IS MAKE UP FALSE ADVERTISING?

Many people have their own opinion about the value of wearing make-up. One of the big debates about it is whether painting your face is “false advertising” or simply your right to enhance your looks.

False advertising is when a product is advertised as being something that it is not – it is a form of lying. In terms of make-up, a person wearing it may be accused of pretending to look like someone they’re naturally not.

As I found out in my research, this is a source of on-going debate.  Those in support of wearing make-up pointed out its value in bringing out the best of you. Nkazimulo Nkala said, "No I don’t think it’s false advertising because it just enhances the beauty that is already there."

Thando Dlalisa agreed, saying: "It’s fine because it enhances your better features." One man I interviewed also had not problems with make-up. Sifiso Jimta said, "No it doesn't make somebody a fake. If you’re comfortable wearing make-up, then that's okay with me.” Several voices spoke out against make up.

Stephen Molobi had a strong opinion: "Yes, wearing make-up is definitely false advertising because what you see is not real. Many men go through meeting a woman and then after some time they see what she really looks like without make up – and it can be a horror story!"

Lehlohonolo Mbatha was equally adamant. "Although make up enhances the beauty that is already there, I would still like to see how a woman looks like naturally."  Personally, I’m a great lover of make-up, and always associate it with beauty.

From the time I was a little girl, I thought, "If I wear a little bit of mascara or lip gloss, it will make me look pretty." The conversation I think we should be having is somewhere in between those who see value in wearing make-up and those who think it’s just false advertising. We should be teaching young girls that they are beautiful just the way they are, and that make up is just to enhance the beauty they already have.

By  Nomazwi Majola

INTERNATIONAL ALBINISM DAY

People with albinism go through a lot of discrimination worldwide. Albinism is still profoundly misunderstood, socially and medically. 

The physical appearance of persons with albinism is often the object of erroneous beliefs and myths influenced by superstition, which foster their marginalization and social exclusion. This leads to various forms of stigma and discrimination.

In some communities, erroneous beliefs and myths, heavily influenced by superstition, put the security and lives of persons with albinism at constant risk. These beliefs and myths are centuries old and are present in cultural attitudes and practices around the world.

Some take the extent of killing them and make “umuthi” because they believe that their body parts have great value. Even though people are constantly educated and made aware that albinos are just like everyone else, they still continue killing and kidnapping them for their own need.

Albinism is an inherited condition where a person is unable to produce normal colouring of the skin, hair and eyes (lack of pigments) the condition can be limited to the eye or involve the eye and the skin. They are the same as everyone else. People should stop discriminating and making them feel unsafe. 

https://youtu.be/zgv_nsSVjPs

Make a Difference

We are all gifted with a unique set of skills and abilities. With those abilities we can make extra-ordinary things happen in the world around us, or not. It is completely up to you whether you want your life to make a difference and what difference you want your life to make. 

Many people set lofty goals for their lives and want to be remembered as visionaries, they want to change and save the world. Others want to be remembered as the kind man or women down the street who always helped and always listened if you needed help.

Changing the life of another person is an incredible feeling and it is completely within your grasp. You can do this by deciding to become a mentor for a young ambitious person. You can help them avoid the mistakes you have made and help them learn from the ones they will inevitably make themselves.

You will often see someone get treated unfairly. It happens both professionally and socially, individuals who deserve recognition do not get it.By taking up the fight and making sure others get what they deserve and earned you will be a true hero. You will make a lasting impact on their lives and you will be rewarded with love and help in the future when you are in need.

The law of karma says that whatever you do you will get back three fold, helping others is therefore a selfish act, but still a good act, one that you should do without fear, with love and with the knowledge that you will one day be rewarded.

Compromise is the enemy of long term commitment, if you have committed to helping someone by being their mentor or by fighting for their rights, doesn't stop half way. Go the distance and see it through. Make sure something happens so all your work doesn't end up as only talk.

In truth we might all be here to help each other, we might all be a part of a machine that fosters cooperation, or were not. We might just be here to make the best of the situation for ourselves.

In any case, helping others brings happiness and prosperity into your own life, so for whatever reason you chose to help others, it will always help you in return.

The difference between stopping half way and finishing isn't much in terms of the work you put in, but worlds apart in the difference for the individual you are helping.

The art of media lives in her

                              

Host of The game changer, Tshepiso Mabulana also known as Tshepi was born in Tembisa. She went to Norkem Primary and High school for a year then moved to Durban and went to an all-girls high school in Pinetown girls where she matriculated. She the furthered her studies and went to UKZN Howard campus where she studied Media and cultural studies and performance studies.

