health issues of body modification operations on top of just promoting them for money.

It is all for the best, before something like this could happen again...

(this is a plastic surgery clinic in Viet Nam, where in 2013 there was a fatal case due to failure in operation. The head surgeon, motivated by the reputation of the clinic, dispose the body of the patient into a river nearby. This is one of a most memorable case in my home country, where the people are now alerted in how critical it is to acknowledge the health risks of such operations, and not just to fulfil personal desire)

Reference

Carah, N, Dobson, A 2016, Algorithmic Hotness: Young Women’s “Promotion” and “Reconnaissance” Work via Social Media Body Images, SageJournals, viewed 8th May 2022, https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/2056305116672885

Dorfman, R, Vaca, E, Mahmood, E, Fine, N, Schierle, C, 2018, Plastic Surgery-Related Hashtag Utilization on Instagram: Implications for Education and Marketing, Oxford University Press, Aesthetic Surgery Journal, Vol. 38, p. 332-338, viewed 8th May 2022, https://academic.oup.com/asj/article/38/3/332/4084591?login=true

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mevsdigitalcommunities · 4 years

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WEEK 8 Digital Health and Cosmetic Surgery on Visual Social Media

Mavroudis (2020) mentioned, Public health is integrated with communication technologies especially in the advent of social media. The Kardashians are known as the most influential people in the world. They have been promoting body positivity through brands that sell products that will help in achieving the “perfect” body, such as FitTea, Skims, etc. This particular movement can be problematic towards the public health policies.

There are several types of influencer, however, the ones that I will be explaining today are Micro-influencers. Micro-influencers usually have a few hundred thousand or even fewer followers. However, they have extremely engaged fan communities in a very specific niche. As a result, they are more likely to be able to motivate their followers to take the action they want to take. This enables them to drive their audience towards a particular brand without appearing to be overly promotional (GRIN 2019).

Instagram users are unknowingly engaged in unpaid work and personal marketing to develop their brand and compete for visibility. Visibility labour refers to strategies that both micro-famous and non-micro-famous people use on platforms such as Instagram to enhance their status or popularity. Esthetic labour concentrates on poses, accessories, props or subjective work on the surface of the body rather than on the work of emotion. The display of female sexuality through sexualized social media content is a powerful means of gaining visibility (Mavroudis 2020).

However, male influencers offer masculinity when it comes to performing esthetic labour. Mavroudis (2020) also mentioned male influencers in my research have been striving for a more muted display of sexuality where no specific body parts have been accentuated. Bodies appear to be actively performing tasks that relate to the masculine ideals of athleticism, strength and dominance.

Cosmetic surgery has been the top influencers has been doing and promoting. Cosmetics or Plastic surgeries clinics are now promoting themselves through them to increase demand. According to 2017 statistics from the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, 42% of surgeons address that one's patients are pursuing aesthetic surgery to improve their appearance on Instagram , Snapchat, Facebook and other social media channels (Dorfman et al 2018).

Not only the female influencers who often promote and practice the cosmetic surgery trend, however, there are also transgenders who are showing their process when doing the plastic surgery as their transitioning process. I am not against this particular behaviour, because they are showing bravery and their compassion and identity, which in today’s society is very meaningful.

However, some of this movement does trigger those who feel insecure. Sometimes, when micro-influencers post pictures in social media, the viewers aren’t aware of visibility labour and esthetic labour behind all of it. Some people may look upon their beauty and perfect body without realising that there are other things that have been done behind their pictures. This un-realisation may trigger the viewers, making them feel insecure, and causing their health in problem (both mentally and physically).

Therefore, it is very much needed for the micro-influencers to give some kind of awareness, such as body positivity. Also, it is also important for the viewers or the society to have common knowledge about it. This can help them to know or at least aware of what’s going on behind every post and picture.

References:

Grin.co, 2019. 10 Types of Social Media Influencers You Can Work With - GRIN - Influencer Marketing Software. Viewed 3 June 2020, <https://grin.co/blog/types-of-social-media-influencers/>.‌

Jonathan Mavroudis, 2020, 'Week 8 Public Health Campaigns and Social Media Influence', MDA 20009 Digital Communities , Swinburne Canvas, Swinburne University of Technology, 12 May 2020, viewed 3 June 2020.

