most of all our ways we can make a difference by choosing reforestation over deforestation recycling over disposable martin solutions overseas. that, in our ways is truly unique. and we know that that uniqueness is one allows us to live and survive. why dia, the environmental global 3000 on dw, and me did up the news a shot today on the program. why eating disorders are becoming increasingly common in china? many young women are risking their health in pursuit of unrealistic body image goals. what, what's the pursuit? and what can be done to stop it plus life has ever been easy for transgender women in administered. we how some are now facing new and unexpected hardships as the

region take measures to keep it in check. the news. i'm managing. welcome to the the new news asia. glad you could join us. pressure to conform to conventional ideas about beauty is having dangerous consequences in china, particularly among women, if leading to increasing cases of eating disorders like anorexia and bulimia. a study from 2019 estimated more than 1500000 chinese was suffering from an eating disorder. i'll be talking to someone who's experienced this 1st hand in a moment. but 1st, this report, the junction one knows how to love and take care of her own body today. but she

learned the hard way. the 23 year old still has stupid memories of the severe eating disorder that almost killed her. so that time i was around 20 kilograms. it was short, not long before i was hospitalized. this was when i was being hospitalized. junk says herself esteem was low affected by extreme beauty standards shared on the internet. like this one, women comparing their wastes to the width of an a full size paper. such challenges are common on chinese social media. they once convinced john that skinny, this will bring happiness, which only turned into a nightmare. i couldn't walk by myself. my feet didn't have any string holes. my body couldn't function very well, and i couldn't even see very clearly my hair was very fluffy and i hopefully had any left. i knew that i was seriously, i'm, well,

i didn't go to the doctor. now recovered. show help organized this exhibition against body shaming. phenomenal experts say has skyrocketed in recent years. this door plastered with abusive messages represent the pain and struggle. many participants used to have parents and this self marriage ceremony. a pledge to cherish themselves for the rest of their lives. the g. o. every single one in the room. or is it a drill? i had, i was an ugly girl since i was a kid. and thought of people and we like in girls. so comfortable what was in the

process of my recovery, i feel a healthy skin tone, 30 body and a strong heart of the most important things. and this will help played out of all this is what john keeps reminding herself every day. that confidence is what makes one beautiful. so i mean from hong kong is stephanie and found an executive director of body banter, hong kong based nonprofit, the chairs, resources, and information on body image and mental health. stephanie, welcome this pursuit of the ideal body shape of any specific cultural factors in china, for instance, that are driving it. thank you for having me today. and i can speak a little bit about how there might be some cultural pressures based on my own experience. and also in my research that i've learned about. and i think that something that's really prominent is that there is, there is

a lake between the body, the way that it looks and morality. so, the way that we fundamentally are, and so as a lot of us are familiar with, there tend to be a belief that an individual who are a smaller bodies are more disciplined or more successful. and individuals and larger bodies are seen as left disciplined or more lazy. and this link seems to be more pronounced in chinese cultural settings that make between physical appearance and morality. in the sense that this association is really fed to us from a really early age and it constantly reiterated in our daily life. and something important to note about this link is also that it's really reiterated and reinforced in neil time setting, particularly because neil time stuttering things are such crucial sights of interpersonal connection in chinese context. so for example, a common idiom that to you in tiny culture is that if you don't finish your bowl of

rice, you're going to marry someone who had pimples all over their face. and so it is through this kind of cultural belief that makes life outcomes with eating behavior that creates such a complex linkage between how we eat, how we look, who if on demand we are an adult, you do these linkages extend to other areas of daily life as well, for example, in school or, or in your peer group for instance. yeah. so it seems that for, especially in fact, familial setting, it is pronounced because these are the places where you have this intergenerational passing on of knowledge. but it definitely can extend to school settings as well because these are, this is common knowledge, common cultural knowledge that can be prevail, pervasive in all social setting. so if every child hasn't said this kind of beliefs and everyone in the peer group will reinforce it as well. so yes,

