title: Metrosexual

text: Another example was the short-lived "übersexual", which was coined by marketing executives and authors of "The Future of Men", and was perhaps inspired by Simpson's use of the term "uber-metrosexual" to describe David Beckham.


title: Metrosexual

text: Simpson's original definition of the metrosexual was sexually ambiguous, or at least went beyond the straight/gay dichotomy. Marketers, in contrast, insisted that the metrosexual was always "straight" – they even tried to pretend that he was not vain. However, they failed to convince the public, hence, says Simpson, their attempt to create the uber-straight ubersexual.


title: Metrosexual

text: In 2016, Simpson coined the term that combines sport and porn: "spornosexual". Simpson, who highlighted footballer Cristiano Ronaldo as a "spornosexual" said that "(Spornosexual is) a fusion of sport and porn [...] Cultivating an athletic body as an object of desire, and showing it off on social networks, accumulating sexual partners. It’s a tendency with young men."


title: Metrosexual

text: In 2016, the "lumbersexual" term circulated in media, fashion, and online outlets, describing a type of male aesthetics that use outdoor gear for urban aesthetics rather than function.


title: Metrosexual

text: In 2002, this idea was further explored in the book "Media Sport Stars: Masculinities and Moralities", (Routledge) when Gary Whannel described Beckham's: "narcissistic self-absorption", seeing it as a break from the prevailing masculine codes.


title: Metrosexual

text: Female metrosexuality is a concept that Simpson explored with American writer Caroline Hagood. They employed the female characters from the HBO series "Sex and the City" in order to illustrate examples of "wo-metrosexuality", a term Hagood coined to refer to the feminine form of metrosexuality. The piece implied that, although this phenomenon would not necessarily empower women, the fact that the metrosexual lifestyle de-emphasizes traditional male and female gender roles could help women out in the long run. However, it is debatable whether the characters made famous by "Sex and the City" truly de-emphasized female gender roles, given that the series focused a high amount of attention on stereotypically feminine interests like clothing, appearance, and romantic entanglements.


title: Metrosexual

text: Traditional masculine norms, as described in psychologist Ronald F. Levant's "Masculinity Reconstructed" are: "avoidance of femininity; restricted emotions; sex disconnected from intimacy; pursuit of achievement and status; self-reliance; strength; aggression and homophobia".


title: Metrosexual

text: Various studies, including market research by Euro RSCG, have suggested that the pursuit of achievement and status is not as important to men as it used to be; and neither is, to a degree, the restriction of emotions or the disconnection of sex from intimacy. Another norm change supported by research is that men "no longer find sexual freedom universally enthralling". Lillian Alzheimer noted less avoidance of femininity and the "emergence of a segment of men who have embraced customs and attitudes once deemed the province of women".


title: Metrosexual

text: Men's fashion magazines – such as "Details", "Men's Vogue", and the defunct "Cargo" – targeted what one "Details" editor called "men who moisturize and read a lot of magazines".


title: Metrosexual

text: Changes in culture and attitudes toward masculinity, visible in the media through television shows such as "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy", "Queer as Folk", and "Will & Grace", have changed these traditional masculine norms. Metrosexuals only made their appearance after cultural changes in the environment and changes in views on masculinity. Simpson said in his article "Metrosexual? That rings a bell..." that "Gay men provided the early prototype for metrosexuality. Decidedly single, definitely urban, dreadfully uncertain of their identity (hence the emphasis on pride and the susceptibility to the latest label) and socially emasculated, gay men pioneered the business of accessorising—and combining—masculinity and desirability."


title: Metrosexual

text: But such probing analyses into various shoppers' psyches may have ignored other significant factors affecting men's shopping habits, foremost among them women's shopping habits. As the retail analyst Marshal Cohen explained in a 2005 article in the "New York Times" entitled, "Gay or Straight? Hard to Tell", the fact that women buy less of men's clothing than they used to has, more than any other factor, propelled men into stores to shop for themselves. "In 1985 only 25 percent of all men's apparel was bought by men, he said; 75 percent was bought by women for men. By 1998 men were buying 52 percent of apparel; in 2004 that number grew to 69 percent and shows no sign of slowing." One result of this shift was the revelation that men cared more about how they look than the women shopping for them had.


title: Metrosexual

text: However, despite changes in masculinity, research has suggested men still feel social pressure to endorse traditional masculine male models in advertising. Martin and Gnoth (2009) found that feminine men preferred feminine models in private, but stated a preference for the traditional masculine models when their collective self was salient. In other words, feminine men endorsed traditional masculine models when they were concerned about being classified by other men as feminine. The authors suggested this result reflected the social pressure on men to endorse traditional masculine norms.


title: Metrosexual

text: In its soundbite diffusion through the channels of marketeers and popular media, who eagerly and constantly reminded their audience that the metrosexual was straight, the metrosexual has congealed into something more digestible for consumers: a heterosexual male who is in touch with his feminine side — he color-coordinates, cares deeply about exfoliation, and has perhaps manscaped.


title: Metrosexual

text: Men did not go to shopping malls, so consumer culture promoted the idea of a sensitive man who went to malls, bought magazines and spent freely to improve his personal appearance. As Simpson put it:


title: Metrosexual

text: In contrast, there is also the view that metrosexuality is at least partly a naturally occurring phenomenon, much like the Aesthetic Movement of the 19th century, and that the metrosexual is a modern incarnation of a dandy. Fashion designer Tom Ford drew parallels when he described David Beckham as a: "total modern dandy". Ford suggested that "macho" sporting role models who also care about fashion and appearance influence masculine norms in wider society.


title: Fahda bint Falah Al Hithlain

text: Fahda bint Falah Al Hithlain () is the third spouse of Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the king of Saudi Arabia. She is a member of the Ajman tribe. Her mother is Munira bint Abdullah and her ancestors include Ajman tribe leaders, Rakan and Dhaydan bin Hithlain.


title: Fahda bint Falah Al Hithlain

text: Fahda has six children with King Salman: Prince Mohammed, Prince Khalid, Prince Turki, Prince Nayef, Prince Bandar and Prince Rakan. In 2018 several US media outlets, including NBC, reported rumors that Fahda's eldest son, Crown Prince Mohammed, did not allow his mother to see King Salman. She was not involved in any public events between 2015 and 2020, but she reappeared at such events from March 2020.


title: Colleen Ballinger

text: Colleen Mae Ballinger (born November 21, 1986) is an American comedian, YouTuber, actress, singer and writer. She is best known for her Internet character Miranda Sings, posting videos of the character on YouTube, performing her one-woman comedy act on tour in theatres worldwide, and creating and starring in a Netflix original series titled "Haters Back Off" (2016–2017) about the character. Ballinger created the comically talentless, egotistical and eccentric character to satirize the many YouTube videos featuring people singing badly in hopes of breaking into show business, but who appear unaware of their lack of talent.


title: Colleen Ballinger

text: Ballinger also features comedy and lifestyle videos on her personal YouTube channel and a vlog channel, Colleen Vlogs. Her YouTube channels, combined, have surpassed 5 billion total views. The Miranda Sings channel has more than 10 million subscribers, and the character has more than 13 million TikTok followers and 6 million Instagram followers. Ballinger won a Teen Choice Award for "Web Star: Comedy" and a Streamy Award as Best Actress. "The Hollywood Reporter" selected her as one of its Top 25 Digital Stars, and she was ranked No. 5 on "Forbes" magazine's 2017 list of top entertainment influencers.


title: Colleen Ballinger

text: Ballinger has appeared as an actress and singer in theatre, television, recordings and web series. She appeared in the web series "Escape the Night" (2018–2019), played Dawn in the Broadway musical "Waitress" (2019), guest-starred as Miranda Sings on "Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee" with Jerry Seinfeld (2014), and has appeared three times on "The Tonight Show" (2016–2017), among other talk shows. Ballinger has also published two best-selling books, written in Miranda's voice, "Selp-Helf" (2015) and "My Diarrhe" (2018). She is married to actor Erik Stocklin.


title: Colleen Ballinger

text: Ballinger was born and raised in Santa Barbara, California, the daughter of Tim Ballinger, a sales manager, and his wife Gwen, a homemaker. Ballinger was homeschooled during middle school, attended San Marcos High School and graduated in 2008 from Azusa Pacific University, where she majored in vocal performance. She has two older brothers, Christopher and Trent, and a younger sister, Rachel.


title: Colleen Ballinger

text: From 2007 to 2009, Ballinger performed for Disney in California, gave private voice, movement coaching and piano lessons to children, and performed at parties and cabaret spaces. In 2009, she played Kelsi Nielsen in "High School Musical" at Candlelight Pavilion Dinner Theatre in Claremont, California. Ballinger appears on the 2010 album "More With Every Line", by songwriter Tim Prottey-Jones, and the 2011 album "Self Taught, Still Learning" by Chris Passey. In New York in 2011, she played Lynda Bird Johnson in a staged reading of "First Kids" and created the role of Circe in the American Theatre of Actors Off-Broadway production "Odyssey – The Epic Musical".


title: Colleen Ballinger

text: In 2012, Ballinger was featured as nurse Royal in the web series "Dr. Fubalous". She also gave a talk at the Boston Children's Theatre about how to use social media to promote yourself as a performer. In 2013, she starred in the episode "Under the Bed" in the web series "The Flipside" and as Amara in episode 9 of season 2 of the web series "Hipsterhood". She plays Meg on the Volume 12 DVD of "Family Guy" in the live-action version of the show's introduction. Also in 2013, she was featured on the MTV "True Life" episode "I'm Famous Online". In 2014, she appeared in the episode "Wedding Plans!" on the web series "MyMusic".


title: Colleen Ballinger

text: Ballinger was a guest co-host on "The View" in 2015. The same year, she was interviewed on the podcast "", starred in a Todrick Hall video, "Beauty and the Beat Boots", and appeared in the Season 2 finale of the Condé Nast Entertainment webseries "#HeyUSA", with host Mamrie Hart. Later that year, both as herself and as Miranda Sings, Ballinger starred in a six-episode beauty series parody, called "How to Makeup", on the I Love Makeup YouTube channel operated by Collective Digital Studio. In this show, "Colleen has fantastically found a way for guys to become interested in a makeup show ... there's a plot". Re/code featured Ballinger to exemplify "an emerging economy" of internet content providers. She is featured on the track "Clouds" in Flula Borg's 2015 EP, "I Want to Touch You".


