ABSTRACT
The term stigma refers to the disgrace of a person. Feelings of inadequacy, diminished self-esteem, and stigma can be promoted through an individual's negative evaluation of himself or herself in relation to the standards and qualities that flourish in the symbols and representations of the electronic media. Alvin Goffman's theory on social stigma emphasizes that discrediting personal attributes are the essence of stigma. The neglect of patient needs or the personal attending to the needs of the dying may in different ways both ultimately jeopardize the patient, resulting in an increase in his or her feelings of helplessness. The glorification of physical beauty is not a new phenomenon, but, the widespread societal commitment to physicality is a salient factor in stigmatizing dying people in the 1980s and 1990s. The erotic encounter which emerges when the American male and the American female unite in sexual interplay.
