Finders (1996) researched how early adolescents use teen magazines as a way help transition into teenagers. She conducted a study during the 1992-1993 school year learning the habits of four seventh grade girls. Finders accompanied the girls on outings, in class, slumber parties, and other life events and, as a result, found three themes. Reading the magazines was an exclusive social event and was used to obtain social status. In addition, experiences reported in magazines were accepted by the girls as their own and were related to on a personal level.
(Stevie Exxxx, 2008)
This study is important because the articles and photos in magazines are often used as tools to aid in girls’ physical and mental development, but the girls in this study proved that sometimes the magazines themselves can be used as a tool to foster social development. Though I cannot verify if socializing over magazines is the norm, if girls were to use this time to dispel common stereotypes and beauty ideals found within magazines’ pages, young women could provoke a movement that would help editors and advertisers reconsider such content.
