Doctors around the nation are set to attack the Turnbull government in new television adverts that warn patients that GP appointments will no longer be free of charge as they vamp up their campaign against the PM’s six year Medicare rebate freeze.
The two advertisements set to launch on Sunday depict a young female avoiding seeking medical treatment because she is financially unable to see a doctor due to the Turnbull Government’s proposed changes to bulk billing.
These heavily supported advertisements call out the Government for its proposed changes, saying “in Australia your wealth should not affect your health,” adding that “the Federal Governments freeze on Medicare rebates means you’ll pay more to see a doctor.”
Doctors have already begun to rally against the Medicare freeze by plastering promotional posters within surgeries to campaign against the cuts, with others adopting other methods of action and publishing messages of protest on patients prescriptions.
Dr Frank Jones, president of RACGP says that to survive financially, doctors will have to cut bulk billing all together, as the freeze on average is said to cost doctors an additional $50,000 annually.
Two surveys that are currently circulating in regards to the proposed changes have already recorded that two thirds of doctors are planning to introduce new fees, including a $15 fee to see a doctor as a result of the freeze.
Dr Jones stressed that lower socio-economic areas would be at the biggest loss with the freeze because many GP practices would have to close as a result of the campaign. He said, “The message is clear GPs will not be able to bulk bill if the freeze continues and if you are sick you’ll pay more for being sick and no-one will be immune.”
The adverts were denied to be politically based, but will run alongside the Federal election until July 2 in an attempt for GP’s to inform their patients about the economic penalties of this proposed policy.
Sources
Sue Dunlevy “GPs launch attack on PM Malcolm Turnbull in ‘you’ll pay more to see a doctor’ TV ads” — News.com, May 29 2016
Emma Reynolds “Turnbull makes powerful enemy in GPs, as doctors rally patients to fight spiralling health costs” — News.com, May 13 2016
Radio and television stations in Pakistan have been advised to ditch methods of contraception advertising amid concerns that it exposes venerable children to the topic of sex.
The ban was issued after the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PERMA) received several complaints from concerned parents stating that the already socially conservative country should prohibit contraception adverts because it stimulated unnecessary curiosity in young children.
The statement released to the public regarding the issue read “the general public is very much concerned about the exposure of such products to innocent children who get inquisitive on the features and use of the products.”
Prohibiting the endorsement of contraception methods came as a surprise to many citizens and worldwide organisations, as Pakistan currently stands to be ranked sixth on the worlds most populous nation scale and already has a lower access to birth control than most countries.
The action still went ahead, despite Government initiatives set in place to increase Pakistan’s birth control rate. The Government’s annual report addressing the use of contraception said, “reduction in population growth is one of the top priorities of the Government of Pakistan to maintain balance between country’s resources and population.”
According to Government statistics, the already low use of contraception within Pakistan dropped by a further 7.2 percent last year, and is feared to drop even lower this year due to the new ban that limits the promotion of contraception.
The ban that was supported by parents is sparking other concern within the nation, with fears that the spread of sexually transmitted diseases including HIV/AIDS will continue to run widespread in the country that lost 2,800 lives last year alone to these types of infections.
The statement issued to the public read that media outlets found guilty of not complying with these new regulations will “face legal action under PERMA laws.”
The Olympic Games remain set to take place in Rio De Janeiro this August ahead of the Zika Virus threat after the World Health Organisation has dismissed concern to relocate or postpone the tournament, despite experts warning otherwise.
In wake of the Zika threat, 150 experts including a former White House science advisor rallied together to produce a signed and open letter to WHO, addressing their mutual concern that the incurable virus could manifest and therefore spread more rapidly in the Brazilian city as an influx of foreign visitors arrive.
Despite their distress, a spokesperson from the UN health body urged that the spread of the Zika Virus would not be prevented by moving or postponing the games in Rio, even after the country recently recorded to have high cases of the mosquito-borne disease.
According to a WHO statement, “Brazil is one of almost 60 countries and territories which to date report continuing transmission of Zika by mosquitoes. People continue to travel between these countries and territories for a variety of reasons. The best way to reduce risk of disease is to follow public health travel advice.” The statement also assured the public that the situation would continue to be monitored and that updates and necessary advice would be issued if circumstances were to change.
In light of the letter to WHO, the main concern of Bournemouth University’s reproductive health professor Edwin Van Teijlingen, who was one of the 150 academics involved, was that countries with poorer health systems would be able to facilitate in spreading the virus as people returned homed from Rio.
Despite having alarm about the letter itself, Van Teijlingen admitted that the main purpose of gaining a high number of supporting academic signatures was not in fact to get the games moved or postponed, but rather to raise awareness of the threat to the public health system that the Zika Virus currently poses.