i would say that it pervasive throughout different social groups. stephanie, how much of a link is there with social media, for instance? and the idea version of beauty that we see in our times, or is it just a case of the traditional linkages that you were referring to right now? yeah, this is a question that i've thought a lot about to, which is that how much of it is social media and how much of it is to do with cultural beliefs or belief that we've been taught by our family. and i think that there is no, there is no one answer to this because with eating disorders and with all mental illness, all mental illness, it's a confluence, a factor that comes from it depends on the person's individual temperament as well . so if this person is very engaged, that engages with social media a lot and takes these messages to hearts. then social media messaging may be more prominent as a risk factor for them. ready but if a person is more,

feel more accountable to say their family, families expectations or, or other kinds of expectations that they receive. and then they would be influenced by those factors warm. and you know, in some cases, and in many cases actually, both of these things will come together and reinforce each other to create a very complex, intricate kind of pressure. and stephanie, are these struggles unique to just women, or do men go through these as well? eating disorders don't discriminate, the effect, anyone of any of any demographic traits. so any gender, any socio demographic and stuff, socio economic status any and, and, and any background and any background. so there's definitely no specific group that it is exclusively impacted by eating. ready disorders, but there is obviously a different set of manifestations that affect each group. so for example,

with women, there may be a greater obsession with, than ideal with men. it may be manifested in the form of ob, experiencing a session with a muscular ideal for so it manifest really. but everyone can experience and order use you spoke about your own experiences with eating disorders. and i wonder if that can help inform other people about the warning signs to watch out for what is it that people can watch out for to a lot themselves to what's happening with themselves or with others. absolutely, that's a great question. with warning signs, i think that there are a bunch of different symptoms that can, can manifest. but i think something that very important is that linkage between morality and eating behaviors. so a big warning sign is when the person starts to say things like, you know, if i don't eat a certain way that i'm a bad person or the person expresses this kind of belief. because when that happens,

they can start to engage in disordered eating behavior. like good meals, like, you know, benjamin purging, these kinds of behavior become integrated into the person that's identity and then start becoming a pervasive pattern of behavior that becomes a deep part of how they behave and how they come to see themselves. so that is kind of a warning sign when you start to see the attachment and the personal attach it to the stephanie and we'll have to leave it there for that. i mean, but thank you so much for joining us today. but though very insightful views on this, thank you very much for having me. the life for the transgender community in indian control kush meter has never been easy . despite their work as matchmakers and wedding entertain as they faced a lot of facility and discrimination. but off late, their situation has become even worse as loc towns in the region prevent them from

going about their business, leaving some facing destitution. sub number me is that transgender woman living in india administered, gosh me. she was lead a members. the bees when she would dance at weddings, for now she mostly stays at home. the disruptions caused by a corona virus restrictions and the log down by indian authorities after daily walks that agents autonomy in 2019 have taken that all you do. our work has suffered a lot even before the locked downs. our earnings were meager. now they have dried up the community not only faces discrimination and hostility from the society. their self expression is also a boost object in the muslim majority region. we're just as a touch gender in the place we live in. we cannot opt for 60 per piece. and our

holy book also doesn't allow that. hey josh, and my son, he writes, actually is for the l g b t. community english means he says, mental health issues are prevalent in the community. they're not able to reconcile between religion and their sexuality. or for that matter, the agenda identity as well, and then starts the abuse. and if you will start from the families on, on lee, and this is all, you know, it's, it's the word battle, it's physical. it is sexual as well. in a month we would receive just one case of, you know, mental health issue from the community. now we are receiving a lot of cases dead out about 4000 members in the community. and few have received government aid by chubb numb lives in the hope that'll work as a dancer. and the matchmaker will resume once again. i could never make, but i work with dignity when i bring to families to get to doing matchmaking. i

hope it continues. after the government began eating logged down restrictions in gush meat over the weekend, that may have come a step closer. and that's it for today. and this week there's other news and analysis from the region on our website. these dot com forward slash a show. and you can of course give the latest updates in our facebook and twitter profiles as well. rebecca again, on monday at the same time we will see you then by the the ah, understand that and in the end, if you are not allowed to see you anymore, we will send you back. are you familiar with these? with lions. what's your story?

