Perhaps like many young women, I grew up with a subscription to Seventeen Magazine. When I was younger, I could not wait for my magazine to come every month so I could look at the cute clothes and get ideas for what I needed to have for school the next year, just like I had seen my older sisters do when they were teenagers too. However, as I am now older (haven't been a teenager for a little over a month now!) and have not had a Seventeen subscription for many years, I begin to see how truly messed up of a publication it really is. I know that the media is general, however Seventeen has really begun to bother me. I remember from when I used to be a regular reader, and I'm guessing the format has not changed much, is that the magazine consists of a fashion section, a make-up section, a fitness/health section, information about college life, a dating/sex/boys section, a celebrity interview/photo spread, and there was always some horror story about a girl who thought she was dating a boy and it turned out to be a girl, or a young woman who had a stocker and how she handled the situation. Pretty much the rundown of every issue.
Boost your confidence! But feel pressured to dress like a celebrity and make your crush want you!:
I however have become troubled by the magazine as it claims to be about empowerment for young girls but simultaneously reminds them that they are not good enough, and that there is always room for improvement. Similarly, I now see that the magazine is certainly formulated for a particular kind of girl. First of all, heterosexuality is assumed, most of the women featured on the cover and in the pages are Caucasian, and a particular assumption about class is underlying as the whole magazine promotes consumption.
Dress for your body but don't forget to get amazing abs!:
Of the most disturbing of Seventeen's endeavors is perhaps The Seventeen Magazine Project in which girls are encouraged to "spend one month living according to the gospel of Seventeen Magazine."
Look pretty! And get your best butt:
What are your thoughts on the magazine itself, its message to girls, and the Seventeen Magazine Project?
I feel that Seventeen Magazine IS a feminist issue because whether they know it or not, it starts to directly influence tweens and teens. It starts to institute norms and values and normative standards of beauty.
On the top picture, they feature Paris Hilton all dressed up and done up in makeup with apparently her "405 Ways to Look Hot." This of course functions under the assumption that looking hot looks the same. It also provides instructions on how to "Get Sexy Eyes."
On the bottom issue with Blake Lively on the cover it provides girls "838 Ways to look pretty," instructions on "Get(ting) Your Best Butt" and "Perfect Hair."
....Seeing some of this, I feel that Cosmo may be more empowering than this. (I really don't know much about Cosmo... It seemed just hyperbolic enough for it to make sense though).