As Brazil currently stands to be the second most affected city by the Zika Virus, the letter argued that it would be “unethical” and “irresponsible” to otherwise press on with the Rio games, as Australian experts believe that it positions an unimaginable risk.
Even with such heavy concern surrounding the virus and the Olympic event, former Olympic pentathlete Heather Fell told the BBC’s Today program that it was very common in her time for athletes to disregard medical advice from their doctors because of the passion, hard work and training that goes into Olympic level competing.
The British star added that for anyone to decide not to travel to Brazil because of the importance placed on the games, a “world-changing” event would have to happen, and the Zika Virus is currently not that to hard working competitors.
In 2007, American talk show host Oprah Winfrey set out on a journey of celebrity activism. With bright eyes and good intentions she founded The Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls South Africa, in a hope of giving disadvantaged but academically gifted girls a real chance at a quality education and the possibility of being future world leaders.
With a lavish boarding school equipped with high thread count sheets, 2 movie theatres, yoga classrooms, a beauty salon and an endless amount of educational opportunity, the influential and high profile status of Winfrey and all that she was able to offer the girls who were accepted to study at the facility gave the families of these students a real hope for their children. However, as the days grew into months, The Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy was depicted as everything but smiling faces, as it was plagued with scandal after scandal.
The nature of Oprah Winfrey’s activism has emphasised how good intentions on one end are often not reciprocated on the other end after a series of controversial events occurred at the school.
These included:
– a school matron being charged with the sexual and physical abuse of multiple female students aged 13+
– the sexual misconduct and bullying from peers onto other peers
– the discovery of a deceased newborn baby in the backpack of a 17 year old students school bag (Hughes, D 2011).
Winfrey was right, there was much to be learned. Her involvement in the academy has been widely problematic. This is not because of her intentions, but the way she connected herself to the school. Winfrey’s activism is just one of many that exemplifies that charity can not be simply sticking your name on something and reaping the benefits, as its far more complex than that. In this circumstance, Winfrey sat stationed in the US while her name sat embedded on the Academy walls in South Africa. If she was wholly and solely dedicated to the school instead of having a brief overlook every now and again, the tragic events that played out while she was absent could have absolutely been prevented.
In the end, the students and their families were the ones at an unfortunate loss when the academy came crashing down, as an opportunity that radiated so much potential, a fruitful pathway to a successful future, eventuated in a great deal of irreversible harm being inflicted upon these innocent girls.
What is upsetting and highly problematic in these instances is that a celebrity has the means and measures available to them to pick themselves up and dust themselves off when activism takes a turn for the worst, but the individuals who deserve their charity don’t. They are the people that lose, the ones who are gravely affected by a high profile stars attempt to ‘do good’ and ‘change lives.’
Dahunsi, L 2015, 2015/2016 Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls: Call for applications, image, Opportunities for Africans, viewed 25th August 2015,
The Oprah Winfrey Academy for Girls South Africa, 2015, About us, The Oprah Winfrey Academy for Girls South Africa, viewed 25th August 2015, http://owla.co.za/
Feminism can be loosely defined as a multi-disciplinary approach to sex and gender equality understood through social theories and political activism. Since feminist movements first came to light, women have been actively fighting for equal rights within society as they are determined to be considered to be far more than just a housewife (Frew, C 2015). While the various waves of feminism have provided females with a higher sense of worth, the concept of equality still remains heavily clouded, as women are still treated as lesser value then men and are continuously ridiculed and discriminated against within the current state of third wave feminism.
The way women’s bodies are contextualised and represented within mainstream media is a prime example of how little has changed and how long the road to equality still is for women. Take the recent celebrity phone hacking scandal ‘The Fappening’ for example, which came to air during August-September last year and victimised over 100 female celebrities by leaking their intimate and private photographs.
The three waves of leaks involved high profile stars including Jennifer Lawrence, Kate Upton, Vanessa Hudgens and Mary-Elizabeth Winstead. What is interesting to note in this instance is that there was little sympathy shown towards these women as they were immediately placed into the firing line and torn to shreds by media networks and the general public for sharing intimate photos with their partners at the time.
The Hunger Games actress Jennifer Lawrence refused to be brought down by those intending to shame her and released a statement not long after the leak stating, “It is not a scandal, it is a sex crime. It’s a sexual violation, it’s disgusting” (Gnder, K 2015). Lawrence added that it was a struggle for her to break her silence during the difficult time, saying,“every single thing that I tried to write made me cry or get angry. I started to write an apology, but I don’t have anything to say I’m sorry for. I was in a loving, healthy, great relationship for four years. It was long-distance, and either your boyfriend is going to look at porn or he’s going to look at you” (Gander, K 2015).