“I’ve always wanted to be an actress, I am an actress at heart.” said Tshepi. A set out of her journey began when she was completing her last major in varsity. She tried to go for auditions at Gagasi FM in Durban. She also sent applications at the SABC every year and sent through at YFM. 

“Female dj’s who hold their own shows drive to kill it In this game, your Anele Mdodas, your Thando Thabethes, your Redi’s these ladies are killing it in the game you cannot help but be driven by that kind of talent.” Tshepi shares her lists of inspirations.

Tshepi’s father gravitated to the idea of her daughter being in the media industry. He was open-minded about it and did not question her. When she started at YFM she was only getting paid R2400 and was not paid for the first month when she started working on lunch time but this did not discourage her.

Hosting her annual slumber party with 10 underprivileged young ladies every year is one of her achievement. For her to able to host this successfully every year is a massive deal with the backing of massive brands behind her.  Apart from being at Yfm, she does voice over work for different brands and has a brand activation company that she wants to launch

She is working into getting into TV and might be on our screens very soon.  

She’s also planning her slumber party coming up in October and she just hosted a whiskey night. She also is working on something with Delush wines. She’s a brand ambassador and will be looking for another brand ambassador for Delush wines.

Not only is she multimedia talentecd, Tshepi wants to try out corporate, TV and Radio and the same time. “In the next years I will have a successful promotions company because I’m so passionate about brand marketing” said Tshepi.

“Being happy, content and having the ability and strength to help others grow to become a better version of themselves.” That’s how she defines success.

For those who want to be in the media industry, Tshepi advices them to be ready for the challenges, late nights, really early mornings. Be ready to be broke, be ready for the twitter trolls, be ready to sleep on the couch at your work place, be ready for the tears. But if you really love this career, all this is part of the journey and part of a greater plan. Be patient everything will happen in good time! Have your eye on the game.

How easy access to pornography affects the minds of today's generation

                                    

In the old days, hardcore pornography was difficult for teens to obtain. Today, with a few clicks, millions of photos and videos are available for free to anyone. This change has triggered great agony among social conservatives, who wring their hands that the current generation of teens is coming of age in a world awash in X-rated imagery that's sweeping them down a sewer of filth.

     When Dr Nsibande compares the early 1990s and          today, rates of teen intercourse and sexual assault have  declined considerably, while teen condom use has increased. These changes don't prove that porn causes no social harm, but they show that social conservatives are mistaken when they argue that exposure to porn causes rape and teen sexual irresponsibility. That's simply not the case.

But broad social indices don't get inside young people's heads and tell us what teens think of pornography. That's why I was delighted to read a recent study in the Journal of Sex Research that explored how 73 middle-class teens, age 14 to 20, actually felt about pornography. I find the results reassuring. The researchers conclude: "Most participants had acquired the skills to navigate the pornographic landscape in a sensible manner. 

Most had the ability to distinguish between pornographic fantasies on the one hand, and real sexual interactions and relationships on the other. "Previous studies have shown that 92 percent of teens admit having viewed Internet porn. Girls often stumble on it accidentally. Boys are much more likely to seek it out. No surprise there.

Boys generally enjoy porn as pure sexual entertainment. They also consider it a source of sex education. As one boy remarked, porn teaches "other ways to have sex."

Most girls embraced what the researchers called "the love ideology," the idea that love legitimates sex. Girls' disapproved of porn because it represents sex without emotional involvement, without love. Girls said they might be open to viewing porn, but only with a boy they loved.

In the study, both boys and girls understood that porn indulges men's sexual fantasies, that the men in porn have only one thing on their minds, and that the women are there solely to satisfy the men's needs-even when their own needs are ignored. Boys accepted this more or less uncritically, but girls disapproved of porn's lack of interest in women's sexual pleasure.

Girls also admitted that they compared their own bodies to those of the women in porn. They expressed insecurity about their bodies, and worried that boys would find them not sexy enough to be adequate sex partners.

Boys expressed some surprise about this-and with good reason. Today, there's porn involving every female body type: thin, plump, fat, small breasts, big breasts, natural breasts, surgically augmented breasts, natural pubic hair, trimmed hair, partly shaved, and fully shaved.

Both girls and boys understood that porn is like the chase scenes in action movies-exciting to watch, but not the way to drive. Far from being carried away by porn, the teens in this study viewed it critically and had successfully integrated it into healthy emotional lives.

Lofgren-Martenson, L. and S. S.A. Mansson. "Lust, Love, and Life: A Qualitative Study of Swedish Adolescents' Perceptions and Experiences with Pornography," Journal of Sex Research (2010) 47:568.