Introduction

Welcome to my blog discussing the impact that magazines have on the socialization of teens and young women.  It is important to look closer at this topic because magazines can influence culture (Neogy, 1966).   Teenagers are still trying to determine who they are, and for this reason, they are especially vulnerable to the information and suggestive images in magazines (Durham, 1998).  Much of the research discussed in the following posts focuses on content in magazines like Seventeen, YM, Sassy, Bravo!, and Teen, but studies are also discussed that examine advertisements  featuring young girls, which also can influence teens.  This blog will briefly summarize the studies that have been conducted on the way magazines influence teenage girls and young women and will provide additional insight and media to help determine its effect. It is divided into seven categories—body image, diversity and racial stereotypes, feminism, occupations, relationships, rite of passage, and sexuality.

Modeling Work: Occupational Messages in Seventeen Magazine

Massoni (2004) examined how teenage magazines help girls perceive the work world and possible career options.  Using four issues of Seventeen magazine (January, April, July, and November of 1992), the author used quantitative and quantitative strategies to determine how occupations are presented in the publication.  The author identified four work-related themes:  “All the World’s a Stage,” “Where the Boys Are,” “Power to the (Male) People,” and “Model Citizens.”  “All the World’s a Stage” speaks to Seventeen’s promotion of entertainment careers as a prestigious option.  “Where the Boys Are” refers to the magazine’s tendency to refer to men as job holders twice as often as women.  “Power to the Male People” refers to the portrayal of men largely holding the power in the work world.  Lastly, “Model Citizens” represents theublication’s promotion of modeling as the superior career option for women.  The overall finding of the study is that women continue to work, but it still is a male dominated world, where women have supporting roles.

Many people don’t quite understand why America is falling behind in science and math; well here is major component. Magazines and other media in our culture promote the “fun” jobs over the careers that take hard work, patience, and a lot of studying. I’ve watched a few modeling shows where the girls complain about how hard it is to learn to walk on a runway, but I still think it hardly compares to staying up all night for a calculus exam! I suppose there is no real shame in wanting to take the easy way out, but Seventeen should acknowledge that not everyone is cut out for modeling and should promote a variety of careers equally to suit the diversity of their readers.

Not everyone is a model….

 

Do’s and Don’t Hit the Beach, n.d.

A Feminist Analysis of Seventeen Magazine: Content Analysis from 1945 to 1995

Schlenker, Caron, and Halteman (1998) conducted a study examining feminist messages in Seventeen magazine.  They hypothesized that feminist messages would have changed over time as a result of the feminist movement in the 1940s.  The researchers examined all 12 issued of Seventeen from 1945, 1955, 1965, 1975, 1985, and 1995.  For this study, they used Pierce’s (1990) definition of feminism—“taking care of oneself, being independent, and not relying on a man for fulfillment or identity,” (p.297).  They categorized messages into three categories:  self-development, career development, and political/world issues.  Schlenker, Caron, and Halteman used a Chi-square analysis to determine if the content change from year to year was significantly different.  They found that there were a higher percentage of feminist messages for 1945, 1975, and 1995 compared to 1955, 1965, and 1985.  The strongest waves of feminism occurred during World War II (1940’s) and when women attained better paying jobs during the social reform movement (late 1960’s and 1970s).  The authors also stated that it was believed that there was another wave occurring in the 1990s, when the study was published.  Their study proved that the content in Seventeen correlates with the women’s movement.

This study helps portray the side of Seventeen that is less discussed in scholarly journals– the side of the publication that helps girls to develop into women who focus on more than just fashion, boys, and their bodies. If the magazine were to increase their coverage  of articles that promote female independence to match the level of articles on beauty and fashion, women really might really become a threat—brains and beauty. Of course not all men that can handle those women.

There are some men who can appreciate a woman who has it all

(Fashion In Motion, 2008)

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.