Fellow actress Mary-Elizabeth Winstead also responded to the violation of her privacy by taking to Twitter to say…(Fallon, K 2014).
This case perfectly depicts the complete imbalance of equality there is among the sexes. In these kinds of scenarios women are heavily degraded and scrutinised as their conscious decision to share a private and consensual photo with their lover is somehow used to measure their sense of self worth. The public and the media chose to blame these women and question their judgement through insults including “if you didn’t want anyone to see it why would you take it” rather than looking at the bigger picture and blaming the sick and dehumanised individuals that get a rush from broadcasting these private moments for all of the world to see. When a man is placed in this kind of scenario the outcome is completely different, and instead of being ridiculed down to the bone about why they took such a photo and how their body appears in it like a female is, a male is swooned over. He becomes an icon, someone who is respected for his nudity and praised for his body.
Women face a violent and unfair wrath from the contextualisation of their bodies. These instances are a complete and utter representation of how women have in the past, and currently are falling short of men when it comes to equality. Despite countless efforts to reverse this vicious cycle through numerous movements, the face of feminism has not changed.
For quite some time it has been apparent that Western Culture is obsessed with the art and style of black culture. From long braids, cornrows and gold chains, to grills, baggy jeans and hip hop music. Society is everyday so evidently appropriating the elements of this under privileged ethnicity and taking it for themselves in a bid to remain updated and in the loop with all the latest and greatest current trends. While this form of cultural appropriation doesn’t pose any recognisable risk to privileged westerners, it does however, inflict a great deal of pain and suffering upon the oppressed culture that has had to live with these cultural elements in the periods where they weren’t ‘popular’ or ‘trendy’.
Recently 18-year-old reality tv star Kylie Jenner came under fire for cultural appropriation when she posted numerous photos of herself on her social media accounts with her hair in cornrows, captioning the act “I woke up like dissss”. This caused an uproar among her followers and a great deal of controversy because this particular hairstyle is typically associated with black culture and is not merely stylistic, as it is frequently used within the ethnicity in order to keep black hair neat and unknotted (Cochrane, L 2015).
Some suggested that Jenner’s caption was insensitive to black women, as a person in her position will never be able to fathom the struggles these under privileged women faced when they wore the hairstyle. American actress Amandla Stenberg believed that it was a total disregard to black culture, and made a fair point when she hit back at Jenner saying “when you appropriate black features and culture but fail to use your position of power to help black Americans by directing attention to your wigs instead of police brutality and racism #whitegirlsdoitbetter” (Workneh L, 2015).
While many of Jenner’s loyal followers came to her defence, and others commented that she is a child that was causing no harm and just wearing her hair a certain way, there is absolutely no question that there was racial disregard in this instance. This is a perfect example of how little black culture means to many westerners, as it represents how when society appropriates elements of a certain background, they simply use the feature for its attention as a fashion trend without actually appreciating the value or meaning behind it.
Female rapper Azealia Banks raised an interesting point of view similar to Stenberg in the above tweet directed at Australia rapper Iggy Azalea (Syed, H 2014). It seems that everyone appropriating black culture is too consumed in how they look adapting those features and elements to their lifestyles that they forget that the culture has underlining issues that need to be addressed. Kylie Jenner and Iggy Azalea are all to willing to preach their love for black culture on stage and within social media, but when innocent black lives are being taken, neither of them want to stand up for the human rights and respect that culture deserves.
As Westerns we are lucky – lucky beyond measure. We will never experience, nor will we be able to relate to the struggles black culture has been plagued with. This is not to say that no westerner can associate with the unique elements and features that black culture has provided the wider world with, but rather to ensure that your head and your heart is in the right place when you do so. #Blacklivesmatter, and by taking these things and appropriating them for yourself and your own privilege, your ultimately proving that they don’t.
In recent years, the rise of the wellness warrior have become increasingly widespread within society. The term itself generally refers to “ammeter bloggers and food personalities who advocate extreme diets in order to achieve what they consider to be perfect health” (Frew, C 2015). Despite these new kinds of lifestyles becoming increasingly popular and continuing to grow in size, there is undeniably a large amount of negative connotations associated with the way these wellness warriors attract their loyal followers, and this is where it becomes problematic.
Belle Gibson is one of many who has actively advocated healthy eating and natural therapies to her fan base. While this in many instances would be assumed to be perfectly fine, in her case it is not, as Gibson was not just expressing the benefits of active and healthy living, she was ultimately encouraging (whether she was aware of it or not) individuals suffering with cancer to follow her diet and natural remedies in order to cure their diagnosis, as it supposedly did her brain tumour (News.com.au, 2015).