wasn't i was women, especially a victims of vine and take part and send us your story chain. always understand this new culture. so you are not a visitor, not against you. want to become a citizen into migrants, your platform for reliable information. i the the the new aesthetic form of exuberant hope and self confidence. it's much more than a passing trend and it's leaving its mark on artistic expression from film to fashion, from literature, to music. welcome to arts and culture. this edition is

dedicated to africa futurism. the term was coined in the 1900 ninety's, with a cultural trend. it describes dates back to at least the civil rights era, the 1950, and sixty's. when african american musician, sun ra, made a link between the ancient egyptians and the space age, the term itself refers to a reimagining of a high tech future through a black hole lens. counteracting euro centric traditions that have acquainted blackness with being primitive around the world, africa, futurism is inspiring and redefining the work of an increasing number of artists. so false seatbelt and get ready for a journey through a brave and colorful you whoa. kenyan artist cyrus can bureau breeze new life and do the start of technology. abandon radios become space, age communication devices,

rusting, fixed geared bicycles called black mumbles. i turned into sculptures that could have been left here by an alien civilization to bureau had been making art for years before a gallery in italy, gave it a label, acro, future. i didn't know about for future. that's my 1st time to hear that was for future his series of eyeglasses called c stuff to make it through famous, constructed from crash collected on his travels, or masha, both different cultural traditions. to me, after that is for future later gets up on by national different culture. decent material different from like global, but it's something and you can see more more no more for future.

with black panther, hollywood finally gave the world a new perspective on africa. the superhero movie set and the high tech african land of conduct brought afro future them into the mainstream. a world away from hollywood, boucher and julia. after futurism is also taking root. a new generation of african artists is looking at their own culture from a new angle, comic book artist. i use a g ma, kinda credits black pamper aqua card before. no, i've been known to be for about the 3rd. what's called 3 black on top of things to do for phone was power that is completely loaded with technology. it was main. africans everywhere were wow. in his comics, mckindoe's uses sy fi and fantasy to address real world issues a political power, corruption and abuse. lucky lou set in 2050

a de imagined africa as a world power battling on the global stage alongside china and the u. s. space ships modeled on cynical ease fishing boats, a post apocalyptic world, inspired by west african folklore, a zimbabwe and super hero. just some of the comics published by golly, media, which brings the best an afro futurist art and animation to the world. so well, also within the same price, these just so much in there could be on this will be a waste if it was going to get to listen to the disney is listening, the hollywood drive is backing. you watch it aside by animated series created by who golly details of the plot are still top secret for you like that because that

story. second place in the middle class in equality and i'm very careful. yeah, yeah, that's what i consider whether in comics, movies, core design, the art of apple futurism combines tradition with imagination to envision a brighter future for africa and the world the author of that report is scott rock spar and he's with me in the studio. welcome scott. now he spent some time looking into this, the term for a futurism is decades old already, but right now it seems to be enjoying a revival. yeah, as you mentioned, i mean the idea of this, the stylist, a combination of african traditions and myths with, with sort of science fiction motifs of been around maybe since the 50s or sixties. but it really enjoyed a new or mainstream revival with, with black panther. and i think a lot of the credit there has to go to the costume designer, the oscar winning costume designer back build ruth carter. because what she did was

combine sort of really ancient african designs with sort of a futuristic a style and. and by making this combination, she was able to create a vision of africa that with both super high tech, but also true to african history. and this film and her designs were hugely inspirational. i'm also african artists because the 1st time they were showing a hollywood film that imagined africans as superheroes and not as history. and one of those african artists is photographer osborne materia, he's being called a master creating alternate thought. can university tell us more about him? yeah, i was going to try as fast that he is a toggle for. and what he does is he uses sort of 5 by motifs, to reinterpret both african history and the african a present of his. a photo here is for example, that reimagine can use mouth mile independent spiders. and he matches them as high tech operations to divide by fi glasses in order to fight the british colonialism.

