Ever heard of Parabens? Well for those who haven't, parabens are dangerous chemicals that come from alkyl of esters family. They consist of all these chemical substitutions. Parabens are used in cosmetics to contain their long lasting freshness. They have some antibacterial and antifungal properties that help with the preservation. Now you might be thinking, 'they don't sound that bad... they're antibacterial!' Having antibacterial properties doesn't necessarily mean they are good for your skin. They fight off the bacteria trying to get into the cosmetics but they're protecting our body tissues. A lot of research has been and is still being done on parabens to create some evidence to ban them from being put in cosmetics. One of the many studies conducted showed that 18 out of 20 breast cancer patients had traces of parabens in the tumours. Researchers are thinking parabens enter the skin while deoderates and antiperispants are being applied. What is predicted as happening is that the parabens go into the human skin and remain intact with the tissue. The tissue then reproduces damaged cells. This doesn't really prove anything, some people would say. This could be a bias study which is why more research is being conducted to create an unbias research to prove wheather or not parabens are related to cancer. Parabens have also had some results where they mimic some of the body's own hormones which can disturp some of the body's systems. Another noticed trend is that the alkyl of esters family group has created some allergy reactions but in rare situations. It is not a huge issue for it to be a huge concern. The food and drug administration (FDA)  can't adjust the ingredients used by companies in cosmetics. They can, however, create and publish lists with all  the harmful additives used by manufacturers to create make-up. This way, it can make the manufacturers rethink and change the dangerous ingredients. Some manufacturers think parabens are neccessary in all cosmetics but in fact, parabens can be replaces with organic materials. It can be replaced by things like organic herbs and organic grain alcohol. It has been tested that they can have a shelf-life of about 2-3 years. These aren't the only replacements for parabens. There are tons of other organic materials to replace the dangerous and harmful materials that do us no good in the future. Some people have already took the step of removing these toxic materials on Women's Voices for the Earth, the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, and so many other groups. At the end, it is your choice if you want to make a difference in your life and many others' lives in the future.

As I mentioned in my last blog, TVs in Fiji changed over a century's heritage just because the teens are influenced by celebrities. The same thing is happening in the western world too. Technology has made tracking down celebrities a lot easier through their facebook and twitter pages. Just by checking any celebrity's twitter page could tell where they went, what they are wearing and where they bought it from. Since the teens already want to copy their idols, they want to dress the same. They are still looking for an identity. They want to satisfy their hierarchy of needs to get a higher self-esteem and to be happy. Most teens want the freedom of an adult but not the responsibilities of one. This is why they idolize celebrities that are a few years older than them because it makes them think a couple of years ahead which will satisfy their needs. The problem is that these celebrities are mostly negative influences on those teens. For instance, stars like Miley Cyrus, Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan were caught smoking marijuana, and they went to jail for drinking and doing drugs. Since celebrities did that, it makes teens think it is alright to do that too. They get used to seeing these things because their idols do them all the time. This plants this idea in the teens heads that makes them think they can become famous or popular for being a bad girl or a teen mom or being drunk all the time. A show like Jersey Shore sets bad examples for teens especially pre-teens. It makes them think going out with all these guys at the same time is the standard of being 'cool'. It makes them think its the status quo. Now I don't want to be bias. Some celebrities are good role models for doing charity work and such thing. These are the celebrities that should be idolized. But how will these teens idolize these celebrities if the status quo is set as being a bad girl will get you to the top?

Fiji, the country with the amazing heritage that lasted for over a century had changed from 1995. Television entered Fiji in 1995. Coincidence? I don't think so. After doing some research, I found that Fiji was hugely impacted by TV and the Western images set by developed countries. Even though  Fiji only has 1 TV station which broadcasts from the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand, there has been a huge increase of eating disorders, anorexia and bulimia cases from 1995 till about 1998. The research conducted by Harvard University just 38 months after TV was introduced to Fiji showed that 74% of teen girls felt fat and 15% of them vomited to control their weight. Statistically, these are sad results. Comparing that no one dieted 10 years ago in Fiji, this is a drastic change. In 1999, more people were dieting in Fiji than people in Massachusetts, US were dieting. In an interview for BBC News, Miss Fiji, Ranadi Johnston said, "Slim women are tradionally seen as weak." She also stated that people were telling her to put on some weight. According to Fijian tradition, both girls and boys were supposed to be well-muscled and in good shape. Not only have the teens tried to diet but their attitude has changed a lot. The teen pregnancy rate has gone up too. In my opinion, teens in Fiji think that what the TV portrays as the teens in the Western world is the norm but it's all lies. These teens look up to the actors and actresses and they are hugely impacted by their weight and what they do. They want to be like these actresses or these people in a dieting commercial. This gets into another point about all those fake dieting pills and body building medications that promise these results that you never get to. These actors and actresses that promote all these pills are of course being paid to do so. An actor who gets paid $50 million a year won't go and by dieting pills for $100 a month. They could just get their own personal trainers. The teens in Fiji don't know that. They think if this actor lost all this weight without any dieting doctor or personal trainers help, than I can. They than start starving themselves and doing these extreme diets that won't neccessarily work. Why don't we put normal people on tv to make others feel better about how they look? This is just one of the many negative effects of mass media. How do we change them? Is there a way to reset the status quo of extremely slim people in average looking people?

Welcome...

Welcome to my blog! Here, I'll be doing some research and talking about some of the many negative effects mass media has on our society. A lot of people are influenced by mass media and they want to 'fit in' to what is being set as the status quo by media. The media is of course making money by making all these people feel bad about themselves and making them feel self-conscious about their weight or how they look in general.