Seventeen (Magazine)

Seventeen. Editor-in-Chief: Ann Shoket. Hearst Corportation. ISSN: 0037-301X.

Description:

Seventeen is currently the most popular magazine for teenage girls, outselling the next highest almost two to one. It was first launched in 1944 for girls aged 12 through 19. In addition to the American publication, there are also 7 international versions and a Hispanic American version. There are 10 print magazines published each year, as well as numerous articles on their website. Though the primary focus of the magazine is fashion and beauty, it does have some more serious content. The articles are divided into subjects, such as fashion, love life, and health, which are then grouped together for easier reading. The December /January issue features country singer Taylor Swift with an article about her latest album.

Critical Evaluation:

Seventeen is the most popular magazine with teen girls for a reason. Its combination of fashion, beauty, celebrity culture, pop culture, relationships, and serious topics cover almost everything of interest to its target audience. Unlike other fashion magazines for teens, only a little over half of the content is devoted to fashion and beauty. The rest focuses on culture, health, self-help, and other topics. This provides a good mix of articles. Also unique to the magazine is the affordability of many of the products featured, though the abundance of ads is kind of an issue. The staff seems to be very in tune with what are the latest trends among teen girls. The magazine is colorful, has a fun and useful layout, and features interesting and easy to read articles. The self-help sections and the articles over topics such as pregnancy, family issues, body image, school, and other serious topics are informative and never judgmental. They don’t sugar-coat the issue and they do offer resources for those experiencing the same thing. This is a good magazine for the “typical” teenage girl.

Reader's Annotation:

Seventeen is the number one source for fashion, dating, friend, and school advice for teen girls.

Author Information:

Ann Shoket was born June 16, 1972 in Fairless Hills, Pennsylvania. She attended New York University where she graduated cum laude. She also has a certificate in Media Management from The New School, also in New York. After college she was a reporter for The American Lawyer. She created a strictly online magazine called Tag. She then spent several years working for Parade magazine and launched their teen counterpart. After Parade, she was senior editor and then executive editor of CosmoGIRL! before becoming editor-in-chief of Seventeen in 2007.

In her time with Seventeen she has helped the magazine become the number one teen magazine in newsstands for the first time since Hearst bought it. She also relaunched the website, which is now in the top ten of teen sites. She was named one of the most powerful magazine editors two years in a row by Forbes. She also serves on the board of several committees benefiting teen girls, including The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy.

Genre:

Young Women's Magazine

Curriculum Ties:

None

Booktalking Ideas:

N/A

Reading Level/Interest Age:

13 and older

Challenge Issues:

Sexual content

Challenge Defense Ideas:

• Require the challenger to fill out a written challenge form with clear reasons stated and examples given.
• If not already familiar with the content, become familiar.
• Refer the challenger to the library's collection policy.
• Refer the challenger to reputable reviews of the books, as well as reviews by those in the book's target audience.

Reasons for Selection:

Seventeen has been a popular magazine for teenage girls for over 60 years.

Teen Voices (Magazine)

Teen Voices. Editor: Jessica Moore. Women Express, Inc. ISSN: 1074-7494

Description:

Teen Voices is a magazine created for and written by teenage girls. It was launched in 1989 in Boston. The magazine sponsors journalism workshops for its contributors, but it also accepts submissions from any girl aged 13 through 19. The print version is published twice a year in April and November; the online version is published monthly. The magazine primarily focuses on social issues rather than the usual topics in teen girl magazines such as fashion and pop culture. The Fall 2010 issue includes articles about women in politics, the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, and female genital mutilation. Regular features include “College Prep,” “GLBT Youth,” “Art Beat,” and “Food Buzz,” among others. The magazine also features original stories and poetry.

Critical Evaluation:

The mission of Teen Voices is an admirable one. Rather than the traditional teenage girl magazine fare of fashion, makeup, and boys, this one focuses on social issues, responsible consumerism, and creativity. It’s refreshing to read a magazine that features articles on things like how American Apparel ads exploit young women rather than just how cute their clothes are, especially when those articles are written by young women who are considering these issues themselves rather than just listening to an adult tell them what to think. The teens who contribute to the magazine have written articles that are well researched and provide opinions that are intelligent. The message of social responsibility is excellent, especially coming from girls who are the same age as the readers.

The magazine isn’t as flashy as other magazines marketed to teen girls, but it has a young look, as if the girls themselves were the ones who put it together. Because of the message of responsible consumerism, the magazine isn’t overrun with ads. Very little of its revenue is due to advertising. The way the magazine is put together is interesting, as well. The publishers primarily work with inner city girls in Boston through workshops, giving them the opportunity to learn valuable journalism skills as well as life skills. Not all the submissions are from them, however, as the magazine will accept work from any girl under the age of 19, giving teen girls a wonderful opportunity to consider the world around them and share their opinions. This is truly an entertaining magazine with a wonderful message for girls.