Dorfman, R.G., Vaca, E.E., Mahmood, E., Fine, N.A. and Schierle, C.F. (2017). Plastic Surgery-Related Hashtag Utilization on Instagram: Implications for Education and Marketing. Aesthetic Surgery Journal, 38(3), pp.332–338.

‌

#body posititivity #digitalcommunities #mda20009 #cosmetic surgery #behindthelens #UNI #2020

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bluewatsons · 5 years

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Karl Thompson, Sociological Theories of Consumerism and Consumption, ReviseSociology (October 12, 2016)

Many of us spend a lot of time thinking about the things we might consume, and how we might consume them, and we do this not only as individuals, but as friends, partners, and families, and so intensely do we think about our consumption practices that the things we buy and the experiences we engage which are linked to them become invested with emotional significance and central (crutches) to our very identities.

The consumption of goods and services is so thoroughly embedded into our ordinary, everyday lives that many aspects of its practice go largely unquestioned – not only the environmental and social consequences have got lost on the way, but also they very notion that consumption itself is a choice, and that, once our basic needs are met, consumption in its symbolic sense is not necessary and thus is itself a choice.

In sociological terms one might say that contemporary reflexivity is bounded by consumption – that is to say that most of the things most of us think about in life – be they pertaining to self-construction, relationship maintenance, or instrumental goal-attainment, involve us making choices about (the strictly unnecessary) things we might consume.

Even though I think that any attempt to achieve happiness through consumption will ultimately result in misery, I would hardly call anyone who tries to do so stupid – because all they are going is conforming to a number of recent social changes which have led to our society being based around historically high levels of consumption.

There are numerous explanations for the growth of a diverse consumer culture and thus the intense levels of unnecessary symbolic consumption engaged in by most people today – the overview taken below is primarily from Joel Stillerman (2015) who seems to identify five major changes which underpin recent changes in consumption since WW2.

The first explanation looks to the 1960s counter culture which despite having a reputation for being anti-consumerist, was really more about non-conformity, a rejection of standardised mass-consumption and promoting individual self expression. Ironically, the rejection of standardised consumption became a model for the niche-marketing of today, much of which is targeted towards people who wish to express themselves in any manor of ways – through clothing, music, foodism, craft beers, or experiences. Some members of the counter culture in fact found profit in establishing their own niche-consumer outlets, with even some Punks (surely the Zenith of anti-consumerism?!) going on to develop their own clothing brands.

A second discussion surrounding the normalisation of consumerism centres around changes in the class structure, following the work Bourdieu and Featherstone (2000). Basically these theorists see the intensification of consumption as being related to the emergence of the ‘new middle classes’ as a result of technological innovations and social changes leading to an increase in the number of people working in jobs such as the media and fashion.

Mike Featherstone focuses on what he calls the importance of ‘cultural intermediaries’ (who mainly work in the entertainment and personal care industries) who have adopted an ‘ethic of self-expression through consumption’ – in which they engage in self-care in order to improve their bodies and skills in order to gain social and economic capital.

The values of these early adopters has gradually filtered down to the rest of the population and this has resulted in the ‘aestheticisation of daily life’ – in which more and more people are now engaged in consumption in order to improve themselves and their social standing – as evidenced in various fitness classes, plastic surgery, and a whole load of ‘skills based’ pursuits such as cookery classes (yer signature bake if you like).

A third perspective focuses on individualisation – as advanced by the likes of Zygmunt Bauman and Ulrich Beck.

In their view, after World War II, universal access to higher education and social welfare benefits in Europe led to the erosion of traditional sources of identity provided by family, traditional authority, and work. Today, individuals are ‘free’ from the chains of external sources of identity, but this freedom comes at a price. Individuals are now compelled to give meaning to their lives without the certainty that they are making the right choice that in the past had come from tradition. Individuals are forced to be reflexive, to examine their own lives and to determine their own identities. In this context, consumption may be a useful vehicle for constructing a life narrative that gives focus and meaning to individuals.

