Young people - especially women - are risking their health in pursuit of a tanned skin that they associate with celebrity, beauty and wellbeing. Tatum Anderson reports.

Thin bodies have been the centre of much controversy in recent years. Feminist critiques of popular culture, as well as popular feminist movements, have called attention to the ways in which oppressive ideals of feminine beauty have increasingly become associated with an idealisation of extreme thinness. In particular, the extent to which the prevalence of eating disorders can be linked to medi...

Modern psychiatry, which once focused only on the containment and "cure" of madness, has evolved into a mental health industry, where almost every aspect of human life, may be cast as a "mental disorder". In Western countries, a narcissistic appetite for self-improvement and "well-being" has evolved over the past 50 years, mirroring the emergence of the celebrity culture. These developments app...

NEW HOSPITAL menus designed by celebrity chefs have run into yet more trouble after nurses at one trust labelled the food 'slop'.

The study of serial killing has been dominated by an individualized focus on the aetiology and biography of particular offenders. As such, it has tended to downplay the broader social, historical and cultural context of such acts. This article addresses this lacuna by arguing that serial killers are distinctively modern. It highlights six modern phenomena related to serial killing: (a) the mass...

The internet is fast becoming a new battleground between tobacco control advocates and pro-tobacco forces, and this new media will certainly have a greater impact on tobacco use behaviour in the future. This paper reviews how the internet can encourage youth smoking by providing youth access to tobacco products and offering content that glamorises smoking lifestyle and culture, particularly in ...