Reader's Annotation:

Teen Voices is a magazine by teen girls for teen girls that focuses on social issues affect them.

Editor Information:

Jessica Moore has a B.A. in English Literature and French from Penn State University. She has worked in journalism for 12 years. She spent five years as the senior Web producer for The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, where she covered major news events and developed the website’s arts coverage. She has also worked as the senior web editor for Media Matters for America and spent two years heading up the online portion of U.S. News and World Report’s college rankings list.

Before becoming editor of Teen Voices, she was managing editor of Digital Media at Sesame Workshop. After being laid off from that job, she was offered the position of editor. Despite the rather drastic pay cut, she took the job immediately.

Genre:

Young Women's Magazine

Curriculum Ties:

Journalism

Booktalking Ideas:

N/A

Reading Level/Interest Age:

13 and older

Challenge Issues:

Regular GLBT feature

Challenge Defense Ideas:

• Require the challenger to fill out a written challenge form with clear reasons stated and examples given.
• If not already familiar with the content, become familiar.
• Refer the challenger to the library's collection policy.
• Refer the challenger to reputable reviews of the books, as well as reviews by those in the book's target audience.

Reasons for Selection:

As a magazine that is both for teens and written by teens, this is a great resource.

Teen Vogue (Magazine)

Teen Vogue. Editor-in-Chief Amy Astley. Condé Nast Publications. ISSN: 1540-2215

Description:

Teen Vogue is the flashy younger sister to the original Vogue magazine. It was launched in January of 2003 and prints 10 issues a year. Its format is smaller than traditional American magazines, measuring only 6¾ inches by 9 inches. Each magazine contains a series of regular features such as “Fashion Features,” “People Are Talking About,” “Horoscopes,” and “Style Blogger.” In addition to these features, the magazine includes articles over a number of topics relating to fashion, beauty, music, and Hollywood. The magazine also includes articles that focus on more serious topics that affect teen girls such as drug use, eating disorders, and education. The December/January issue featured article titled “Going Green: Friend Envy Is More Common Than You Think” which focuses on competitiveness and jealousy between close friends and how to deal with it.

Critical Evaluation:

Teen Vogue is, first and foremost, a fashion magazine. Though less sophisticated than its adult counterpart, it’s no less beautiful in its presentation. The fashion pictorials are colorful and eye-catching. Rather than being runway ready, most of the outfits featured are easily copied and could be worn by any fashion-conscious teenager to school or out with friends. Though the clothing featured is a little expensive for most teenagers, the magazine often offers advice for similar outfits at a more reasonable price. There are also the requisite beauty articles but, to its credit, the magazine focuses on healthy practices. The celebrity interviews, such as the adorable one with Cory Monteith and Lea Michele in the December/January issue, feature celebrities and musicians that are currently some of the most popular with teens. This offers something for those teens who like to keep up with pop culture. As a magazine whose tagline is “fashion starts here,” it has accomplished this goal and could be satisfied with that. It does offer more than that, however. It also tries to focus on more serious issues that are important to teens and is successful in doing that in a helpful and non-judgmental way. The article about friend envy offers simple advice about both dealing with being jealousy of a friend and dealing with your own insecurities. Teen Vogue does have a specific target audience, that of the fashion conscious teenage girl, and it will definitely satisfy that audience.

Reader's Annotation:

Teen Vogue is a fun and flashy look at fashion for teen girls.

Editor-in-Chief Information:

When the launch of Teen Vogue was announced in 2002, Vogue editor Anna Wintour named Amy Astley as the editor. Astley had been on the staff of Vogue since 1993 and the Beauty Director since 1994. Before working at Vogue, she spent four years at HG, another Condé Nast magazine.

Astley is from East Lansing, Michigan. After graduating from East Lansing High School she attended the Michigan State University Honors College, where she received a B.A. in English Literature.

Genre:

Young Women's Magazine

Curriculum Ties:

None

Booktalking Ideas:

N/A

Reading Level/Interest Age:

13 and older

Challenge Issues:

None

Challenge Defense Ideas:

• Require the challenger to fill out a written challenge form with clear reasons stated and examples given.
• If not already familiar with the content, become familiar.
• Refer the challenger to the library's collection policy.
• Refer the challenger to reputable reviews of the books, as well as reviews by those in the book's target audience.

Reasons for Selection:

This is a flashy and entertaining look at fashion for teen girls. It's also an age appropriate sister magazine of a popular fashion magazine for adults.