As I’ve outlined in numerous blog posts before, Bauman especially sees this is a lot of work for individuals – a never ending task, and a task over which they have no choice but to engage in (actually I disagree here, individuals do have a choice, it’s just not that easy to see it, or carry it through!).

Fourthly, Post-modern analyses of consumption focus on the increasing importance of individuals to consumption. Building on the work of Lytoard etc. Firat and Venkatesh (1995) argue that changes to Western cultures have led to the erosion of modernist ideas of progress, overly simplified binary distinctions like production and consumption and the notion of the individual as a unified actor. They suggest that in contemporary societies production and consumption exist in a repeating cycle and retail cites and advertiser have increasingly focussed on producing symbols which individuals consume in order to construct identities.

These changes have led to increasing specialising of products and more visually compelling shopping environments, and F and V argue that these changes are liberating for individuals and they seek meaning and identity through consumption, which they can increasingly do outside of markets.

Fifthly – other researches have looked at the role of subcultures in contemporary society, where individuals consume in order to signify their identity as part of a group, and doing so can involve quite high levels of consumption, even if these groups appear quite deviant (McAlexander’s 1995 study of Harley Davidson riders looks interesting here, also Kozinet’s study of Star Trek fans).

Something which draws on numbers 3,4 and 5 above is the concept of consumer tribes (developed by Cova et al 2007) which are constantly in flux, made up by different individuals whose identities are multiple, diverse and playful – individuals in fact may be part of many tribes and enter and exit them as they choose.

Finally, Stillerman points out that underlying all of the above are two important background trends

Firstly, there are the technological changes which made all of the above possible – the transport links and the communications technologies.

Secondly there is the (often discussed) links to the global south as a source of cheap production.

Very finally I’m going to add in one more thing to the above – underlying the increase in and diversification of consumption is the fact that time has sped up – in the sense that fashions change faster than ever and products become obsolete faster than ever – hence putting increasing demands on people to spend more time and money year on year to keep up on the consumer treadmill….

So there you have it – there are numerous social trends which lie behind the increase in and diversification of consumption, so the next time you think you’re acting as an individual when you’re getting your latest tattoo, maybe think again matey!

#sociology #consumerism #consumption #social trends #The Way We Live Now #technology #subcultures #Joel Stillerman

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omgtonysong-blog · 7 years

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MA Proposal

When i join to MA,I would like put emphasis on investigate ‘BaXiang people’. “BaXiang”,which means play for fun. It actually belongs to the ShangHai dialect of China. As the name illustrates the meaning, BaXiang is a definition of a crowd in society. The vast majority of them come from the social population. let`s change another words, the negative rhetoric for ‘BaXiang’ is ShangHai gentleman rogue. Because some of them are gangs, some are idle people, some are craftsmen. ‘BaXiang’ culture starts at bourgeoisie of ShangHai before 1949. It`s an old saying of ShangHai slang, but now it becomes to “PlayBoy” for some reasons.To some extent, it interpretations people on the same truck. All in all, no matter where are they come from, what are their`s job, they have a common feature,which is as playing as an attitude of life. Due to the education of population`s level is keep increased in recent years, meanwhile, the quality of living standards also increased gradually. ‘BaXiang’ people is not Social marginalized anymore nowadays. It becomes to an attitude of living and people gradually changed their prejudices with them. It began to spreads to social family as a conceptual trend. As the trend of fashion goes more and more faster, while the scope also becoming more widely. It is no longer the privilege of the bourgeoisie and the scope of ‘BaXiang’ is not only belongs to gangs or gentry any more. The citizens of each country are using a kind of action combined with their country's culture to create a new way of ‘BaXiang’ to illustrates their attitude, or their lifestyle.

