fashion Any mode of dressing or adornment that is popular during a particular time or in a particular place (i.e., the current style). It can change from one period to the next, from generation to generation. It serves as a
reflection of social and economic status, a function that explains the popu¬ larity of many styles throughout costume history; in the West, courts have been a major source of fashion. In the 19th and 20th centuries, fashion increasingly became an profitable, international industry as a result of the rise of world-renowned fashion houses and fashion magazines. See also DRESS.
Fashoda Vfo-'sho-doX Incident (Sept. 18, 1898) Climax, at Fashoda, Egyptian Sudan, of a series of territorial disputes between Britain and France. Britain had sought to extend its empire from Cairo to the Cape of Good Hope, while France had sought to extend its own from Dakar to the Sudan. A French force under Jean-Baptiste Marchand was the first to arrive at a strategically located fort at Fashoda, soon followed by a Brit¬ ish force under Lord Kitchener. After a tense standoff the French with¬ drew, but they continued to press claims to other posts in the region. In March 1899 the French and British agreed that the watershed of the Nile and the Congo rivers should mark the frontier between their spheres of influence.
Fassbinder Vfas-.bin-dorV, Rainer Werner (b. May 31, 1946, Bad Worishofen, W.Ger.—d. June 10, 1982, Munich) German film director. He was involved in the avant-garde theatre movement in Munich and helped form the Antitheatre (1967). His first full-length film (1969) was followed by 40 others, produced in a short period, including The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant (1972), Effi Briest (1974), The Marriage of Maria Braun (1979), the 15-hour Berlin Alexanderplatz (1980), Lola (1981), and Veronika Voss (1982). Regarded as a leader of the German New Wave, he helped revitalize German cinema in the 1970s and ’80s. His socially and politically conscious films often explore themes of oppression and despair.
fasteners In construction, connectors between structural members. Bolted connections are used when it is necessary to fasten two elements tightly together, especially to resist shear and bending, as in column and beam connections. Threaded metal bolts are always used in conjunction with nuts. Another threaded fastener is the screw, which has countless applications, especially for wood construction. The wood screw carves a mating thread in the wood, ensuring a tight fit. Pins are used to keep two or more elements in alignment; since the pin is not threaded, it allows for rotational movement, as in machinery parts. Riveted connections, which resist shearing forces, were in wide use for steel construction before being replaced by welding. The rivet, visibly prominent on older steel bridges, is a metal pin fastener with one end flattened into a head by hammering it through a metal gusset plate. The common nail, less resistant to shear or pull-out forces, is useful for cabinet and finishing work, where stresses are minimal.
fasting Abstaining from food, usually for religious or ethical reasons. In ancient religions it was used to prepare worshipers or priests to approach deities, to pursue a vision, to demonstrate penance for sins, or to assuage an angered deity. All the major world religions include fasting among their practices. Judaism has several fast days, notably Yom Kippur. For Christians Lent is set aside as a 40-day period of penitence before Easter, including the traditional fast days of Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. In Islam the month of Ramadan is observed as a period of total abstention from food from dawn to dusk. Fasting to make a political pro¬ test is often referred to as a hunger strike; hunger strikes have been employed by, among others, 19th-century female suffragists, Mohandas K. Gandhi, and late-20th-century Irish nationalists. Moderate fasting is also sometimes practiced for its claimed health benefits.
Fastnachtsspiel Vfast-.nakt-.shpeL Carnival or Shrovetide play that emerged in the 15th century as the first truly secular drama of pre- Reformation Germany. Usually performed on open-air platform stages by amateur actors, students, and artisans, the plays mixed popular comic and religious elements, reflecting the tastes of their predominantly bourgeois audiences. They often contained satirical attacks on greedy clergymen and other traditional dislikes of German burghers and are believed to have been influenced by pre-Christian folk traditions.
fat Any organic compound of plant or animal origin that is not volatile, does not dissolve in water, and is oily or greasy. Chemically, fats are identical to animal and vegetable oils, consisting mainly of triglycerides (esters of glycerol with fatty acids). Fats that are liquid at room tempera¬ ture are called oils. Differences in melting temperature and physical state depend on the saturation of the fatty acids and the length of their carbon chains. The glycerides may have only a few different component fatty
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acids or as many as 100 (in butterfat). Almost all natural fats and oils incorporate only fatty acids that are constructed from two-carbon units and thus contain only even numbers of carbon atoms. Natural fats such as corn oil have small amounts of compounds besides triglycerides, including phospholipids, plant steroids, tocopherols (vitamin E), vitamin A, WAXes, carotenoids, and many others, including decomposition products of these constituents. Sources of fats in foods include ripe seeds and some fruits (e.g., corn, peanuts, olives, avocados) and animal products (e.g., meat, eggs, milk). Fats contain more than twice as much energy (calo¬ ries) per unit of weight as proteins and carbohydrates. Digestion of fats in foods, often partial, is earned out by enzymes called lipases. The break¬ down products are absorbed from the intestine into the blood, which car¬ ries microscopic fat droplets reconstituted from digested fats (or synthesized in cells) to sites of storage or use. Fats are readily broken down—primarily into glycerol and fatty acids—by hydrolysis, a first step for many of their numerous industrial uses. See also lipid.
Fatah Vfat-Ti,\ English Vfa-ta\ inverted acronym of Harakat al-Tahrlr al-Watani al-Filastlnl ("Palestine National Lib¬ eration Movement") Palestinian guerrilla organization and political party, whose name means “conquest” in Arabic. Founded by Yasir 'Arafat and Khalil al-WazIr in the late 1950s, the movement relied on guerrilla warfare and occasional acts of terrorism in an attempt to wrest Palestine from Israeli control. It eventually became the largest faction within the Palestine Liberation Organization and attacked Israeli interests worldwide. Originally based in Damascus, it was forced to relocate several times before a political agreement was reached with Israel in 1993. A number of factions within Fatah rejected the goal of peace with Israel and split from the main organization. In 1994 the Palestinian Authority was estab¬ lished, and Fatah dominated the governing body for more than a decade. In the 2006 elections for the Palestinian Legislative Council, the group was unexpectedly defeated by the rival organization Hamas.
Fates In Greek and Roman mythology, the three goddesses who deter¬ mined human destiny. The Fates were usually depicted as old women: Clotho, the Spinner; Lachesis, the Allotter; and Atropos, the Inflexible. Clotho spun the thread of human life, Lachesis dispensed it, and Atropos cut the thread. They determined the length of each person’s life as well as its share of suffering. Their Roman names were Nona, Decuma, and Morta.