(#39) / Seventeen / (edited) by Ann Shoket / (Magazine)

Opening

Bibliographic Information:

Seventeen / (edited) by Ann Shoket

ASIN: B005MKB3L8 / Hearst Magazines  

p. 152 / $1.99 (Amazon)

2011 (October issue)

Body of Content

Summary: The magazine breaks down into various categories – such as the topical areas of fashion, beauty, love life, personal advice, and miscellaneous.  Unlike the two previously mentioned magazines (cf. Under the Radar and GamePro), Seventeen magazine is filled with advertisements – easily equal if not more than the volume of articles.  This issue features a “Seventeen’s Hot Guy Special” – with Taylor Lautner, Kenny Wormald, and Joshua Bowman draping the pages with page-sized photos and candid interviews.  The fashion section includes page-sized photos of various outfits; the beauty section focuses on makeup products and application techniques; the love life section focuses on advice and straight-forward confessions; and the personal advice section covers a wide range of topics.  

Critique: The magazine is marketed towards teenage girls.  But the magazine also feels like it is written by teenage girls.  I do not necessary mean that as an academic slam.  Still, it feels like the majority of the narratives come from teenagers themselves, companies marketing products at teenagers (who are pretending to be their friends), or adults behaving like teenagers.  In this way, the magazine is a safe place for teens to “talk/read” through their (own) issues without having to worry about parental judgment.

All the same, the advice columns and confessions have a tonality to them that few 30-year-old adults would provide to teens looking for guidance.  The level of advice is not abhorrent – but it does not contain the balance that an older perspective can offer.  One statement, in particular, from a college freshman, in essence, providing “advice” to teen readers about their first year in college, states, “I got into the habit of going out all night then sleeping … even through class … I was so dazzled by my new freedom that I didn’t notice I was being irresponsible until I bombed my finals …Now I make sure partying is just one part of my routine – not all of it” (p. 148 italics mine).

And that is supposed to count as sage-like wisdom?  Now, the magazine is not a fashion-advice version of The Lord of the Flies – but it does sponsor a lax attitude that teens have the rational and experiential capacity to entirely self-govern themselves and form well-reasoned decisions.  The perspective of the magazine allows teens to feel at ease reading it.  But a lack of actual content – i.e. advice from experts or psychologists – lets marketers and pop culture define the teenage experience for teens in a way that lacks social accountability or self-actualization – and steers teens towards a pleasure-defined, existential, consumerist version of worth.      

Teaser: A mix of fashion tips, relationship advice, and pop culture low-down, Seventeen offers everything a teenage girl needs. 

Information about the Author: Ann Shoket is the 39-year-old editor of the magazine. She started her professional ventures as a reporter for The American Lawyer.  She later branched out on her own with the creation of Tag – a web-based magazine.  Additional editor roles occurred within various publications like Parade and CosmoGIRL!  More recently, Shoket served as a celebrity judge on the TV show America’s Next Top Model.  The chief editor hails from Pennsylvania – having attended New York University for her undergraduate degree (Wikipedia, 2011).  

Supplemental Material

Genre: Pop Culture / Fashion / Advice

Curriculum Ties: Social studies – pop culture trivia / Psychology – advice columns

Booktalking Ideas: 1) Catch the latest fashion trends – and see if they fall within your budget 2) Taylor Lautner is a hot, hot hottie – catch his interview and free poster – inside this issue of Seventeen magazine.

Reading Level: Heavily-oriented towards teen girls – aged 13-19.

Challenge Issues and Defense: Some may object to the relationship advice based upon views of sexual mores.  But the magazine is not as “sketchy” as other advice magazines aimed at girls/women – like Cosmopolitan. 

Personal Reasons for Inclusion: Believe me – as a male – I didn’t want to read this magazine … or face the librarian when checking it out … But I needed a balancing factor to GamePro …

Last Thoughts

References:

Wikipedia. (2011). Ann Shoket [Webpage]. Retrieved from

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ann_Shoket

Listening to (Music):

Artist – Jennifer Knapp/ Album – “Kansas”