Aiming: (Could be a question, you should not yet know the answer (I.E.must be theory/theme, not functional outcome ) The aim of my film will be to create empathy with what we would traditionally see as the “bad” character. The life of “BaXiang” People seems has a huge contrast with the busy society. But in some way, they lifestyle happens to be a catalyst for the development of street culture. This kind of lifestyle seems lazy but actually bring a strong ability of re-creation. For me, the most important thing is there is a strong attitude hidden behind in their lifestyle which might already have another appearance in people`s mind. Which can build a formidably personality. So that how can i dig them out and bring them into audience`s mind, also let them empathy to each other is my main aiming proposal in MA study life. Lets say If adults` lifestyle is transforming in this group, it not only means that their attitudes will change, but also their children`s perception to world will change, which means street culture can be regarded as the mainstream of subculture, which means it could bring a brand new strong fashion of lifestyle. It sounds can really bring a lot of new fun, but at the same time, with the increasing of personal attitude,it also bring a lot of complex social problems. And all these social problems which supervened by these lifestyle happens around of us nowadays. I will pick the city like east of London, Birmingham, or Liverpool as my main discovery direction to find the street culture and ‘baxiang’ people in real life, then i will do my primary research with these people’s life style and make all these information become as dairy. Then i will paraphrasing the real things become to my work. This is the main purpose of my MA study life.

How can i break a rule:

Generally speaking, the way of how to use lighting could determines the visual effect on screen. No matter it is the angle or intensity of light, they both can put story into a special atmosphere in a certain extent. For most of time, lighting in film can re-creative another role of the character. For example, Like the French film “Leon, the professional”, the protagonist leon is an eccentric person, he was isolated to his life with only one friend, his plant. In fact, this is also an interesting place in whole movie. Before meeting the Mathilda played by Natalie Portman, leon was seemingly just like a normal killer for us, and this cold-blood job did not give us anything for the practical significance. Even if as a witnesses, he saw the whole maltreat process of Mathilda but still have no reaction. He is always like his only friend which is that plant, living hard but also as insignificant. Doing every daily exercise on time and complies with every agreement, never drink beer, but milk, being rigorous to every single detail. His life is just like his personality, dull and dry. On the other hand, this guy becoming the only man who got the true trust and deep love from the little lady Mathilda. The whole story of the film is full of surprisingly romantic and warm, but the director has never gave any special lighting to build the atmosphere, the basic tone of whole story are dark yellow light until Leon said the last sentence before the death”The Ring trick from Mathilda”. It suddenly raise all the emotional climax of whole film to the end. Although the film never deliberately trying to use a special lighting effect to deal with the mood of the entire film, but this seemingly dark and ordinary light which made Leon looks like a peanut happens shows his legendary in the work. Is such a trivial people,such a seemingly dull life but bring a strong feeling of moved to us. This is another side of “bad” guy, it also could be another side of peanuts. Meanwhile, it indeed has creates a unique part of all heroism type film but base on a cipher person. The existence of this film shows that heroism type film does not need to use special beauty lighting effect to creates the visual impact. To some extent, this sort of lighting way can really build the quality of the character like Leon. Which is ordinary but not mediocrity.

A popular technique in film lighting is to use a soft (diffuse) light source from the front and a stronger, more directional light from the back, so that your subject has a hot edge. The vast majority of works in the past usually use it to make a beauty, cool or heroism scene such as large backlit, cold and warm color contrast. Of course i will use all these techniques in my work. However, this is not the main effect of my concept. I would like to combine my style with the black part of life to represent my work. Because personally, life is not looks like the films in recent 20 years which always have a good ending. So i will put more emphasis on how to band the ugly side of life together with true life. In order to make the story have more authenticity to let audiences receives a more stronger visual sense of substitution. I would like to chose the way which have more sensibility of daily activities to illustrate my screen effects. Even though this kind of lighting might looks dull and dry, but if with a solid storyline as far as I'm concerned, it will re-creative a very mentally strong film work which have another visual effect feeling. Due to limit of time and conditions, I make the concept of “BaXiang” more simply and clearly in this semester of learning. Most of my works are trying to find a lifestyle to interprets the meaning of it. Skateboard is a very classic sport of these. It is really a trendy movement for young people, while skateboarding is the originator of the history of extreme sport. It already have been extended out of the skills, speed, athletic or other types of games which base on different function. But whatever which type they are, slipping, is the attitude they got. As far as I'm concern that the world of “BaXiang” people is not only skateboarding. Since it becomes to an attitude, it is suitable for all mankind, and skateboard is just one choice of them. In my opinion, the street culture is always a practice of contemporary art, whether it is street basketball, street football, hip-hop, rap etc. They all reflected in different levels of "BaXiang" attitude. It is worth to mention that there must be a lot of elite or folk master in these street culture of “BaXiang”. In other words, this attitude determines the life of this group of people must have had some funny witty story, and these stories will be the main aiming of my future MA study life. Meanwhile, street culture and new Cultural craftsman will be the biggest part of developing in my MA life.