title: Colleen Ballinger

text: Ballinger appeared in a series of 2016 DiGiorno pizza commercials. In 2018, she appeared as The Disco Dancer in season 3 of the web series "Escape the Night", in a cameo role in the animated film "Ralph Breaks the Internet", and in the Ariana Grande music video "Thank U, Next". She appeared as The Duchess in season 4 of "Escape the Night" (2019). She made her Broadway debut in the musical "Waitress", as Dawn, where she appeared from August to September 2019. The week of Ballinger's debut, box office grosses for the musical increased by $358,783 to $938,087, and they continued to rise, reaching $963,408 the following week. On Halloween 2020, Ballinger played Janet in a livestream reading of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show", starring original cast members Tim Curry, Nell Campbell and Barry Bostwick.


title: Colleen Ballinger

text: In 2009, Ballinger began to make a living by performing her live one-woman comedy act in character as Miranda Sings. She has continued to tour since then and has stated that, of all her professional activities, she gets the most satisfaction in her career from her live performances. In addition to her Miranda tours, Ballinger toured with her then husband, singer and fellow YouTuber Joshua David Evans in music and comedy shows in December 2015 and January 2016 across the US as "The Colleen & Josh Show".


title: Colleen Ballinger

text: Ballinger displays more than 2,000 videos on her YouTube channels. Her personal channel features comedy, question and answer videos, YouTube challenges, and Ballinger discussing culture and current topics or vlogging her activities with her family, friends and YouTube colleagues. The channel is "highly recommended" by "Emertainment Monthly". It has received more than 1.8 billion views and accumulated more than 8 million subscribers. Her Miranda Sings channel has surpassed 2 billion views and 10 million subscribers. A third channel, Colleen Vlogs, with more than 3 million subscribers, chronicles some of her experiences on tour and at home. In 2014, "Backstage" magazine identified Ballinger as a performer who has "taken great advantage of producing their own content [online] and gathering large fan bases to promote their work." To promote her videos and shows, Ballinger is active on social media, with TikTok followings of more than 13 million for Miranda and 8 million for Ballinger; Instagram followings of more than 6 million for Miranda and 7 million for Ballinger, more than 2 million Twitter followers for Miranda and 1.7 million for Ballinger, and more than 1.6 million page likes on the Miranda Sings Facebook page. BuzzFeed called Miranda "The Queen of Twitter".


title: Colleen Ballinger

text: Ballinger was able to turn the popularity of her videos into income from a percentage of YouTube advertising fees or occasionally fixed sponsorship fees. Until March 2013, Ballinger's YouTube audience was modest, but in that month, her Miranda Sings channel's audience reached 150,000 subscribers, and both of her YouTube channels began to expand far more rapidly. Ballinger offers merchandise on her mirandasings.com website, and some of the videos contain brand endorsements. For example, a 2016 video, "Sexy Buttery Love Song" promoted Jack in the Box restaurants. In 2016, "Forbes" magazine ranked Ballinger as the ninth highest-earning YouTuber.


title: Colleen Ballinger

text: Since 2021, Ballinger and her husband, Erik Stocklin, have streamed weekly podcasts titled "Relax! with Colleen and Erik" on Apple Podcasts and posted them to a YouTube channel with the same name.


title: Colleen Ballinger

text: Since January 2008, Ballinger has posted hundreds of videos as her comically talentless and quirky character, Miranda Sings, primarily on the YouTube channel Miranda Sings. The character is a satire of the many YouTube videos featuring bad, but egotistical, performers who film themselves singing as a form of self-promotion, despite receiving the realistic or cruel comments of "haters". "Miranda" is supposedly a home-schooled young woman who still lives with her mother and uncle; she is eccentric and infantilized, narcissistically believes that she was born famous, and is obsessed with show business fame.


title: Colleen Ballinger

text: In the videos, Miranda sings in a comically off-key, yet plausible, voice and covers mostly pop music hits, rants about internet haters, gives "tutorials" and sometimes discusses the character's backstory or current events, which she usually misunderstands. She uses spoonerisms and malapropisms, is irritable, ludicrously self-absorbed and self-righteous, socially awkward, and has a defiant, arrogant attitude. She responds to viewers who take the videos seriously and offer criticism with the catchphrase, "Haters back off!", telling these critics that "haters make me famous". The character displays unusually active eyebrows and a crooked smile, her head is cocked to one side, and she has pronunciation quirks. She wears bright red lipstick drawn beyond the borders of her lips, dresses in mismatched out-of-style clothing, and often dances stiffly to the music she is performing. Her views of society and morality are politically incorrect, and she displays a strong aversion to anything risque, which she calls "porn". From 2010 to 2012, Ballinger posted Miranda video blogs to a second Miranda YouTube channel, Mirandavlogz.


title: Colleen Ballinger

text: Ballinger based the character partly on young women that she knew in college. She told "The Times" of London, "There were a lot of cocky girls who thought they were really talented, and they ... were so rude and snotty... Then I saw all these girls trying to make a career out of putting videos on YouTube [of themselves singing in their bedrooms] ... clueless to the fact that they were terrible." At first, the "Miranda videos were meant to be an inside joke" among Ballinger's friends. In March 2009, however, a Miranda video called "Free Voice Lesson" quickly became a sensation. The video consists of bad advice about singing technique. Miranda's videos drew predictably sharp criticism on YouTube, and as they became popular, Ballinger modified the character in response to the negative comments. She says: "I took what people hated and exaggerated it more in the next video." The online critics were so harsh that Miranda became a "hero of the anti-bullying movement". Ballinger uses "humour and satire to challenge ideas of popular femininity. ... Miranda Sings ... puts on monstrous makeup to perform parody music videos [rejecting] being conventionally pretty."


title: Colleen Ballinger

text: After Ballinger became pregnant in 2018, Miranda began a pregnancy storyline in which she claims to be the "virgin Miranda", with a virgin conception. Ballinger mentioned the story arc on a July 2018 appearance on "Live with Kelly and Ryan". When Ballinger gave birth, she tweeted about it from Miranda's account as well as her own.


title: Colleen Ballinger

text: Since April 2009, Ballinger has performed a one-woman comedy act, as Miranda Sings, at first in cabaret spaces and later in theatres in New York, London, and other cities in the US, UK, Australia, Europe, Canada and elsewhere. BroadwayWorld.com called Miranda "the hottest, freshest and oddest breakout star in the musical theatre/cabaret scene".


title: Colleen Ballinger

text: In the live comedy acts, Miranda sings pop hits and some musical theatre songs in her signature off-key style. At early performances, she gave "voice lessons" or "acting lessons" to Broadway or West End stars, such as Sutton Foster and Andrew Rannells, to assembled casts of Broadway shows, and to pop stars such as Ariana Grande, in which she was hypercritical of the stars' performances, telling them that they should leave show business. She reads hate mail that she has received; interacts with audience volunteers; uses projected presentations containing terrible spelling and includes a "magic trick" where she sings while appearing to be stabbed through the neck by a sword; the joke is that she sings better when the sword is inserted through her neck.


title: Colleen Ballinger

text: In her 2014 "Selp Helf" tour, she instructed her (mostly young, female) audience on how to get a boyfriend by being more Miranda-like, "improvising [with volunteers] and creating punchlines on the spot. ... Ballinger, the genius behind Miranda, is so convincing in the role, you ... will likely forget that there is a normal person behind the red lips". One reviewer commented that the show "is no mere ... reproduction of her Internet channel. It is as theatrical as it is musical, comedic as it is inspirational." Another concurred: "Miranda [is] hilarious, and I was struck on several occasions by what an accomplished creation the character is. ... Bridging both personas, the moment she transforms into Miranda, on-stage and mid-song, is an absolute joy – I'd struggle to recall hearing an audience erupt to such an extent, and I couldn't help but join in." Ballinger gave Miranda shows in 57 cities in 2014. Her 2015 tours included a "Miranda 4 Precident" themed tour and a "Summer Camp" themed tour. Also in 2015, Miranda was a headliner at the Just for Laughs festival in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and released a film version of one of her stage shows on Vimeo, titled "Miranda Sings: Selp Helf".


title: Colleen Ballinger

text: Reviewing Ballinger's second engagement as Miranda at the LaughFest festival in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in 2016, a critic noted that the material "resonated with parents as well as the younger set." Among other appearances, she performed as Miranda at the Kennedy Center in April 2016. During the second half of 2016, she toured Miranda shows in the US, England, Ireland, Germany and Denmark, around her "Haters Back Off" production and promotion schedule. A tour in early 2017, and later performances that year, were billed as "Miranda Sings Live ... Your Welcome" and involved Miranda celebrating her own funeral. She continued the tour from September 2017 to early 2018 with shows in Europe, Australasia and the US. Her tour in mid-2018 was called "Miranda Sings Live ... No Offense". Of Ballinger's last live show of 2018, reviewers for "OC Weekly" wrote:


title: Colleen Ballinger

text: With understanding, charisma and just the right amount of self-deprecation, [Ballinger] skillfully sewed together stories of passive aggressive parents and internet trolls, painting a picture of how difficult it is to be yourself in a world of critics – especially when your art is misunderstood. … With impressive energy, she mixed kid-friendly and adult humor, seesawed between Italian opera and meme-ish internet bangers, and invited an eclectic mix of audience participation on and off stage. … Her relevant dedication to self-confidence proved a charming theme throughout the show. Truly ahead of her time, she has built a career on empathizing with young people. … There's something about this specific kind of celebrity that is difficult to understand. It's fresh."


title: Colleen Ballinger

text: A Netflix comedy special, "Miranda Sings Live... Your Welcome", filmed live at the Kennedy Center's Eisenhower Theater in Washington, D.C., was released on June 4, 2019. Sara Aridi of "The New York Times" wrote: "Her peculiar sense of humor is the kind that simultaneously draws laughs and cringes – and it works." The same month, Ballinger began touring a Miranda show titled "Who Wants My Kid?", which continued throughout 2019 and into early 2020."BroadwayWorld" called her 2022 tour her "funniest one yet".


title: Colleen Ballinger

text: In 2009, Ballinger released a Christmas EP titled "Christmas With Miranda Sings". Miranda has been featured in radio, television and internet interviews. Ballinger has also appeared or hosted as Miranda at award shows and given benefit concerts and workshops. Miranda sings two tracks in character on Passey's album "Self Taught, Still Learning". In 2012, the character appeared in a comedy film, "Varla Jean and the Mushroomheads", and in an episode of the television show "Victorious", titled "Tori Goes Platinum", on the Nickelodeon channel. Miranda appeared in the first episode of "Dance Chat", an Australian web show, in 2013. She also appeared in a 2014 back-to-school video for Old Navy.