After four successful years in the spotlight where she was hailed and praised with numerous awards as her application The Whole Pantry shot her to fame, Gibson fell from glory when her untruths exposed she never suffered from cancer herself, and had in fact convinced not only her friends and family, but the whole of Australia that she did (Berry, S 2015).
Wellness warriors alike Belle Gibson are not only making waves within the public eye, but also within the medical profession. Dr Ginni Mansberg believes that “patients are tuning out the advice from doctors and tuning into the Internet” where these warriors and Paleo celebrities are displacing science and encouraging extreme ways of living on an impressionable platform (Mansberg, G 2015).
This does emphasise how it becomes widely problematic when the influence of these healthy living advocates becomes so extreme that people rely on their guidance instead of seeking professional assistance. This was one of the biggest causes for concern in Belle Gibson’s case, as she withheld the truth from a large base of followers who trusted her, and played on the vulnerabilities of terminally ill individuals searching for a cure. She gave those suffering from cancer a hope that if they proceeded to follow her way of life, that they may successfully fight of the disease and regain their health in the way she did.
The way Belle Gibson conducted herself and the work she did was completely immoral, however, it is just as important to note that the media wasn’t much better in this instance. For years no reporter ever questioned the way Gibson radiated health for someone who was supposedly very ill, and they continued to be a megaphone for the work she was doing. Then she was a hero, a brave and fearless woman, now she is depicted as a manipulator and a pathological liar.
We are an impressionable society that hangs onto new trends and fads, with dieting and health always being a sensitive topic that people endlessly want to change. This is why it is so important that the media stop giving leverage to these proclaimed wellness warriors and bringing them into our lives when they really don’t know the first thing about them. How successful would Belle Gibson have been if she weren’t constantly placed in front of our televisions, magazines and social media sites by the media networks that are now tearing her apart?
As a child, the clearest memories of movie nights with my siblings and friends always involved Disney. From 3+ I use to dress up and waltz around my house imitating the character I was infatuated with at the time. One day I would want to be Tinkerbell from Peter Pan, and the next I would be dressed as Cinderella and driving my parents crazy with my princess like antics. My mother use to refer to me as a sponge, because every little word or idea you would throw at me I would absorb, and Disney was no exception. It wasn’t until I became older and stepped away from this playful game that Disney’s innocence was stripped away and the dark side of this multi billion dollar company with unmasked. Sadly, what I am confronted with when looking at these movies today is a collection of poorly stereotyped racial paradigms that depict and degrade certain cultural backgrounds.
Take The Lion King for instance, a global phenomenon that had a production budget of $45 million and an estimated domestic total gross of $312,855,561. This animated feature film was, and still currently is, a major success with children, as it closely follows the adventures of a young and curious lion cub that is the heir to his fathers thrown. Alike various Disney films, the plot follows the ‘good’ vs ‘evil’ scenario where the ‘good’ animals that everyone loves always triumph over the baddies that everyone despises. However, what is particularly interesting in this film and raises a major cause for concern is the racial stereotypes that these ‘evil’ characters illustrate.
The three hyena villiansThe three hyena’s, Shenzi (Whoopi Golberg), Banzai (Cheech Marin) and Ed (Jim Cummings) pictured above are represented as the evil, malicious, unintelligent, sloppy and less superior characters within the film. They live together in the Elephant Graveyard, which has been referred to by public discourses as the equivalent of the ghetto because of its ‘lower-class’ status. This is a very intriguing environment for these animal’s to be captivated in, considering that each hyena is voiced by either an african/american or latino decent actor or actress. Throughout the film, there is also a distinct representation of racial segregation, as the less superior hyena’s who binge on scarce scraps are never aloud to enter The Pride Lands, where ‘white’ animals live a pleasant lifestyle free of hunger.
The Elephant Graveyard – home to the hyena’sThe Pride Lands – home to the ‘good’ animalsThis is a prime example of the negative racial paradigms that Disney is manipulating upon innocent minds. Children engaging in these kinds of films are more or less being exposed to thinking that different ethnicities are suppose to be treated a certain way, and that one race is more superior to an another, which is far from the truth.
2.49 – 4.40
Living in a multicultural society today, I strongly feel that it is absolutely vital for children to understand the concept of cultural diversity. As a child, I admired the characters I watched on screen and at that young age, I guess I even aspired to be like them. Taking a step back and analysing the representations in these films, I’ve found that it is more important than ever before that companies endorse positive and realistic illustrations of the wide range of cultures we are lucky enough to be surrounded with. Imagine being a young child and experiencing racial torment or segregation based on the way these films analyse your culture. I don’t know about you but I find that to be completely unsettling.
I think it’s important that we remember – children do have minds like sponges, and they will absorb exactly what you share with them, so make it the right message.
a m e d i a wonder 