I have a confession: I love reading teen magazines. Now, I’m an English major—I love discussing literature like Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein or E.M. Forster’s A Passage to India. Both my mom and grandma are librarians, and I was a book lover before I even had the ability to read. But I also enjoy reading fashion magazines. And I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that.
No one has ever pretended that teen magazines are great literature; that’s not their intention. But that doesn’t mean they don’t have any merit. Magazines like Seventeen are packed full of articles meant to help out young women. Some of my favorites include one with tips for de-stressing before finals and one that highlighted little ways to cheer yourself up. I know I’m always happy to learn new ways to de-stress or cheer myself up. They also generally have some awesome girl power articles, like a recent one in Seventeen about Katlyn Grasso, who became a CEO before she even graduated college! There’s certainly nothing wrong with celebrating fellow women and offering tips for others to also succeed.
In addition to inspiring or helpful stories, teen magazines also typically have a fashion and makeup section. I love looking through these pages for ideas for future outfits to put together or new looks to try. Sure, I don’t have the spare income to buy all of the cool clothes or makeup featured in the magazine, but I can usually find similar pieces in my closet. At the very least, it usually gives me inspiration to get creative again with my wardrobe! Even if I’m not inspired by what is featured in the magazine, sometimes its fun to just flip through and appreciate the outfits designers have put together. It’s okay to enjoy looking at clothes, and I would argue that there’s nothing superficial about taking time to pick out your outfits—if you enjoy expressing creativity through your clothes and wearing things that make you feel good about yourself, why is that anything to be ashamed of?
Teen magazines also tend to have a fitness section, where they feature workouts to try and yummy, healthy snacks. The workouts are great to do on days when I don’t feel like leaving my room to make the trek down to the KAC, and the snacks are fun to make, especially when I’m home and have more access to groceries and a kitchen. There was also a Seventeen article that I saved from an issue I read this summer that explained how to use a ton of the gym equipment that I’ve never attempted before. The gym, and particularly the weight room, is often a male-dominated space that can be intimidating to work out in, especially if you (like me) have never been taught how to use most of the equipment. I appreciated that the magazine sought to remedy that and give young women the information and confidence to try out new things. Giving young women tools to take care of their bodies is pretty cool.
As you can see, there are a lot of great aspects to teen magazines. Of course, they’re not perfect, and many people rightfully critique teen magazines for their portrayal of an impossible beauty standard and use of airbrushing. In 2012, a young teen named Julia Bluhm petitioned this standard and actually won, as Seventeen promised not to alter their model’s “natural shapes.” Similarly, two more young activists petitioned Teen Vogue, who made a statement saying that they feature “healthy models” and “do not retouch or alter their body size.” So, magazines seem to be trying to respond to complaints and feature a more realistic model for beauty. And Seventeen has started including “model moments,” which tells a model’s hometown and features questions such as their favorite hobbies, or music. This helps to make the models in their magazine seem more like real people and shows the reader that there is more to them than just their body.
Overall, I would argue that teen magazines receive far more flak than they deserve. No, they’re not impressive literature, but there’s nothing wrong with that. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to read something a little more lighthearted, something that offers fun fashion inspiration or health tips. There’s nothing wrong with reading something that also features great girl power stories and offers awesome motivation. Sure, some of the stories are “silly” or “superficial,” but who says we need to be serious all the time? Who says that women can’t express their “girliness,” can’t enjoy looking at clothes or learning how to do makeup or decorating their room, if that’s what they want to do?
We are all complex people. We’re allowed to read Hamlet one day and Teen Vogue the next. And we’re allowed to enjoy them both. No one should have to be serious or literary all the time. So I’m going to continue to shamelessly read my teen magazines, and if they’re something you also enjoy, I hope you can do the same.
Image Credit: Photos taken of Seventeen Magazine by Rebecca Frank