title: Colleen Ballinger

text: Ballinger guest-starred as Miranda Sings in the season 5 episode, "Happy Thanksgiving Miranda", of "Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee" with Jerry Seinfeld, in November 2014. Seinfeld called Miranda "a very well-developed character ... just as funny to me as ... to my daughter, who is 13. ... [The episode is] one of the best shows of "Comedians in Cars" we’ve ever done." Mediaite agreed, writing: "In its fifth season, Jerry Seinfeld's web series continued to be one of the most enjoyable weekly events on the internet. His experience with YouTube star Miranda Sings, which carried its way onto the "Tonight Show", was a particular highlight." An Uproxx review compared Ballinger to Andy Kaufman. In December 2014, Ballinger appeared as Miranda on "The Tonight Show" playing "Pictionary" with Jimmy Fallon, Martin Short and Jerry Seinfeld. "Us Weekly" called the segment "the most hilarious game night ever", "Entertainment Weekly" called it "riveting", and "People" magazine wrote: "It's the most wonderful trainwrecked game of "Pictionary" you'll see this holiday season".


title: Colleen Ballinger

text: In 2015, Ballinger appeared as Miranda on "The Grace Helbig Show", together with Jim Parsons, and she released a book, "Selp-Helf", published by Simon & Schuster, which calls it a "decidedly unhelpful, candid, hilarious 'how-to' guide". Written in Miranda's voice by Ballinger and her brother Christopher Ballinger, it is presented in mock-scrapbook format, with silly advice, photos and comically bad artwork. The book debuted at No. 1 on the "Publishers Weekly" Hardcover Non-Fiction best sellers list and "The New York Times" Best Seller list for Advice, How-To & Miscellaneous. It remained on the "Times" Best Seller list for Advice & Misc. for 11 weeks and was on their monthly Best Seller list for "Humor" for eleven months. She released a second book, "My Diarrhe", in 2018, in the form of a leaked diary. It debuted at No. 8 on "The New York Times" Best Seller list for Advice, How-To & Miscellaneous. Ballinger appeared on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" in July 2018 to promote the book.


title: Colleen Ballinger

text: Ballinger appeared as a guest star, as Miranda, speed dating unsuspecting men on the 2016 YouTube Premium series "Prank Academy". She conceived, co-wrote, co-produced and starred as Miranda in the Netflix series, "Haters Back Off". The series centered around Miranda's odd family life and her road to fame as a YouTuber. Ballinger was featured as Miranda in a cover article in "Variety" about the show in June 2016. The series ran for two seasons in 2016 and 2017. To promote "Haters Back Off", Ballinger appeared on "The Tonight Show" three times, "Chelsea", "Live with Kelly and Ryan" three times, and "Total Request Live". The series was not picked up for a third season.


title: Colleen Ballinger

text: Ballinger, as Miranda, returned to television in 2022 as a guest star on the game show "Generation Gap".


title: Colleen Ballinger

text: Ballinger moved to New York City in 2010 to follow performing opportunities, but she returned to the West coast in 2012 when she realized that, to maximize her YouTube audience, she needed to collaborate with the community of YouTubers based in Los Angeles. In July 2015, after several years of dating, Ballinger and Joshua Evans wed in California. In September 2016, Ballinger and Evans announced in separate YouTube videos that they were divorcing.


title: Colleen Ballinger

text: Ballinger met actor Erik Stocklin in 2016 when she cast him to play Miranda's love interest, Patrick, in "Haters Back Off". The couple began dating by early 2018 and married later the same year. The couple have three children: a boy, Flynn Timothy Stocklin, born on December 10, 2018, and a twin girl and boy, Maisy Joanne and Wesley Koy Stocklin, born on November 6, 2021.


title: Colleen Ballinger

text: Since 2015, Ballinger has conducted an annual fundraiser to benefit children with cancer and their families on or around her birthday, November 21. Using her YouTube channel and GoFundMe or similar sites, she has collected donations and sold or given away personal and donated items, Miranda merchandise and props, and draft scripts from "Haters Back Off". In 2015, Ballinger donated the funds raised to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, while in 2016, she donated to individual families struggling with the costs and burdens of their children's cancer treatments. From 2016 to 2018, she raised over $200,000; her 2019 fundraiser benefitted Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and Family Reach. In 2019, she joined The Game Theorists to raise more than $1.3 million dollars for St. Jude's. In 2020 she raised more than $223,000 from her birthday fundraiser, and in 2021 she raised $263,000.


title: Colleen Ballinger

text: Ballinger's YouTube videos have received a total of more than 5 billion views. In 2015, Miranda was ranked the 7th "most popular YouTube personality", by "Daily American", and one of the "Top 25 Digital Stars", by "The Hollywood Reporter". The "Los Angeles Times" wrote of her videos, "this footage is a major hoot". Perez Hilton praised Miranda's parody of Sia's song "Chandelier" as "the crowning achievement of music video parodies ... utterly fantastic. ... [Ballinger] really has superb comedic timing." Initially, Miranda Sings enjoyed widespread popularity among musical theatre fans. Later, her fan base expanded particularly among teenagers. "TV Guide" commented: "Ironically, the character ... was created to satirize the very type of YouTube fame she's managed to cultivate."


title: Colleen Ballinger

text: "The Times" of London commented that although Ballinger's videos have gained her character notice, it "is not online but on stage that Miranda truly comes to ghastly life." A reviewer from the "Irish Independent" wrote: "There is an endearing sweetness to her performance. ... This bizarre and bonkers show is somehow strangely compelling". A 2013 reviewer concurred: "[O]nly a truly talented performer could make the Miranda character believable, let alone as endearing as she ends up being." AussieTheatre.com stated that Ballinger "creates the most successful parody of the world of YouTube ... she has created an international cult following". As the popularity of the character increased, Ballinger was able to book her live Miranda act at larger and larger venues, including the Best Buy Theater in New York City and, among many others, London's Cadogan Hall. "Newsweek"s review of Miranda's YouTube satire of the 2019 James Charles/Tati Westbrook feud noted that although the character "rarely humanizes herself", she has the surprising ability to "make our heart hurt".


title: Colleen Ballinger

text: Ballinger's videos as herself have also gained attention: in 2015, her video "Reading Mean Comments" was praised by "Cosmopolitan" as "hilarious and pretty poignant". In each of 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018, Ballinger (or Miranda) was nominated for one or more Teen Choice Awards, winning the award for "Web Star: Comedy" in 2015; she was nominated for three 2015 Streamy Awards, winning for best actress, and was nominated for more Streamys in 2016 and 2018; she was nominated for People's Choice Awards in 2016, 2017 and 2019; and Shorty Awards in 2016, 2017 and 2019. Ballinger was ranked No. 5 on "Forbes" magazine's 2017 list of top entertainment influencers. She has been ranked No. 1 several times in the weekly Top Comedians Social Media Rankings by "The Hollywood Reporter". She has also been noted as a YouTuber who is "a good influence on kids".


title: Colleen Ballinger

text: In April 2020, a 17-year-old YouTuber accused her of failing to pay him for social media content he had suggested for her Miranda Sings social media accounts (he did not allege any contract between them) and of sending him an inappropriate gift of lingerie that had been modeled over clothing. Ballinger also received criticism when some of her older videos resurfaced satirizing latina and overweight women. In May 2020, Ballinger apologized on YouTube for having posted the older videos, agreeing that they were insensitive and that it had been a mistake in judgment to send the gift to the fan. She noted that she often uses comedy ideas suggested by fans but admitted that it had been a mistake to allow the young fan to post directly to her Twitter account for a day without carefully vetting the content that he posted.


title: Islamic State of Afghanistan

text: The Islamic State of Afghanistan (, "Dawlat-i Islāmī-yi Afghānistan", , "Da Afghanistan Islami Dowlat") was the government of Afghanistan, established by the Peshawar Accords on 26 April 1992 by many, but not all, Afghan mujahideen parties, after the fall of the communist government. Its power was limited due to civil war. When the Taliban took control of Kabul in 1996, it transitioned to a government in exile and led the Northern Alliance against the partially recognized Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. In the aftermath of the 2001 United States-led invasion of Afghanistan and victory by the Northern Alliance, the Islamic State briefly regained control of the country. In 2002, it was formally succeeded by the Transitional Islamic State of Afghanistan.


title: Islamic State of Afghanistan

text: In March 1992, President Mohammad Najibullah, having lost the Russian support that upheld his government, agreed to resign and make way for a neutral, interim government. Several mujahideen parties started negotiations to form a national coalition government. But one group, the Hezb-e Islami led by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, presumably supported and directed by Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), did not join the negotiations and announced its intent to conquer Kabul alone. Hekmatyar moved his troops to Kabul, and was allowed into the town soon after 17 April. This left the other mujahideen groups no choice but to enter Kabul, on 24 April, to prevent Hekmatyar from taking over national government.This ignited a civil war between five or six rival armies, (nearly) all backed by foreign states. Several mujahideen groups proclaimed an 'interim government' on 26 April 1992 but this never attained real authority over Afghanistan.


title: Islamic State of Afghanistan

text: President Mohammad Najibullah, leader of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan, was forced to resign on 15 April 1992. The Peshawar Accord of 25 April 1992, which established a power-sharing interim government to take control of Kabul, was signed by six of the seven major Afghan anti-Soviet resistance parties (notably excluding the Hezb-e Islami ["Islamic Party"] faction of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, a Pashtun, who refused to sign the Accord), and supported by some remnants of the Najibullah administration. An Islamic state was proclaimed, Islamic law introduced, bars were closed, and women were ordered to wear the hijab. In June, Burhanuddin Rabbani, leader of the Tajik-dominated Jamiat-e Islami ("Islamic Association") faction, was made interim-president of the new Islamic State of Afghanistan, and on 30 December 1992 he was elected head of the 7-member Government Council for a two-year term. However, Hekmatyar's Hezb-e Islami rebel faction (which had split from Jamiat-e Islami in 1976) demanded a share in power as well, and started clashing with Rabbani's troops. After months of fighting, they signed an agreement in March 1993 making Hekmatyar the Prime Minister of Afghanistan in June, and shortening Rabbani's presidency from 2 years to 1.5 year. Fighting between different rebel factions continued, however, and Kabul was largely destroyed.


