Queens and Teen Zines: Early Adolescent Females Reading Their Way toward Adulthood

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.

Conclusion

The studies discussed in this blog have covered a variety of ways that magazines influence teenage girls and young women. For some, these publications are a rite of passage—a way to learn what it means to be a young woman and may even help to develop those social skills that are important to womanhood. Learning what it means to be a woman must mean learning about body image, considering it was among the highest segments of teen magazine’s content. Sadly, it did not promote acceptance of various body types; instead, girls were taught to strive for a body type that only makes up only 5% of the population. Encouraging young women to strive for better health and to portray their best face to the world would be more practical than promoting and adapting to the European ideals that fill their pages. Diversity and racial stereotypes are very uncommon in these magazines and do not typically reflect the various races that comprise the countries that they serve. As a result, women of these underrepresented groups are unlikely to find women that look like them modeling a range of products. Feminism, as generally defined by Pierce (1990) as female independence, is too often overlooked in teen magazines. The United States has more women graduating from college than men, yet the teen magazines still commonly portray women as dependent on men. Regardless of the education and careers that so many women have attained, occupations in these magazines geared toward adolescent females still portray males in jobs twice and often as females. Male dominance also carries over into the way relationships are featured. Girls are often portrayed in advertisements and articles in teen magazines as either being submissive to boys or ideally being submissive to boys. The only time girls are usually encouraged to stand up to boys is when it come to their sexuality; however, girls are still taught to expect boys’ sexual advances but are expected to also fight them. These magazines that seem so innocent contain far more harmful message than people often realize. While there are a few magazines that support independent females and a realistic approach to body image, magazines the ones typically discussed are likely hear to stay. Media literacy is the only way that young women and people as a whole can see through the messages that many take for granted. I encourage all people to learn more about media literacy, especially in regard to the media’s values. Consider visiting the Center for Media Literacy’s page for more information.