To what extent should magazines be held responsible for the social ramifications of the representations they offer?
The average teenager that reads magazines like the ones below are between the ages of 13 and 19. However the younger age of the teens are mostly effected because they see a model that looks good and then they have an urge to copy them this may mean plastering make up on or dressing a certain way this is a huge ramification because it gives of the wrong impression and could get them into a situation.
The average age for a teenager who reads Bliss magazine is 15 and the average sugar magazine consumer is 14 years old.
“Beauty is only skin deep, theses often repeated phrases help remind us that there is more to life than our looks.” Quoted from associated.com I find this statement very satisfying because if there was a magazine that spoke the truth and was just gossip and other teenager interests it would stop a lot of pressure that young teenagers have today. Instead the media throw in cover lines such as:
- Dress to impress
- Easy hair makeovers
- Find the perfect hair, makeup and style for you
- Be a knockout
It is expressions like this that make some teenagers feel worthless and un-attractive the media almost pushes them down to the ground and forces them to read magazines to “improve” there style and ways of looking/seeking ‘love’.
The magazines that I have studied closely are:
- Cosmo Girl
- Teen Vogue
- Shout
- Bliss
- Sugar
After studying the magazines I have noticed that they all have clear ideologies behind the way they are set out (positioned) or the way things are said. For example “50 ways to get SEXY hair” quoted from Cosmo Girl. Notice how they put sexy in bold it’s a grab word, it grabs your attention and by stereotype, every girl wants to look and feel “sexy”. What is sexy? Is there a defined definition? Teenagers see it as a word that attracts boys and they automatically try to look sexy to draw attention to themselves, however they can only refer and look up to the celebs ad models that are featured in the magazine. Imagine if you carried out a research task and asked teenage girls to define sexy the majority of them wouldn’t know what it is. This is a clear stereotype.
Just by looking at the cover lines on the different magazines it is clear that there are six ideologies that the magazine producers focus on with young teenagers they are:
- Make up
- Hair style / how you look
- Weight / diet
- Fashion
- How to act around boys
- Up-keep on your body
Cosmo girl focuses on hair style/ look one of the cover line quotes, “ your guide to gorgeous 50 ways to get sexy hair” and also it focuses on up-keep on your body “10 secrets to perfect skin and 5 moves to a hotter body.
Teen vogue focuses on how to act around boys and your weight/diet the cover line quotes “kiss and tell from “sexting” to secret boyfriends: girls talk back” and also “super sized the teen obesity epidemic plus 8 healthy ways to get in shape.”
Shout mag focuses on fashion and how you look, there is a plug that says “£5 is all you need to look fabulous” and then a cover line reads “26 shoes you will love”.
Bliss magazine focuses on fashion and how you look a cover line reads “the price of pretty how far would you go for perfection?” and a plug that states “passion for fashion”.
Sugar magazine focuses on up-keep on your body and fashion, a statement says “just for teens 63 secrets for flawless skin” and a plug that says “flirt for fashion”.
All of the magazines are almost commanding you to look and dress a certain way there are so many stereotypes in the world today for example if you was to walk into somewhere like town with a tracksuit on and your hood up people would think you were a chav or a thug when you could be just a normal person that maybe cold? The majority of these “typical” stereotypes are produce via the media they have a massive part to play in it all.
To conclude I strongly believe that the media have an effect of teenage life up to date. I feel that they have a specific idea of what you must look like and if you don’t then you are not classed as a typical/ normal teenager and most people are and can be offended by this. If the media didn’t put so much stress on teenagers I think we would have different people in our world. The main process that puts a twist on stereotypes is mediation, the middle part when the media re-present something.