title: Islamic State of Afghanistan

text: In late 1994, a new Pashtun-dominated Islamic fundamentalist militia called the Taliban () managed to conquer large parts of southern Afghanistan with the support of Pakistan. Making steady gains throughout 1995 and 1996, the Taliban were able to seize control of the capital city of Kabul in September 1996, driving the Rabbani government and other factions northward, and by the end of the year occupying two-thirds of Afghanistan. Former president Najibullah was arrested and executed in public by hanging on 27 September 1996.


title: Islamic State of Afghanistan

text: The Taliban renamed the country the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, and imposed an even more strict version of Sharia and purdah on the population they controlled. This especially negatively impacted women, who were forced to wear a burqa, stay indoors and banned from working outside the house with rare exceptions. Almost all girls lost access to education, increasing illiteracy rates. Movie theaters, soccer stadiums, and television stations were now closed as well.


title: Islamic State of Afghanistan

text: The ousted Rabbani government formed a political coalition with Uzbek warlord Abdul Rashid Dostum, Tajik leader Ahmed Shah Massoud and the Shia Hizb-i-Wahdat faction (dominated by Hazaras) of Karim Khalili. Its formal name was United Islamic Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan, known in the Western Hemisphere as the Northern Alliance, and its goal was to take back the country from the Taliban. The Islamic State remained the internationally recognized representative of Afghanistan at the United Nations until 2001, when the Transitional Islamic State of Afghanistan was created and an Afghan Interim Administration took control of Afghanistan with U.S. and NATO assistance, following the overthrow of the Taliban government.


title: Islamic State of Afghanistan

text: By the end of May 1997, the Taliban offensive came to a halt due to a number of strategic victories by the Northern Alliance. International pressure forced both sides to negotiate, but the demands posed by either party were so high that the differences were irreconcilable, and a political impasse ensued. The country was in a dire state according to a 1997 United Nations report, which found that the infant mortality rate was 25%, numerous civil casualties due to landmines, economic blockades imposed by the militias causing hunger, and international humanitarian organisations being unable to carry out their work. A February 1998 earthquake in northeastern Afghanistan killed 4,500 people.


title: Islamic State of Afghanistan

text: In the first half of 1998, the negotiations appeared to reach a peace settlement, but then the Northern Alliance fell apart. Taking advantage of the resistance factions' disunity the Taliban launched a campaign, rapidly conquering the provincial capital cities of Maimana, Sheberghan, and finally Mazar-i-Sharif (8 August 1998). Taliban fighters committed a massacre amongst the Shia population of the last city, also killing eight Iranian journalists and diplomats. This aroused international outrage, and brought the Taliban regime on the brink of war with Iran.


title: Islamic State of Afghanistan

text: The Northern Alliance drove the Taliban away in December 2001, following the United States invasion of Afghanistan. The Islamic State of Afghanistan was succeeded by the interim Transitional Islamic State of Afghanistan in 2002.


title: Mutant (Marvel Comics)

text: In American comic books published by Marvel Comics, a mutant is a human being that possesses a genetic trait called the X-gene. It causes the mutant to develop superhuman powers that manifest at puberty. Human mutants are sometimes referred to as a human subspecies Homo sapiens superior, or simply Homo superior. Mutants are the evolutionary progeny of "Homo sapiens", and are generally assumed to be the next stage in human evolution. The accuracy of this is the subject of much debate in the Marvel Universe.


title: Mutant (Marvel Comics)

text: Unlike Marvel's mutates, which are characters who develop their powers only after exposure to outside stimuli or energies (such as the Hulk, Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, Absorbing Man and Captain Marvel), mutants have actual genetic mutations.


title: Mutant (Marvel Comics)

text: A March 1952 story in "Amazing Detective Cases" #11 called "The Weird Woman" tells of a woman describing herself as a mutant who seeks a similarly superhuman mate. Roger Carstairs, a mutant who can create illusions, is shown in "Man Comics" #28, dated September 1953. A character with superhuman powers, born from a radiation-exposed parent, was seen in "The Man with the Atomic Brain!" in "Journey into Mystery" #52 in May 1959; although not specifically called a "mutant", his origin is consistent with one. A little-known story in "Tales of Suspense" #6 (November 1959) titled "The Mutants and Me!" was one of the first Marvel (then known as Atlas) stories to feature a named "mutant". Tad Carter, a mutant with telekinetic powers, is shown in Amazing Adult Fantasy #14, dated July 1962.


title: Mutant (Marvel Comics)

text: Officially, Namor the Sub-Mariner is considered the first mutant superhero whom Marvel Comics ever published, debuting in 1939. However, Namor was not actually described as a mutant until "Fantastic Four Annual" #1, decades after his first appearance. The same is true of Toro, partner of the android Human Torch introduced in 1940.


title: Mutant (Marvel Comics)

text: The modern concept of mutants as a distinct species independent of homo sapiens began development under Marvel writer and editor-in-chief Stan Lee in the early 1960s, as a means to create a large number of superheroes and supervillains without having to think of a separate origin for each one. As part of the concept, Lee decided that these mutant teenagers should, like ordinary ones, attend school in order to better cope with the world, in this case Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. Following the 1963 debut of this conception of mutants in the superhero series "X-Men", Marvel later introduced several additional mutant superhero teams, including The New Mutants, X-Factor, Excalibur, X-Force, and Generation X.


title: Mutant (Marvel Comics)

text: In early X-Men stories, Professor Xavier and others suggest that mutation is related to nuclear radiation, as his parents worked on the development of the atomic bomb, though later descriptions of mutation would describe it deriving from genetics. The first in-story mention of mutants in this context is in "The X-Men" #1, in which Professor Xavier explains his school to the newly-admitted Jean Grey: "You, Miss Grey, like the other students at this most exclusive school, are a "mutant"! You possess an extra power...one which ordinary humans do not!! That is why I call my students..."X-Men", for "Ex"-tra power!" This issue also features the first reference to mutants as the species "Homo Superior" by Magneto. Following the relaunch under writer Chris Claremont, narration in stories taking place on Muir Island described Moira MacTaggert as "second only to Charles Xavier as an authority on genetic mutation." In the New Mutants graphic novel, after witnessing Rahne Sinclair demonstrate her mutant shapeshifting ability, MacTaggert refers to "an anomalous DNA matrix" in her blood signaling that Sinclair "could be a mutant." The cause of mutation was elaborated upon in the first issue of the spin-off series "X-Factor," in which Cameron Hodge refers to "people who possess the X-Factor mutation in their genetic makeup." This genetic mutation was later dubbed the X-Gene. At one point, Beast states that the X-Gene is located on the 23rd chromosome; the process described is that the gene activates mutation producing a protein stimulating chemical signals which induce mutations on other genes.


title: Mutant (Marvel Comics)

text: Mutations are depicted as generally manifesting during adolescence, however this is not universal. Some mutants, such as Nightcrawler, are visibly mutated from birth, while others like Magneto do not develop their abilities until adulthood. Some mutants are not even aware of their latent mutations unless deliberately activated, such as Polaris, whose manifestation was triggered with technological aid.


title: Mutant (Marvel Comics)

text: In the 2022 storyline, "A.X.E.: Judgment Day", mutants are discovered by Eternals to be an offshoot of the Deviant race, triggering efforts by the Eternals' leader Druig to wipe them out, giving the mutants and explicit link to the Celestials and to the publisher's cosmic storylines. In the series' conclusion, new Prime Eternal Zuras confirms the end of hostilities with the mutants and proposed a formal treaty alliance, explaining to Storm, "You mutants share some DNA with Deviants? It's of little matter. Until a mutant triggers our physiological 'excess deviation' response, you're not Deviants in the way that counts. You're just human."


title: Mutant (Marvel Comics)

text: An Omega-level mutant is one with the most powerful genetic potential of their mutant abilities. The term was first seen in the 1986 issue "Uncanny X-Men" #208 as "Class Omega", but was completely unexplained beyond the obvious implication of it referring to an exceptional level of power. The term was not seen again until the 2001 limited series "X-Men Forever". For a time, no firm definition was offered in the comics, leading to several conflicting opinions and debates as to who or what qualified as Omega-level. In July 2019, Marvel provided an official definition in the X-Men relaunch starting in "House of X" by Jonathan Hickman [emphasis in original]:


title: Mutant (Marvel Comics)

text: From "X of Swords" event, many new Omega-level mutants were introduced from the island of Arakko. The (equivalent of the Quiet Council of Krakoa), is composed mostly of Omega-level mutants.


title: Mutant (Marvel Comics)

text: Franklin Richards was recently considered beyond Omega-level, however it has since been revealed that he is not actually a mutant, instead he unconsciously altered his DNA when he was a child to make it appear that he had the X-Gene to make himself special. Due to this revelation, he is no longer welcome on Krakoa.


title: Mutant (Marvel Comics)

text: Introduced in Chris Claremont's "X-Treme X-Men", a character known as Vargas claims to be humanity's natural response to mutants. Vargas was born at the epitome of peak physical skill, having superhuman levels of strength, speed, reflexes, agility, stamina, and durability. Vargas also seems to be immune to various mutant abilities (such as Rogue's absorption and Psylocke's telekinetic blast).


title: Mutant (Marvel Comics)

text: Created by Rob Liefeld, Externals are immortal mutants whose powers have allowed them to exist for centuries. Eventually, most of the Externals are killed by Selene. Gideon, Selene, and Apocalypse are examples of Externals.


title: Mutant (Marvel Comics)

text: Cheyarafim and Neyaphem first appear in "Uncanny X-Men" #429. According to the character Azazel, the Cheyarafim are a group of angel-like mutants who were the traditional enemies of the Neyaphem, a demonic-looking group of mutants who lived in Biblical times. The Cheyarafim were fanatics who had a strict, absolutist view of morality which led them into conflict with the Neyaphem. This escalated into a holy war, causing the Neyaphem to be exiled into an alternate dimension. What happened to the Cheyarafim after this has not been revealed.


title: Mutant (Marvel Comics)

text: The X-Man Angel is said to be descended from Cheyarafim, while Nightcrawler is supposedly the son of a Neyaphem, Azazel.


title: Mutant (Marvel Comics)

text: Maximus Lobo claims to be a part of a mutant sub-species of feral, wolf-like mutants, whom he calls the Dominant Species. He later tries to recruit Wolf Cub into his ranks, to no avail. A few years later, another mutant, Romulus, claims that some human mutants evolved from canines instead of primates. Mutants who are a part of this group include Romulus, Wolverine, Daken, Sabretooth, Wolfsbane, Wild Child, Thornn, Feral, and Wolf Cub, with X-23 and the Native as other likely candidates. These groups appear to be one and the same.


