Reading Up on Teen Culture
01.15.04
http://www.parentstv.org/ptc/publications/rgcolumns/2004/0116.asp

Teen magazines have been around since the dark ages predating my teen years. You should be able to get a rough grasp on my age if I tell you that the faces of Donny Osmond, David Cassidy, and Leif Garrett were usually plastered on the front pages during my adolescence.

And yes, I admit to purchasing the odd edition of TigerBeat, but only if there was coverage of those charming Brady Girls. (First public confession – I had quite the crush on Eve Plumb who played Jan, the one in the middle… Sigh…)

Amazingly, even with DVDs, Discmans, satellite receivers, the Internet, and a plethora of other media appliances that have cropped up since my youth, the low-tech activity of turning pages of glossy photos and shallow articles must still be a favorite activity for many teens, because these mags are more than alive and financially well.

But the real reason parents should crack the covers of these pop journals is because they provide a very clear insight into what products and philosophies are being marketed and targeted to your teens. And you'll likely not be surprised to know that some of these pulp pages are pushing advice and subjects that are far more mature than Donny's newest top ten hit.

If you're cheap like me, the best place to do your research on everything periodically adolescent is at your local library. I'm fortunate enough to have a large library near me, which has the bonus of being connected to a high school.

Needless to say, the young crowd ensures there is a selection of titles like Teen People, J-14, YM, and the classic Seventeen on the shelves. I found these dog-eared well-used titles next to pristine copies of business and aeronautical journals. Just look for the bright covers with girls flashing teeth and guys posing with that serious "I'm not happy with life" Eminem look.

Flipping though the pages of the four mentioned titles, I thought it would be interesting to look at the tone and content—both positive and negative—in each. I selected the most recent edition of all four that I could check out and took them home for the full read. Teen People (October 2003), J-14 (Oct./Nov 2003), YM (November 2003), and Seventeen (November 2003).

It didn't take long before I could see the obvious things each magazine had in common: Makeup, clothes, articles about guys, and celebrities—namely Amanda Bynes and Hillary Duff (both were in all four magazines except Seventeen, where it seems Bynes was passed over for more "mature" lookers like Jessica Biel).

But each magazine also had subtle differences, in an apparent attempt to separate it from the competition. Teen People and J-14 seem to play to the youngest readers, while YM, and especially Seventeen, dole out advice and ads geared to older teens.

Accounting for a few ripped out pages that must have attracted the attention of previous eager readers, I made a crude statistical summary of the subjects covered using the categories of beauty products (makeup, acne formulas, perfume), fashion (clothes, shoes, watches, jewelry), celebrities and entertainment, and "other," where I listed articles covering college life, racial prejudice, horoscopes, and even nudism!

Categorizing the advertising into the same four groups wasn't so simple. The marketing minds behind these magazines are pros at passing off advertising as editorial content to young eyes.

My favorite example of an advertorial was one found in YM titled Just what the doctor ordered, with a subtext saying, "It's a little-known fact that earth-tone makeup can save your life in cold and flu season." Hopefully after young readers get through the tongue-in-cheek writing ("A glittery coffee shadow, like Maybelline Color Delights Cream Shadow in Mocha Lights, $7, can boost immunity when smudged up to the crease and used in conjunction with a coat of chocolate-colored mascara) they will notice the footnote: "None of this health information is true in the slightest…"

After spending hours poring over these pages in detail, you can't help but notice contradictory messages from all corners of teen society. "Shake Your Booty," says a one-pager in Seventeen where readers share their best guy pickup messages. "The secret is tight, low-rise, white jeans. If you don't get him with those, it just wasn't meant to be!"

Yet in that same magazine, a two-page spread reports the findings of a survey with teens who experienced intercourse for the first time (often referred to in this magazine and others as "hooking up"). Of the 500 surveyed, 67% hadn't indulged. Of those that had, 61% of the girls wished they had waited longer. Perhaps some booties need tightening…

For parents and teachers eager to have teens drop the remote control and pick up a book, these publications may be an attractive alternative. But not everyone is so sure.

Rose M. Kundanis, author of "Children, Teens, Families and Mass Media: The Millennial Generation" is quoted saying, "Researchers explain that because television encourages the consumption of high-fat foods, the effect toward eating disorders is minimized. On the other hand, magazines offer more instruction on dieting and therefore seem to be more significantly correlated to eating disorders."

Certainly page after page of makeup, hair, and body advice—the apparent common priority of all these publications—must attest to the audience's willingness to purchase the products being offered. Considering the combined circulation of these four magazines alone is over 6.6 million (there are other popular teen titles not covered in this article), the words of advice on these glossy pages have the power to influence a huge percentage of our young population.

In the second part of this column, I'll take a closer look at each magazine and provide a complete overview of the best and worst, along with my opinion of where the editor's priorities lie. While I can't say I'm about to buy my daughter a gift subscription to any of them, each magazine offers a different flavor - and even some interesting surprises that caught me off guard!

Reading Up on Teen Culture- Part 2
01.15.04

Reading Up on Teen Culture Part 3 - YM and Seventeen
02.02.04

Now that we're up to date with a couple of the teen magazines aimed at the youngest adolescent audiences, it's time to look at the two kingpins of this genre: YM and Seventeen.

Both of these veterans set their sights on capturing high school juniors, seniors, and (especially Seventeen) early college achievers. Of course, it's a safe bet that younger eyes are sneaking a peek at their older sister's copy, or picking up a volume at the newsstand, in hopes of learning more about the mysteries of the eldest teen years.

But while their layouts are more sophisticated, the overall themes are no better--and in many cases, worse--than what I found in J-14 and Teen People. Although there's slightly less emphasis on everything celebrity and an increased use of "real" people (with perfect bodies), the subtler messages have the potential to be even more potent for their readers. After perusing these titles' glossy leaves it appears a good makeup job, the right clothes, and a cool guy, are the key things a gal needs to win the adolescent scavenger hunt of life.

