Teens are now a major group of consumers. A product that adolescent girls are interested in is the genre of teen magazines written about beauty, fashion, and boys. I remember reading these magazines when I was a teenager, Cosmo and Seventeen.
Approval and the obsession of fitting in is how the article explains the consumption of these magazines. The article also states girls read these magazines to learn about adult issues and femininity. When I read them I would feel depressed, angry, and not fitting in because the content was geared towards rich, popular, girlie-girls. I boycotted these magazines for myself in favor of the Utne Reader or National Geographic by the time I was in high school.
When provided with the choice to read a popular teen magazine or something more substantial, the article claims teens found the ‘non-commercial feminist magazines’ to be boring. It should be about variety and choice, but dry content is just not as appealing as glossy photos of celebrities.
Manohar also describes different ways to integrate magazines into the classroom in subjects such as math, health, social, and language arts. If youth are interested in these magazines, I believe they should not be discouraged from reading. Rather, they should be taught how to be aware of the negative aspects of reading the magazines such as unrealistic expectations of self-image.
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1 comment:
Your enthusiasm and activism is inspiring! Keep it up! :)
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