title: Mutant (Marvel Comics)

text: Introduced in the second series of "X-Factor", a changeling is a mutant whose powers manifest at birth. Jamie Madrox and Damian Tryp are examples of this sub-class.


title: Mutant (Marvel Comics)

text: Humans are not the only species to have mutant subspecies. Ariel, Longshot, Cerise, Ultra Girl, and Warlock are examples of mutant aliens.


title: Mutant (Marvel Comics)

text: In the pages of "House of X and Powers of X," the Chimeras are genetically-altered humanoid mutants who are combined from the DNA of past mutants so that they would have combinations of their power set and also propagate the mutant population. Third generation Chimeras have a 10% failure rate making them unable to be warriors. Fourth generation Chimeras have a corrupted hive mind. They were more common in Moira MacTaggert's ninth life where they were created in Mister Sinister's Breeding Pits on Mars. Examples of these Chimeras are Cardinal (who has the genetic template of Francis Fanny, Nightcrawler, and Rachel Summers), North (who has the genetic template of Emma Frost and Polaris), and Rasputin IV (who has the genetic template of Colossus, Kitty Pryde, Quentin Quire, Unus the Untouchable, and X-23).


title: Mutant (Marvel Comics)

text: Sometime after the "X of Swords" storyline, Mister Sinister created his first Chimera by splicing his own DNA samples with the DNA samples of an Arraki named Tarn the Uncaring. When the experiment proved to be a failure and the Quiet Council of Krakoa found out about it, Mister Sinister is undeterred in his next plans to research the Chimeras.


title: Mutant (Marvel Comics)

text: As a fictional oppressed minority, mutants are often used as extended metaphors for real-world people and situations. In 1982, "X-Men" writer Chris Claremont said, "[mutants] are hated, feared and despised collectively by humanity for no other reason than that they are mutants. So what we have here, intended or not, is a book that is about racism, bigotry and prejudice."


title: Mutant (Marvel Comics)

text: Danny Fingeroth writes extensively in his book "Superman on the Couch" about the appeal of mutants and their meaning to society:


title: Mutant (Marvel Comics)

text: An obvious parallel between homosexuality and mutation is drawn in the feature film "X2", where Iceman's mother asks, "Have you tried "not" being a mutant?" This question (or various forms thereof) is common among parents who find out their children are gay. In the 2011 film "", Hank McCoy (later known as Beast), upon being outed to a colleague as a mutant, responds, "You didn't ask, so I didn't tell."


title: Mutant (Marvel Comics)

text: Within the "Earth X" universe, the powers of the vast majority of Marvel's human superheroes were revealed to have been the result of genetic manipulation by the Celestials millions of years in the past.


title: Mutant (Marvel Comics)

text: In the Ultimate Marvel universe within the pages of the "Ultimate Origins" #1, it is revealed that super-powered "mutants" were artificially created via genetic modification by the Weapon X program in a laboratory in Alberta, Canada in October 1943. The project was an attempt to produce a supersoldier, inspired by the existence of Captain America. James Howlett was the first individual to be so modified. At some later point, possibly during a confrontation between Magneto and his parents, the mutant trigger was released into the environment worldwide, leading to the appearance of mutants in the general population. Following the events of the "Ultimatum" storyline, information concerning the origins of mutancy was made public and steps were taken in the US to make being a mutant illegal. While the move apparently has majority support among the non-mutant population, a vocal minority has voiced concern that it will lead to witch-hunts and genocide.


title: Mutant (Marvel Comics)

text: Following Disney's acquisition of 21st Century Fox in 2019, the film rights to the X-Men and other mutant characters reverted to Marvel Studios. Since 2022, the mutant race have appeared in various media set within the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) media franchise:


title: Devadasi

text: In India, a devadasi was a female artist who was dedicated to the worship and service of a deity or a temple for the rest of her life. The dedication took place in a ceremony that was somewhat similar to a marriage ceremony. In addition to taking care of the temple and performing rituals, these women also learned and practiced classical Indian artistic traditions such as Bharatanatyam, Mohiniyattam, Kuchipudi, and Odissi. Their social status was high as dance and music were an essential part of temple worship.


title: Devadasi

text: Between the sixth and thirteenth centuries, Devadasis had a high rank and dignity in society and were exceptionally affluent as they were seen as the protectors of the arts. During this period royal patrons provided them with gifts of land, property, and jewellery. After becoming Devadasis, the women would spend their time learning religious rites, rituals, and dances. Devadasis were expected to live a life of celibacy, however, there have been instances of exceptions.


title: Devadasi

text: During the period of British rule in the Indian subcontinent, kings who were the patrons of temples lost their power, thus the temple artist communities also lost their significance. As a result, Devadasis were left without their traditional means of support and patronage and were now commonly associated with temple prostitution. The practice of Devadasi was banned during British rule, starting with the Bombay Devadasi Protection Act in 1934. The colonial view of Devadasi practices remains debated as the British colonial government were unable to distinguish the Devadasis from non-religious street dancers.


title: Devadasi

text: The Devadasi system though is still in existence in rudimentary form but with social activism state governments of different states at different times outlawed this ritual such as Andhra Pradesh Devdasis (Prohibition of dedication) Act, 1988, or the Madras Devdasis Act 1947.


title: Devadasi

text: The practice became significant when one of the great queens of the Somavamshi dynasty decided that in order to honour the gods, certain women who were trained in classical dancing, should be married to the deities. The inception of the practice was one that was imbued with great respect as the women who were chosen to become "devadasi" were subject to two great honors: first, because they were literally married to the deity, they were to be treated as if they were the goddess Lakshmi herself, and second, the women were honored because they were considered to be “those great women who (could) control natural human impulses, their five senses and [could] submit themselves completely to God.” As they were married to an immortal, the women were considered to be auspicious. Their main duties, in addition to committing to a life without marriage (to a mortal, in the common, popular sense), were to take care of a temple and learn classical Indian dances, usually the Bharatnatyam, which they would perform at temple rituals. Patrons were considered to have higher status for their ability to financially sponsor Devadasis.


title: Devadasi

text: According to temple worship rules, or Agamas, dance and music are the necessary aspects of daily puja for temple deities. Devadasis were known by various local terms such as "Basivi" in Karnataka, "Matangi" in Maharashtra, and "Kalavantin" in Goa and Damaon. Devadasis were also known as "Jogini", "Venkatasani", "Nailis", "Muralis" and "Theradiyan". Devadasi is sometimes referred to as a caste (varna); however some question the accuracy of this usage. "According to the devadasi themselves there exists a devdasi 'way of life' or 'professional ethic' (vritti, murai) but not a devadasi jāti (sub-caste). Later, the office of devdasi became hereditary but it did not confer the right to work without adequate qualification" (Amrit Srinivasan, 1985). In Europe the term "bayadere" (from , from , literally "dancer") was occasionally used.


title: Devadasi

text: The definite origin of the Devadasi tradition is murky due to its early inception. The first known mention of a Devadasi is to a girl named Amrapali, who was declared nagarvadhu by the king during the time of the Buddha. Many scholars have noted that the tradition has no basis in scriptures. A.S. Altekar states that, "the custom of association of dancing girls with temples is unknown to "Jataka" literature. It is not mentioned by Greek writers, and the Arthashastra, which describes in detail the life of "Ganik", is silent about it."


title: Devadasi

text: The tradition of female artists in temples is said to have developed during the 3rd century CE. A reference to such dancers is found in the Meghadūta of Kālidāsa, a classical poet and Sanskrit writer of the Gupta Empire. The first confirmed reference to a Devadasi was during the Keshari Dynasty in the 6th century CE in South India. Other sources include the works of authors such as Xuanzang, a Chinese traveller, and Kalhana, a Kashmiri historian. An inscription dated to the 11th century suggests that there were 400 "Devadasi" attached to the Tanjore temple in South India. Similarly, there were 500 "Devdasi" at the "Someshwer" shrine of Gujarat. Between the 6th and 13th centuries, "Devadasi" had a high rank and dignity in society and were exceptionally affluent as they were seen as the protectors of the arts. During this period royal patrons provided them with gifts of land, property, and jewellery.


title: Devadasi

text: The Chola empire supported the Devdasi system; in Tamil Devdasis were known as "Devar Adigalar", ("Deva" means "Divine" and "Adigalar" "Servants", i.e. "Servants of the Divine"). Both male and female Devadasi were dedicated to the service of a temple and its deity. The Chola empire developed the tradition of music and dance employed during temple festivals.


title: Devadasi

text: Inscriptions indicate that 400 dancers, along with their gurus and orchestras, were maintained by the Brihadeesvarar temple, Thanjavur, with munificent grants including the daily disbursement of oil, turmeric, betel leaves, and nuts. Nattuvanars were the male accompanists of the Devadasis during their performances. The Nattuvanars conducted the orchestra while the Devadasi performed her service. Inscriptions indicate that Nattuvanars taught the Chola princess Kuntavai.


title: Devadasi

text: As the Chola empire expanded in wealth and size, more temples were built throughout the country. Soon other emperors started imitating the Chola empire and adopted Devadasi systems of their own.


title: Devadasi

text: A community of Karnataka living in Andhra Pradesh, the "Natavalollu" were are also known as "Nattuvaru", "Bogam", "Bhogam", and "Kalavanthulu".


title: Devadasi

text: It was customary in the Krishna district of Tenali for each family to give one girl to the Devadasi system. These dancers were known as "Jakkulas". As part of a social reform, a written agreement was made to formally end the practice.


title: Devadasi

text: "Ādapāpas" were female attendants to the ladies of the families of Zamindars. Ādapāpas led a life of prostitution as they were not allowed to marry. In some places such as the Krishna and Godāvari districts, Ādapāpas were known as "Khasa" or "Khasavandlu".


title: Devadasi

text: "Natavalollu"/"Kalawants" were a community that was distributed throughout the state of Andhra Pradesh. They were also referred to as "Devadasi", "Bogamvallu", "Ganikulu", and "Sani". "Kalavantulu" means one who is engaged in art. Davesh Soneji writes that, "By the early twenty-first century, large numbers of women in the Kalavanthulu community had converted to Christianity, because this promised them a stable monthly income as members of the new rehabilitation programs of these missions."