How can i challenge existing assumptions? New culture craftsman is a good developing direction of mine. As a result of the demand of the consumer markets, the meaning of craftsmen has exceeds far away beyond the scope of our understanding. Craftsmanship is no longer a pronoun of tailor, watchmaker, sculptor. It can be a doctor of plastic surgery, interior designer, pastry division and so on. With the increasing pursuit of consumer, new cultural craftsmen are slowly becoming a professional trend. I will integrate the street culture and cultural differences between the East and the West to represent the significance of existed attitudes of “BaXiang” in my MA study life.

Key theory in my field (books and articles ) “what is cinema” is main book i had look during my course time. In order to build my work more close to cinema film, i found a very interesting point from Kracauer`s view: “Film has the power, at its best, to summon us back to reality, to remind us of what other media conspire to render invisible. Film, in Kracauer's words, has the power to effect a "redemption of physical reality." The Italian neo-realist tradition of films, for example, told stories informed by everyday life, about everyday people, and using non-actors on location -- they serve thereby to document their time and place, and to connect the dots between aspects of experience that are often not thought together. ” In this exciting classic, Kracauer not only developed a rich and detailed analysis of the nature of film and its relation to photography and other art forms, but he also develops an original and still relevant view of film's potential and relevance to our age. Kracauer is often recognized as one of the most articulate and influential (along with Andre Bazin) of realist film theorists. Realism in film theory argues that what is special and distinctive to film as an art medium is its capacity for capturing and presenting reality, even realities that can never be directly experienced in other ways. To the extent that realism is presented as a thesis about the sole feature of film that gives it artistic merit, it is a problematic view -- since one of the other distinctive capacities of film is to frame and interpret and shape the reality it depicts. What is most original and still worthwhile, though, in Kracauer's thought is his recognition that realism is a tendency of film and a latent possibility -- not all films are realistic and strict realism (e.g. a camera that follows someone around 24 hours a day) would be neither interesting nor artistic. Kracauer recognizes that the very best films are those that use all of the devices at the disposal of the cinematic art, but, he insists, when they do so in the service of the presentation of reality. Siegfried Kracauer's classic study, originally published in 1960, explores the distinctive qualities of the cinematic medium. The book takes its place alongside works in classical film theory by such figures as Béla Balázs, Rudolf Arnheim, and André Bazin, among others, and has met with much critical dispute. In this new edition, Miriam Bratu Hansen, examining the book in the context of Kracauer's extensive film criticism from the 1920s, provides a framework for appreciating the significance of Theory of Film for contemporary film theory. I am interested in the idea of “realism” in film, but whose realism should we look at? I want to show the real situation of the “bad boy”, not the view of the audience who judges them.

Context:

In British film, subculture is a common theme, but not showing the “bad boy” as good. Not empathising with the bad boy. Maybe the “bad” boy is not really bad, maybe the audience who judges them is too positive or subjective about their own situation,so that that`s why they “Bad”. Maybe here is the gap between them and us but not “bad”. According to i used to have studied graphic design and photography, so that i think i can complete the shooting process effectively. Although i do not have too much experience with film in my previous two undergraduate studies, but my photography course is enough to let me complete the basic shooting. At the same time, this two different arts course already give me some basic knowledge. But if I have to analyze myself from a theoretical point of view, i think i need to enhance on other film technology except lighting such as con-structure and color. But from the most important fundamental technical considerations, I think the biggest gap for me is how to transfer my 2D shooting skill to 3D area. In other words, how can i turn a static shot into a dynamic lens and how to make a movement have a better view to illustrates my concept is the two big challenge for me.

#Hope the guys who have any interesting with this BaXiang projectplease contact meas soon as you can.

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