Recently, there has been a proliferation of magazines on the market geared toward teenage girls. This classroom activity encourages students to explore the gender messages that these magazines promote.
To prepare for this activity, have your students read the article How Seventeen Undermines Young Women.
Divide the class into groups and -- with each group choosing a different edition of Seventeen or another magazine geared to teenage girls -- have students complete the Magazine Survey form.
Once the surveys have been completed, assign the following questions:
- Based on your survey results, does the magazine that you analyzed promote independence, or does it reinforce the idea that adolescent women should be more concerned with looks, relationships and the approval of others?
- If you had to summarize the main message of this magazine, what would it be?
- Do the physical ideals represented in this magazine reflect reality? Who is not represented here?
- Do the topics explored in this magazine reflect the real concerns of teenage girls?
- Create a profile of a 'typical' teenage girl, based on the content of this magazine. Is this an accurate profile of a typical teenage girl in real life?
- As Kimberly Phillips notes, Seventeen is one of the most widely read magazines in North America. If this is so, what makes this magazine so appealing to teenage girls?
- Do you agree or disagree with Kimberly Phillips' assertion that magazines like Seventeen contribute to the drop in the self-esteem of young girls that has been identified by researchers like Carol Gilligan? Debate this question.
For further study, students might consider the following activities:
- Sixties sentiments in a nineties package? Has Seventeen evolved through time, or has its formula remained the same? Go to a public library and survey Seventeen magazines from the sixties, seventies and eighties to see if the message has changed.
- Compare Seventeen or ym to alternative girls magazines such as New Moon or Teen Voices and the e-zine for girls, gURL. These publications are written by young women.
- What is the relationship between the advertising in these magazines and the magazine content? Do the women and products portrayed in these ads support or refute the stereotype that teenage girls are only concerned with appearance, relationships and approval?