title: Devadasi

text: In the eastern state of Odisha Devadasis were known colloquially as Maharis of the Jagannath temple complex. The term "Devadasi" referred to the women who danced inside the temple. Devadasi, or mahari, means "those great women who can control natural human impulses, their five senses and can submit themselves completely to God (Vachaspati)." Mahari means "Mahan Nari" that is, the woman belonging to God. Sri Chaitanayadev had defined Devadasis as "Sebayatas" who served God through dance and music. Pankaj Charan Das, the oldest guru of Odissi classical dance and who comes from a Mahari family, defines Mahari as "Maha Ripu-Ari", one who conquers the five main ripus - enemies.


title: Devadasi

text: Unlike other parts of India, the Odia Mahari Devadasis were never sexually liberal and were expected to remain celibate upon becoming Devadasis. However, there are records of Odia Mahari Devadasi having relationships and children. It is said that the daughters of the Maharis of the Jagannath temple took to other professions such as nursing in the mid-20th century due to stigma attached to their inherent profession, which may suggest prostitution.


title: Devadasi

text: The 1956 Orissa Gazette lists nine Devadasis and eleven temple musicians. By 1980, only four Devadasis were left – Harapriya, Kokilaprabha, Parashmani, and Shashimani. By 1998, only Shashimani and Parashmani were still alive. The daily ritualistic dance had stopped, although Shashimani and Parashmani served in a few of the yearly temple rituals such as "Nabakalebara", "Nanda Utsava", and "Duara Paka" during "Bahuda Jatra". The last of the Devadasis, Shashimani, died on 19 March 2015, at the age of 92.


title: Devadasi

text: In the southern Indian state of Karnataka the Devadasi system was practiced for over 10 centuries. Chief among them was the Yellamma cult.


title: Devadasi

text: There are many stories about the origin of the Yellamma cult. The most popular story indicates that Renuka was the daughter of a Brahmin, married the sage Jamadagni, and was the mother of five sons. She used to bring water from the Malaprabha river for the sage's worship and rituals. One day at the river she saw a group of youths engaged in water sports and forgot to return home in time for her husband's worship and rituals, which made Jamadagni question her chastity. He ordered their sons one by one to punish their mother, but four of them refused on one pretext or the other. The sage cursed them to become eunuchs and had Renuka beheaded by his fifth son, Parashuram. To everybody's astonishment, Renuka's head multiplied by tens and hundreds and moved to different regions. This miracle inspired her four eunuch sons as well as others to become her followers and worship her head.


title: Devadasi

text: Reformists and abolitionists considered the Devadasi a social evil due to their way of life, which seemed like prostitution according to the Western eye. The first anti-Nautch and anti-dedication movement began in 1882. The portrayal of the Devadasi system as "prostitution" was done to advertise the supposed grotesqueness of Indian culture for political means, even though the British colonial authorities officially maintained most brothels in India.


title: Devadasi

text: In later period the devadasis were equated with prostitutes and their children were again given away to temples. Stigma was attached to a particular caste of devadasis and they were seen as prostitutes. After a certain age they were left to fend for themselves.


title: Devadasi

text: As the Devadasi were equated with prostitutes, they also became associated with the spread of the venereal disease syphilis in India. During the British colonial period many British soldiers were exposed to venereal diseases in brothels, and Devadasis were misunderstood to be responsible. In an effort to control the spread of venereal disease the British Government mandated that all prostitutes register themselves. Devadasis were required to register, as they were thought to be prostitutes by the British Government.<ref name="Soneji 2012 https://archive.org/details/unfinishedgestur00sone/page/n126 112"></ref>


title: Devadasi

text: In addition to obligatory registration, the British Government also established institutions known as Lock Hospitals where women were brought in order to be treated for venereal diseases. However, many of the women admitted to these hospitals, including many Devadasi, were identified through the registry and then forcibly brought to the hospitals. A number of these women were confined in the hospitals permanently.


title: Devadasi

text: Today, Sitavva Joddati of Karnataka helps former Devadasi find a foothold in mainstream society. In 1982 she was made a Devadasi at age seven. In 1997 she began the non-governmental organisation MASS (Mahila Abhivrudhi-Samrakshana Sansthe) in the Belagavi district of Ghataprabha to help women like her escape the Devadasi system and live a life of dignity. Between 1997 and 2017 MASS helped over 4,800 Devadasis reintegrate into mainstream society. In 2018 she received the Padmashri award at age 43.


title: Devadasi

text: Rukmini Devi Arundale, a theosophist trained in ballet, sought to re-appropriate the Devadasi dance traditions in a context perceived respectably by Indian society which had by then adopted the western morales. She altered the dance repertoire to exclude pieces perceived as erotic in their description of a deity. She also systematized the dance in a way that incorporated the extension and use of space associated with dance traditions such as ballet. The product of this transformation was a new version of Bharatnatyam, which she taught professionally at the "Kalakshetra" school she established in Madras. Bharatnatyam is commonly seen as a very ancient dance tradition associated with the Natyasastra. However, Bharatnatyam as it is performed and known today is actually a product of Arundale's recent endeavour to remove the Devadasi dance tradition from the perceived immoral context associated with the Devadasi community and bring it into the upper caste performance milieu. She also adopted a lot of technical elements of Ballet into the modified form of Bharathanatyam. To give the dance form a measure of respect E Krishna Iyer and Rukmini Devi Arundale proposed a resolution at a 1932 meeting of the Madras Music Academy to rename "Sadiraattam" as "Bharatanatyam" or Indian dance.


title: Devadasi

text: The first legal initiative to outlaw the Devadasi system dates back to the 1934 Bombay Devadasi Protection Act. This act pertained to the Bombay province as it existed in the British Raj. The Bombay Devadasi Protection Act made dedication of women illegal, whether consensual or not. In 1947, the year of Indian independence, the Madras Devadasi (Prevention of Dedication) Act outlawed dedication in the southern Madras Presidency. The Devadasi system was formally outlawed in all of India in 1988, although some Devadasis still practice the system illegally.


title: Devadasi

text: From the late medieval period until 1910, the Pottukattu or "tali-tying" dedication ceremony, was a widely advertised community event requiring the full cooperation of the local religious authorities. It initiated a young girl into the Devadasi profession and was performed in the temple by a priest. In the Hindu tradition, marriage is viewed as the only religious initiation ("diksha") permissible to women. Thus, the dedication was a symbolic "marriage" of the pubescent girl to the temple's deity.


title: Devadasi

text: In the "sadanku" or puberty ceremonies, the Devadasi initiate began her marriage with an emblem of the god borrowed from the temple as a stand-in bridegroom. From then onward, the Devadasi was considered a "nitya sumangali", a woman eternally free from the adversity of widowhood. She would then perform her ritual and artistic duties in the temple. The puberty ceremonies were not only a religious occasion, but also a community feast and celebration in which the local elites also participated.


title: Devadasi

text: The 1956 Orissa Gazette references Devadasis dances. They had two daily rituals. The "Bahara Gaaunis" would dance at the "Sakaala Dhupa". After breakfast Lord Jagannatha would give Darshana to the "bhaktas" (the devotees). In the main hall, a Devadasi, accompanied by musicians and the Rajaguru (the court guru), would dance standing near the Garuda stambha (pillar). They would perform only pure dance, and could be watched by the audience. The "Bhitara Gaunis" would sing at the "Badashinghara", the main ceremony for ornamenting and dressing the God. At bedtime, Lord Jagannatha would first be served by male Sebayatas, who would fan him and decorate him with flowers. After they left, a "Bhitara Gaauni" would then enter the room, stand near the door (Jaya Vijaya), sing Gita Govinda songs, and perhaps perform a ritualistic dance. Later she would come out and announce that the Lord has gone to sleep and the guard would close the main gate.


title: Devadasi

text: A Devadasi was believed to be immune from widowhood and was called "akhanda saubhagyavati" ("woman never separated from good fortune"). Since she was wedded to a divine deity, she was supposed to be one of the especially welcome guests at weddings and was regarded as a bearer of good fortune. At weddings, people would receive a string of the "tali" (wedding lock) prepared by her, threaded with a few beads from her own necklace. The presence of a Devadasi on any religious occasion in the house of a dvija member was regarded as sacred and she was treated with due respect, and was presented with gifts.


title: Devadasi

text: Indian National Commission for Women, which is mandated to protect and promote the welfare of women, collected information on the prevalence of Devadasi culture in various states. The government of Odisha stated that the Devadasi system is not prevalent in the state. There is only one Devadasi in Odisha, in a Puri temple. In March 2015, a newspaper report said that the last devadasi, Sashimoni, attached to Jagannath temple had died, bringing the curtain down on the institution.


title: Devadasi

text: Similarly, the government of Tamil Nadu wrote that this system has been eradicated and there are now no Devadasis in the state. Andhra Pradesh has identified 16,624 Devadasis within its state. The Karnataka State Women's University found more than 80,000 Devadasi Karnataka in 2018; while a government study found 40,600 in 2008. The government of Maharashtra did not provide the information as sought by the commission. However, the state government provided statistical data regarding the survey conducted by them to sanction a "Devadasi Maintenance Allowance". A total of 8,793 applications were received and after conducting a survey 6,314 were rejected and 2,479 Devadasis were declared eligible for the allowance. At the time of sending the information, 1,432 Devadasis were receiving this allowance.


title: Devadasi

text: According to a study by the Joint Women's Programme of Bangalore for National Commission for Women, girls who have to accept becoming a Devadasi, few reasons were provided, which included dumbness, deafness, poverty, and others. The life expectancy of Devadasi girls is low compared to the average of the country, it is rare to find Devadasis older than fifty.


title: Pamela Stephenson

text: Pamela Helen Stephenson, Lady Connolly (born 4 December 1949) is a New Zealand-born psychologist, writer, and performer who is now a resident in both the United Kingdom and the United States. She is best known for her work as an actress and comedian during the 1980s, particularly in "Not the Nine O'Clock News; History of the World, Part I;" and "Superman III." She has written several books, which include a biography of her husband Sir Billy Connolly, and presented a psychology-based interview show called "Shrink Rap" on British and Australian television.


title: Pamela Stephenson

text: Pamela Helen Stephenson was born on 4 December 1949 in Takapuna, Auckland. In 1953, she moved to Australia with her scientist parents and two sisters. She attended Boronia Park Primary School in Sydney and then Sydney Church of England Girls' Grammar School, Darlinghurst.


title: Pamela Stephenson

text: According to her own autobiography, Stephenson was raped at age 16 while she was living in Australia by a 35-year-old heroin addict, contracting an STD as a consequence. She concealed the fact but was expelled from her home by her parents once her medical condition was known: "I remember the feeling well, because I still experience it every time someone rejects me, even in some relatively small way."


