If you work in the teen industry like I do... you might have heard that before the holidays, Atoosa Rubenstein (the founding editor of Cosmo Girl, and the editor in chief of Seventeen) announced that she was leaving. Off to start her own consulting organization and write a book or something....
That left the top spot open at Seventeen... and yesterday it was announced that Ann Shoket, currently Executive Editor (ie #2 in command) is moving over to take charge at Seventeen. Confusing, I know. The mag world is kinda small an incestuous.
So why am I going over all that here on DBTH? Well, the Ed in Chief of a teen magazine really sets the tone of what's going to be included, what to focus on, who to photograph etc... so they have a lot of power when it comes to shaping the pop culture that reaches girls and young women on a daily basis. If you've been reading DBTH since last summer, when the teen book Elle Girl folded, you'll know that I am a big fan of Christina Kelly (who was at Sassy, Jane, YM and Elle Girl). She took great care in creating a pro-girl environment in the magazines and balancing fun/entertainment with real substance (articles about important teen issues, profiles of girls making a difference). So I've got my eye on Ms. Shoket to see what tone she sets.
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And all this magazine news comes at the same time that a new University of Minnesota study has come out saying that girls "who frequently read magazine articles about dieting were more likely five years later to practice extreme weight-loss measures such as vomiting than girls who never read such articles." EGADS, people!
In response, my colleague Nancy Gruver (who is the founder of New Moon, the magazine for girls and their dreams AND the executive director of the amazing non profit called Dads and Daughters,has put together some great tips for Managing Magazines.
She suggests:
1. Decide ahead of time at what age you will allow her ( ie the teens in your life, your daughter, niece, little sister etc...) to read which magazines. Try to avoid censorship, which makes the magazines “forbidden fruit” she reads in secret—where you can’t discuss their content with her.
2. Read her magazines yourself so you can converse casually (not lecture her!) about them.
3. Don’t use pornography. Look critically at the magazines you read as an adult. Do they objectify females or reduce them to body parts? How would you feel if it was your daughter in those photographs? Do your magazines make you judge your own body? Do they make you crave certain clothes, cars, products, etc?
4. Ask your daughter to identify her favorite article and ad in each issue. Listen for her underlying emotional need and think about other ways you can help her meet that need. Is she concerned about her body? Is she worried about fitting in or getting male attention? When you provide positive attention for ALL of who she is, she’ll have less desire for “appearance-only” attention from others.
5. Ask her what she thinks is real and unreal in each issue. Are the celebrity photographs altered? Do the models look like girls or women she knows? Does the magazine address everything teen girls are thinking of?
6. Tap your own family history for women of accomplishment and influence. Developing a sense of family heritage can feed pride in her ancestors who look like her and did wonderful, important things.
7. Ask her what effect she thinks an article or ad is trying to have on readers. Express your opinions (after listening to hers) about the articles and ads.
8. Provide her with alternatives like New Moon (https://www.newmoon.org/specialoffer/?source=DADS) and Teen Voices (www.teenvoices.com), even if she doesn’t ask for them. It’s like stocking the kitchen with healthy snacks, even if she begs only for chips and soda.9. Take old magazines and cut out images and words with her to create articles and ads with respectful, nurturing messages. Compare them to the usual fare.
10. Most important, keep the communication lines open and trust that as she matures and gains self-confidence, with your support, she’ll find shallow magazines less interesting.
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Hope you find all that helpful!
Christina Kelly has "killed" every single magazine that she has worked for as editor-in-chief. I think it's cool that she is trying to advance healthy eating habits in teens and take out articles and models that promote poor body image in girls. However, her ideas obviously aren't popular with the magazines' demographic resulting in EVERY MAGAZINE FOLDING! Magazines that have been around for decades have busted after only a few issues because of Christina "Killer" Kelly.
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