YM - Volume 51, Number 11 - November 2003

Circulation: 2,234,770

U.S. Ranking in circulation size: #31

Advertising -- (number of ads from each category appearing in this edition)

Beauty (Cosmetics, hair care, etc.): 16

Fashion: (Clothes, jewelry, etc.): 4

Celebrities & Entertainment: 4

Other (Feminine hygiene, cell phones, anti-drugs): 7

Editorial --(number of articles from each category appearing in this edition)

Beauty (makeup, hair, etc.): 6

Fashion: 1

Celebrities & Entertainment: 4

Other (Girls field hockey; getting into college; and boys, boys, boys.): 8

One of the oldest of teen journals, YM originally signified Young and Modern. But the aged title is nowhere to be found in current editions, and that has proven to be a smart marketing move for today's acronym loving teen.

This monster publication (the 31^st largest in the U.S. at the time of writing) shares some similarities with J-14 and Teen People. Amanda Bynes and Hilary Duff are still the flavors of the month, but both are presented in a more mature fashion… and yes, the word fashion has a double meaning. Bynes is the cover girl on this issue, and if you read the fine print on the masthead, you can discover the precise details of her clothes and cosmetics so you can "copy it" yourself. Inside, the four-page article covering Bynes celebrates her "brand-free" image and mentions her desire to be a serious actress as opposed to a marketing machine.

Duff is relegated to a small insert on the top right corner of the cover, and (aside from a "Got Milk" ad) receives only a single paragraph write-up as one of the Twenty Coolest Girls in America. Duff is bestowed with this honor thanks to generously donating money she has been paid for doing birthday parties appearances ($100 grand a gig) to various charities. The other nineteen (which also includes Bynes) are an interesting montage of academic, sport, and political achievers.

Unfortunately, that's about the best within YM's pages, which is otherwise a barrage of fashion and beauty tips, advice columns, and a five-pager on seven of the "cutest boys we could find this month." (There wasn't one I'd want my daughter to show up with.)

Even with less priority on celebrities, the "ordinary people" in this issue are all stylized, bronzed, and buffed to the max. Only in the aforementioned "Coolest Girls" article do we see some faces without pounds of makeup and bodies more likely to be found on your street.

The only other worthwhile mention is a two-page piece authored by a 17-year-old in North Carolina about how you can have guy friends "without benefits" (meaning, a non-sexual relationship). I applaud the idea, but it's a sad time when we have to remind our young women that you can have a relationship with a guy and still keep your clothes on.

Seventeen - Volume 62, Number 11 - November 2003

Circulation: 2,409,289

U.S. Ranking in circulation size: #27

Advertising -- (number of ads from each category appearing in this edition)

Beauty (Cosmetics, hair care, etc.): 23

Fashion: (Clothes, jewelry, etc.): 1

Celebrities & Entertainment: 3

Other (Anti-drugs, cell phones, food): 12

Editorial --(number of articles from each category appearing in this edition)

Beauty (Articles about makeup, hair, etc.): 7

Fashion: 5

Celebrities & Entertainment: 5

Other (Horoscopes, embarrassing moments, boys, truth or dare, cool comebacks): 11

The queen of the adolescent newsstand, Seventeen has achieved cultural icon status. Its huge circulation puts it in the ranks with O, The Oprah Magazine (#25), Redbook (#28) and--ironically--ahead of Parents (#33). But what is this seasoned lady, with 63 years experience in dishing out young female advice, telling your teens?

Between the pages upon pages of cosmetic ads, Seventeen's editorial content is somewhat more diverse, reflecting an ever-so-slightly older audience. Offerings span from cheap ways to Decorate Your Jeans ("Dark Angel: Glue black lace trim to the pockets and waistband. Then wear with a simple white tank."), to a feature on Jessica Biel (the star of WB's Seventh Heaven who had a well-publicized fall to earth after seductively posing for Gear magazine) in which the 21-year-old actress confesses her priorities, "I was going to join a girls' soccer league, but Sex and the City comes on at the same time. That's a conflict for me."

A penchant for all things sexual seems to be the recurring trend in Seventeen, where editorial copy floats terms like "hook-up" (meaning a casual sexual encounter) with the same significance as a warm good night kiss. One article titled The Not-Quite Boyfriend has a female author stunned that her non-committal man, whom she frequently shares a bed with, has been seeing someone else under the sheets… and never confessed. In the end, the author admits she is still attracted to this guy.

Another advice column answers the question of whether it's okay to "hook up with a guy friend's roommate?" After discussing a few idiotic consequences like: "You wake up in your friend's room in the clothes you wore the night before", the reply concludes, "But that doesn't mean it can't work. I've hooked up with friends' roommates--it was kind of fun to wake up in my friend's room, like a slumber party!"

Upping the sexual agenda even further is the magazine's "Real Life" column and this month's entry: My Father is an Internet Pervert. Expecting the typical tragic story of a dad who is addicted to cyber-porn, I was amazed to discover the boldly pictured 18-year-old was the victim of a hideous incestuous relationship in which her father posed as various predators on the Internet with the purpose of luring his own daughter. Unnecessary details of his sexual activities with her are included, along with her name and picture. While Internet safety is a valid concern, this tale borders on exploitation.

What is good within Seventeen? If you make it to page 137, tucked in the back recesses just before the classified ads is a heart wrenching story of a Bronx mother who attempted to break up an altercation in her neighborhood, and lost her life in the process. She may not be modeling material, but that's the face that deserves to be on a magazine's front cover.

Circulation and ranking figures based on six month average, January to June 2003, from AdAge.com.