title: Pamela Stephenson

text: Stephenson began her acting career in television. In 1972, she starred as Elsie in the ABC-TV production of the opera "The Yeomen of the Guard". She starred during 1972–73 as Julie King in the Australian TV series "Ryan". She made numerous television and film appearances, including as Michelle Osgood in the "" episode "Catacombs of the Moon" (1976), Josephine in the 1977 ABC production of Malcolm Williamson's opera "The Violins of Saint-Jacques", and Wendy in the 1977 "New Avengers" episode "Angels of Death". She had a supporting role in the inaugural episode of Roald Dahl's "Tales of the Unexpected" in 1979. She had another recurring role as Iris Reade in the UK series "Funny Man" (1981). She made a TV comedy sketch show pilot, "Stephenson's Rocket", which was not taken up. Among her first appearances in the UK, she joined the live on-stage team at "The Comic Strip" led by Rik Mayall, Peter Richardson and Alexei Sayle at the Raymond Revuebar in Soho. This was not a happy experience, according to an interview she gave in 2014: "Doing stand-up was like a war with everyone playing this game of "I can be funnier than you".


title: Pamela Stephenson

text: Probably her most widely recognised television role was in the 1980s UK comedy television sketch show "Not The Nine O'Clock News", alongside Rowan Atkinson, Mel Smith and Griff Rhys Jones (1979–82). Her parodies included Kate Bush in a song called "Oh England, My Leotard" (referencing "Oh England My Lionheart"), and Olivia Newton-John in a song called "Typical Bloody Typical" (referencing "Physical"). She also had a small part in three episodes of the British crime-action television drama series "The Professionals". Her personal contribution as a comedian added to the success of "Not the Nine O'Clock News", and led to a collaboration with comedy and satire writers Mike Lepine and Mark Leigh. This spawned a book, "How To Be A Complete Bitch", and a board game. In 1982–83, she starred in the West End production of Joseph Papp's version of "The Pirates of Penzance".


title: Pamela Stephenson

text: She also featured in the American comedy sketch show "Saturday Night Live" (SNL) (1984–85) making her the first female "SNL" cast member born outside North America, and the second overall, joining Tony Rosato. Her characters on the show included Angela Bradleigh ("Weekend Update" commentator) and celebrity impersonations of Madonna (in a fake commercial parodying the singer's "Lucky Star" music video), Billy Idol, Debby Douillard, Peggy Ashcroft, Joan Collins and Cyndi Lauper.


title: Pamela Stephenson

text: In 1987, Stephenson participated in Prince Edward's charity television special "The Grand Knockout Tournament". In 1993, she hosted the Australian lifestyle program "Sex".


title: Pamela Stephenson

text: In December 2010, Stephenson competed in the eighth series of the BBC1 television show "Strictly Come Dancing", consistently winning praise. She received on 4 December a perfect score of 10 from each of the four judges for her Viennese Waltz, becoming only the eighth celebrity (up until that point) to do so. She then reached the final along with Matt Baker and Kara Tointon. On 18 December, with dancing partner James Jordan, she came third in the competition.


title: Pamela Stephenson

text: Also in December 2010, Stephenson was the guest on BBC Radio 3's "Private Passions", with a choice of music including Bellini, Satie and Debussy. In 2012, Stephenson travelled as a backpacker to Papua New Guinea in the Television New Zealand travel show "Intrepid Journeys".


title: Pamela Stephenson

text: Stephenson is a US-licensed psychologist who practices and publishes under the name Pamela Stephenson-Connolly. In her private practice in Beverly Hills, she provided mental health care to adult individuals and couples for a range of psychological complaints. Stephenson's professional specialties include human sexuality. She was founder and president of the Los Angeles Sexuality Center, an online sexual research engine that operated for five years until she moved to New York. Stephenson is a past Secretary of the American Association of Sex Educators, Counselors and Therapists (AASECT). In 2002 and 2003, she served as conference program co-chair of the annual AASECT Conference. Stephenson is also a member of the Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality, the Harry Benjamin International Gender Dysphoria Association and the International Society for the Study of Women's Sexual Health.


title: Pamela Stephenson

text: Stephenson was an adjunct professor at the California Graduate Institute (CGI – now a part of the Chicago School of Professional Psychology) for six years. She taught Human Sexuality and Sex Therapy, Advanced Human Sexuality and Sex Therapy, and Clinical Practicum in Sex Therapy. She also taught clinical hypnosis at CGI. She received her PhD in 1996, and then in 2009 received an Honorary Doctorate in Science from the Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen for her contributions to the field of human sexuality.


title: Pamela Stephenson

text: Stephenson has completed research projects and other field studies on the gender-liminal people of Samoa, Tonga, and India. She has also presented the TV show "Shrink Rap", in which she conducted psychologically-based interviews with well-known people, including Salman Rushdie, Carrie Fisher and Robin Williams. The programme premièred on More4 on 2 April 2007 and was aired in Australia on ABC2 in 2008.


title: Pamela Stephenson

text: From the 1980s, Stephenson campaigned to raise awareness of food additives and colours, particularly in children's confectionery. She appeared on the daily variety show "Midday with Ray Martin", and painted a picture using the colours she extracted from children's lollies in order to demonstrate how many are contained in them. She became involved in the Parents for Safe Food Movement. In 2010, Stephenson travelled to the Democratic Republic of Congo with the international medical aid charity Merlin to meet the survivors of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV).


title: Pamela Stephenson

text: Stephenson married actor Nicholas Ball in 1978 but left him shortly afterwards to be with Billy Connolly. She lived with Connolly for ten years before they married in Fiji on 20 December 1989.


title: Pamela Stephenson

text: In the 1987 United Kingdom general election, Stephenson was a candidate in the Windsor and Maidenhead constituency on behalf of the Blancmange Throwers Party; she came sixth with 328 votes.


title: Pamela Stephenson

text: In late 2004, she sold her house in Hollywood and spent a year on a sailing cruise around the South Pacific Ocean, following the path of Robert Louis Stevenson and Fanny Stevenson. She said she was inspired by Fanny (also married to a Scotsman) who had convinced her husband to travel to the tropics for the sake of his fragile health. Her travels were documented in her book "Treasure Islands". The boat she bought was renamed ""Takapuna"" after her birthplace.


title: Pamela Stephenson

text: A year later, she went on another voyage to discover the fate of an ancestor, a sailing captain who had disappeared in the South Seas. The voyage was the subject of a documentary for Australian television, "Murder or Mutiny".


title: Pamela Stephenson

text: Stephenson formed a dance company in collaboration with Brazilian lambazouk dancer Braz Dos Santos, and wrote and produced a dance-drama stage production called "Brazouka". Harley Medcalf was lead producer and Arlene Phillips director. The biographical show told the story of Dos Santos and his dancing. Dos Santos also performed in the show. It premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August 2014 and toured South Africa and Australia through January 2015.


title: Pamela Stephenson

text: As an author, Pamela Connolly has published seven books. Her biography "Billy" topped best-seller lists in Britain and several other countries. "Head Case" describes self-help approaches for a variety of mental health problems. She has been a regular contributor to "Psychologies" magazine, writes a column on relationships for "The Australian Women's Weekly" and has a weekly sex therapy column in "The Guardian", written under the name Pamela Stephenson Connolly.


title: Balance sheet

text: In financial accounting, a balance sheet (also known as statement of financial position or statement of financial condition) is a summary of the financial balances of an individual or organization, whether it be a sole proprietorship, a business partnership, a corporation, private limited company or other organization such as government or not-for-profit entity. Assets, liabilities and ownership equity are listed as of a specific date, such as the end of its financial year. A balance sheet is often described as a "snapshot of a company's financial condition". Of the four basic financial statements, the balance sheet is the only statement which applies to a single point in time of a business's calendar year.


title: Balance sheet

text: A standard company balance sheet has two sides: assets on the left, and financing on the right–which itself has two parts; liabilities and ownership equity. The main categories of assets are usually listed first, and typically in order of liquidity. Assets are followed by the liabilities. The difference between the assets and the liabilities is known as equity or the net assets or the net worth or capital of the company and according to the accounting equation, net worth must equal assets minus liabilities.


title: Balance sheet

text: Another way to look at the balance sheet equation is that total assets equals liabilities plus owner's equity. Looking at the equation in this way shows how assets were financed: either by borrowing money (liability) or by using the owner's money (owner's or shareholders' equity). Balance sheets are usually presented with assets in one section and liabilities and net worth in the other section with the two sections "balancing".


title: Balance sheet

text: A business operating entirely in cash can measure its profits by withdrawing the entire bank balance at the end of the period, plus any cash in hand. However, many businesses are not paid immediately; they build up inventories of goods and acquire buildings and equipment. In other words: businesses have assets and so they cannot, even if they want to, immediately turn these into cash at the end of each period. Often, these businesses owe money to suppliers and to tax authorities, and the proprietors do not withdraw all their original capital and profits at the end of each period. In other words, businesses also have liabilities.


title: Balance sheet

text: A balance sheet summarizes an organization's or individual's assets, equity and liabilities at a specific point in time. Two forms of balance sheet exist. They are the report form and account form. Individuals and small businesses tend to have simple balance sheets. Larger businesses tend to have more complex balance sheets, and these are presented in the organization's annual report. Large businesses also may prepare balance sheets for segments of their businesses. A balance sheet is often presented alongside one for a different point in time (typically the previous year) for comparison.


title: Balance sheet

text: A personal balance sheet lists current assets such as cash in checking accounts and savings accounts, long-term assets such as common stock and real estate, current liabilities such as loan debt and mortgage debt due, or overdue, long-term liabilities such as mortgage and other loan debt. Securities and real estate values are listed at market value rather than at historical cost or cost basis. Personal net worth is the difference between an individual's total assets and total liabilities.


title: Balance sheet

text: A small business balance sheet lists current assets such as cash, accounts receivable, and inventory, fixed assets such as land, buildings, and equipment, intangible assets such as patents, and liabilities such as accounts payable, accrued expenses, and long-term debt. Contingent liabilities such as warranties are noted in the footnotes to the balance sheet. The small business's equity is the difference between total assets and total liabilities.


title: Balance sheet

text: Guidelines for balance sheets of public business entities are given by the International Accounting Standards Board and numerous country-specific organizations/companies. The standard used by companies in the USA adheres to U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). The Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board (FASAB) is a United States federal advisory committee whose mission is to develop generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) for federal financial reporting entities.


