The message I've always gotten from Seventeen is that they want you to be yourself. They're always promoting individuality and the fact that everyone is all different shapes, sizes, and colors. In the fashion section they always find clothes to fit every body type. As a young girl I always thought, "Wow! What a great magazine! They know teens so well!" Well not anymore. As I was going through the health section of this particular issue, I flipped through the pages that outlined the workout created by Beyonce's trainer, or something like that. There is a workout in every issue so I blew right past it as usual. I didn't know what was going to make this issue make me workout. Anyway, practically the page right after the workout there's some article about how this woman hated herself in high school and how she finally learned to love herself for who she is. And right after that are three pages telling the reader to write down everything they love about themselves and what inspires them. After seeing these pages all juxtaposed like that, I thought that something about the whole thing seemed a little off. And that's when I realized the other message that Seventeen was giving; the one that I had not seen before. In my eyes, Seventeen is saying "Hey! Be yourself! But why don't you do these workouts and stop eating fatty food while you're at it." The fact that they put these two articles right next to eachother makes me sick. This magazine is targeted to teenagers (hence the name Seventeen) Don't they know that teenagers are insecure, and girls especially are at a high risk of developing an eating disorder? They shouldn't have to feel pressured to be perfect by anyone, let alone a popular teen magazine. This is extrememly hypocritical of them and I'm surprised and angry at myself for not noticing it sooner. What has become of the media these days? Why is it that a magazine meant for teen readers as young as thirteen, are pressuring girls to workout? The need for perfection has become an obsession and has gotten completely out of control, thanks to the media. I still read Seventeen and that's probably hypocritical of me, but these days I just stick to the clothes and makeup. Oh yeah, and my subscription hasn't expired yet.
Zoe, I actually just bought an issue yesterday for a project, so I couldn't help but read your blog. Not gonna lie, though, I've been a fan for years as well. I never really noticed what you had to say. I always thought they were a great magazine, unlike all of those high end magazines like Vogue and Harper's Bazaar that encourage only one kind of look: very, very thin and dressed in ridiculously priced clothing. I always thought "Oh, Seventeen just wants me to be healthy! No big deal!" But when they say things like "Get your best back to school body," "Get a Beyonce butt!" or "Shakira's Abs in just these five moves!" on their covers, they are doing exactly what every other magazine does. I know that Seventeen cares about what their readers think so maybe this should be addressed. I feel many people agree with you.
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