and much re told me that he deliberately works against the sort of negative images of the off season western media of africa and tries to take members outside from the outskirts of society and, and put them in the new in a new light. one of my favorite worth of his is that will be underground fight club, which imagines short structured people as, as warriors, as members and sort of a global, a fight called basically what try was to do is to retell african history and to sort of recapture it from the distortions of, of the western view of africa. ok called as well as inspiring art. after futurism has paid a huge role in empowering black artists to tell their own stories and imagine the writing futures. does it also have a political agenda? i think for a lot of artists, it does have a very political agenda, especially an african artist, because we're talking about communities and cultures in which has often the history

of often been distorted or even destroyed by colonialism or, or by slavery. and so for a lot of the features artists by using these motifs of science fiction, they're able to sort of reimagine their own past and project it into a sort of utopian future. and to tell their own story in their, for their own perspective in a way that doesn't, isn't district shape are distorted by the, this sort of western view. now, okay, so rocks for thanks very much for coming in and showing your insight. now after, oh, futurism had also played a huge role in music in the 1970 george clinton and lisa p. funk on the world with futuristic lyrics and album covers and live sets for saw him descending to the stage from a space ship. well, recently beyond say, revive the theme with her visual album. black is king. and here in berlin, nigerian born neo soul artist wayne snow is also combining the futuristic with the traditional for him to his african heritage is

a major inspiration. future for me is just the tools we use and the after official reason, african means that it is rooted in tradition. wayne's know what he put in that box . i i his blend sole pump and electronic sounds makes it easy listening, but it requires hard work and the studio yeah, so we mix in, found nina recorded live with the whole band, with no gigs last year. musicians have been promoting them using by making live versions of that song to put on line when you record it. like take this last take

here. i think you right into the books with. ringback ringback me wayne usually puts a lot of thoughts into his visuals. he often visits art gallery for inspiration, both but his videos. i'm for the music itself, which he says he can actually see i have a bit of a finish station. that is when i hear sounds follows like goes with follows. so i've always tried to express the visual part of the music. that is what i make, produce a sound. i try to be or show people, the colors that go with it. if i were to do a music create, here are the definitely influenced by this call is around me. as well as a connection between sound and vision. the nigerian artist wants to show his funds

a different image of africa. this out me was quite important for me to show people that well, you can have things very beautiful things coming from africa as well. and you will have the impression that were made anywhere else. so it was really, really something i wanted to just show this how natural it is, and on my 1st video 70, the idea was to show like this traditional way of work and which is on this game. i had black gear and we use the same kind of a way approach that do the messiah for the inadequacy. inspired by a 1st futurism this meeting, a future and tradition is a core theme in his music. ah, when you see it looks sure istic what the experience people told me they had was

that future? what are the same kinds of failure was rooted strong tradition, ah, as huge lie somewhat into like this camera filmy also. and we use some like traditional options when both they meet the create, the future. and wayne is looking to the future. and then the artists featured, i just a few of the many, his work is being inspired by africa futurism. i'll leave you with one of the artists credited with taking the movement into the mainstream. janelle monet's science fiction infused poetry and song, often through the eyes of a fussy female android alter ego, takes a few truism to another level. see you next time

the the the with the the the. ah. the news

ah, against the corona virus pandemic. the rate of infection in developing what measures are being taken. what does the latest research say? information and context clues, virus updates, and special monday to friday on d. w. that was right in front of them. they gave it. then suddenly, we agreed to postpone the or olympic games that tokyo with 20 or 2021. thrown off course during the qualifying ground or not for sports heroes. i'm fired

up and ready the count down during locked lock. you go to tokyo, starts july 19th on the w. me. ah me. oh oh, i cannot because you're in this. oh, no. no, no. i

the the news w. news alive from berlin. vital aid will continue to flow to syrians after the un security council most to keep a disputed port or open. russia approach has to be opperation saying it's violated syrian sovereignty. but the renewal means another year, a supply for millions of civilians in the rebel controls, and also coming up on the show heavy artillery on display as the us and ukraine

wrap up several days of working at the black seats held despite objections from russia. we'll hear from our correspond.