title: Balance sheet

text: Balance sheet account names and usage depend on the organization's country and the type of organization. Government organizations do not generally follow standards established for individuals or businesses.


title: Balance sheet

text: If applicable to the business, summary values for the following items should be included in the balance sheet:


title: Balance sheet

text: Assets are all the things the business owns. This will include property, tools, vehicles, furniture, machinery, and so on.


title: Balance sheet

text: The net assets shown by the balance sheet equals the third part of the balance sheet, which is known as the shareholders' equity. It comprises:


title: Balance sheet

text: Formally, shareholders' equity is part of the company's liabilities: they are funds "owing" to shareholders (after payment of all other liabilities); usually, however, "liabilities" are used in the more restrictive sense of liabilities excluding shareholders' equity. The balance of assets and liabilities (including shareholders' equity) is not a coincidence. Records of the values of each account in the balance sheet are maintained using a system of accounting known as double-entry bookkeeping. In this sense, shareholders' equity by construction must equal assets minus liabilities, and thus the shareholders' equity is considered to be a residual.


title: Balance sheet

text: Balance sheet substantiation is the accounting process conducted by businesses on a regular basis to confirm that the balances held in the primary accounting system of record (e.g. SAP, Oracle, other ERP system's General Ledger) are reconciled (in balance with) with the balance and transaction records held in the same or supporting sub-systems.


title: Balance sheet

text: Balance sheet substantiation includes multiple processes including reconciliation (at a transactional or at a balance level) of the account, a process of review of the reconciliation and any pertinent supporting documentation and a formal certification (sign-off) of the account in a predetermined form driven by corporate policy.


title: Balance sheet

text: Balance sheet substantiation is an important process that is typically carried out on a monthly, quarterly and year-end basis. The results help to drive the regulatory balance sheet reporting obligations of the organization.


title: Balance sheet

text: Historically, balance sheet substantiation has been a wholly manual process, driven by spreadsheets, email and manual monitoring and reporting. In recent years software solutions have been developed to bring a level of process automation, standardization and enhanced control to the balance sheet substantiation or account certification process. These solutions are suitable for organizations with a high volume of accounts and/or personnel involved in the Balance Sheet Substantiation process and can be used to drive efficiencies, improve transparency and help to reduce risk.


title: Balance sheet

text: The following balance sheet is a very brief example prepared in accordance with IFRS. It does not show all possible kinds of assets, liabilities and equity, but it shows the most usual ones. Because it shows goodwill, it could be a consolidated balance sheet. Monetary values are not shown, summary (subtotal) rows are missing as well.


title: Balance sheet

text: Under IFRS items are always shown based on liquidity from the least liquid assets at the top, usually land and buildings to the most liquid, i.e. cash. Then liabilities and equity continue from the most immediate liability to be paid (usual account payable) to the least i.e. long-term debt such as mortgages and owner's equity at the very bottom.


title: Plácido Domingo

text: José Plácido Domingo Embil (born 21 January 1941) is a Spanish opera singer, conductor, and arts administrator. He has recorded over a hundred complete operas and is well known for his versatility, regularly performing in Italian, French, German, Spanish, English and Russian in the most prestigious opera houses in the world. Although primarily a "lirico-spinto" tenor for most of his career, especially popular for his Cavaradossi, Hoffmann, Don José and Canio, he quickly moved into more dramatic roles, becoming the most acclaimed Otello of his generation. In the early 2010s, he transitioned from the tenor repertory into exclusively baritone parts, most notably Simon Boccanegra. As of 2020, he has performed 151 different roles.


title: Plácido Domingo

text: Domingo has also achieved significant success as a crossover artist, especially in the genres of Latin and popular music. In addition to winning fourteen Grammy and Latin Grammy Awards, several of his records have gone silver, gold, platinum and multi-platinum. His first pop album, "Perhaps Love" (1981), spread his fame beyond the opera world. The title song, performed as a duet with country and folk singer John Denver, has sold almost four million copies and helped lead to numerous television appearances for the tenor. He also starred in many cinematically released and televised opera movies, particularly under the direction of Franco Zeffirelli. In 1990, he began singing with fellow tenors Luciano Pavarotti and José Carreras as part of The Three Tenors. The first Three Tenors recording became the best-selling classical album of all time.


title: Plácido Domingo

text: Growing up working in his parents' zarzuela company in Mexico, Domingo has since regularly promoted this form of Spanish opera. He also increasingly conducts operas and concerts and was the general director of the Los Angeles Opera in California from 2017 to 2019. He was initially the artistic director and later general director of the Washington National Opera from 1996 to 2011. He has been involved in numerous humanitarian works, as well as efforts to help young opera singers, including starting and running the international singing competition, Operalia. In the years 2019-2021 he has performed continuously on stages in Berlin, Budapest, Cologne, Graz, Madrid, Mérida, Milan, Monte Carlo, Moscow, Munich, Palermo, Rome, Salzburg, Sofia, Verona, Versailles, Vienna and Zurich.


title: Plácido Domingo

text: Plácido Domingo was born on 21 January 1941 in the Retiro district of Madrid, Spain. His mother recalled that she and her husband knew he would be a musician from the age of five, due to his ability to hum complex music from a zarzuela after seeing a performance of it. In 1949, just days before his eighth birthday, he moved to Mexico with his family. His parents, both singers, had decided to start a zarzuela company there after a successful tour of Latin America. Soon after arriving in Mexico, Domingo won a singing contest for boys, and his parents occasionally recruited him and his sister for children's roles in their zarzuela productions. Domingo studied piano from a young age, at first privately and later at the National Conservatory of Music in Mexico City, which he entered when he was fourteen. At the conservatory, he also attended conducting classes taught by Igor Markevitch and studied voice under Carlo Morelli, the brother of Renato Zanelli. The two brothers were famous practitioners of both baritone and tenor roles. Domingo's conservatory classes constituted the entirety of his formal vocal instruction; he never studied privately with a singing teacher.


title: Plácido Domingo

text: In 1957, at age sixteen, Domingo made his first professional appearance, accompanying his mother on the piano at a concert at Mérida, Yucatán. The same year he made his major zarzuela debut in Manuel Fernández Caballero's , singing a baritone role. At that time, he was working with his parents' zarzuela company, eventually taking several baritone roles and acting as an accompanist for other singers. The following year, the tenor in another company's touring production of "Luisa Fernanda" fell ill. In his first performance as a tenor, Domingo replaced the ailing singer, although he feared the part's tessitura was too high for him. Later that same year, he sang the tenor role of Rafael in the Spanish opera "El gato montés", illustrating his willingness to assay the tenor range, even as he still considered himself a baritone. On 12 May 1959 at the Teatro Degollado in Guadalajara, he appeared in the baritone role (sometimes sung by basses) of Pascual in Emilio Arrieta's . Like "El gato montés", "Marina" is an opera composed in the zarzuela musical style rather than a zarzuela proper, although both are usually performed by zarzuela companies. In addition to his work with zarzuelas, among his earliest performances was a minor role in the first Latin American production of the musical "My Fair Lady", in which he was also the assistant conductor and assistant coach. While he was a member, the company gave 185 performances of the musical in various cities in Mexico.


title: Plácido Domingo

text: In 1959, Domingo auditioned for the Mexico National Opera at the Palacio de Béllas Artes as a baritone, but was then asked to sight-read the tenor aria "Amor ti vieta" from "Fedora". He was accepted at the National Opera as a tenor comprimario and as a tutor for other singers. In what he considered his operatic debut, Domingo sang the minor role of Borsa in Verdi's "Rigoletto" on September 23 at the Palacio de Bellas Artes in a production with veteran American baritone Cornell MacNeil and bass-baritone Norman Treigle. He later appeared as the Padre Confessor in "Dialogues of the Carmelites", Altoum and Pang in "Turandot", Normanno and Arturo in "Lucia di Lammermoor" among other small parts. While at the National Opera, he also appeared in a production of Lehár's operetta, "The Merry Widow", in which he alternated as Camille and Danilo (both originally created as tenor roles, although the latter is often sung by baritones). Domingo made his debut in Verdi's "Otello" at Béllas Artes at age 21 in the summer of 1962 not in the title rôle for which he has now been internationally famous for decades as one of its greatest interpreters, but in the small comprimario part of Cassio.


title: Plácido Domingo

text: To supplement his income, the young Domingo played the piano for a ballet company, as well as for a program on Mexico's newly founded cultural television station. The program consisted of excerpts from zarzuelas, operettas, operas, and musical comedies. He acted in a few small parts while at the theater in plays by Federico García Lorca, Luigi Pirandello, and Anton Chekhov. He also provided song arrangements and backup vocals for "Los Camisas Negras" in the late 1950s, a rock-and-roll band led by César Costa. In his autobiography, Domingo reflected on the benefits of his busy and varied career as a teenager: "Today, when people ask me how I manage to hold up under my extremely heavy work load, I answer that I became accustomed to intense activity very early in my life and that I love it now as I loved it then."


title: Plácido Domingo

text: In 1961, Domingo made his operatic debut in a leading role as Alfredo in "La traviata" at the Teatro de la Ciudad in Monterrey. Later the same year, he made his debut in the United States with the Dallas Civic Opera, where he sang the role of Arturo in "Lucia di Lammermoor" opposite Joan Sutherland in the title role and Ettore Bastianini as Enrico. In 1962, he returned to Texas to sing the role of Edgardo in the same opera with Lily Pons at the Fort Worth Opera. It would be the soprano's final operatic performance. That November Domingo sang the second tenor role of Cassio to Mario del Monaco's celebrated Otello in Hartford, Connecticut. At the end of 1962, he signed a six-month contract with the Israel National Opera in Tel Aviv, but later extended the contract and stayed for two and a half years, singing 280 performances of 12 different roles.


title: Plácido Domingo

text: In June 1965, after finishing his contract in Tel Aviv, Domingo auditioned at the New York City Opera. He was hired to make his New York debut as Don José in Bizet's "Carmen" with the company, but his debut came earlier than expected on 17 June 1965 when he filled in for an ailing tenor at the last minute in Puccini's "Madama Butterfly". In February 1966, he sang the title role in the U.S. premiere of Ginastera's "Don Rodrigo" at the New York City Opera, to much acclaim. "The New York Times" review noted: "Mr. Domingo was as impressive as ever—a big, burly, large-voiced singer who looks exactly as one would visualize a hero from Gothic Spain." The performance also marked the opening of the City Opera's new home at Lincoln Center.