To what extent should magazines be held responsible for the social ramifications of the representations they offer?

Magazine coverlines are shocking. All five magazine covers used as examples aimed towards teenage girl’s state one thing: teenage girls should never be happy with theirselves. From “148 ways to be fashion fabulous!” to “look pretty now!” these magazine covers are just not happy with teenage girls’ appearances and how they present themselves to the public. 

All magazine covers use well known, highly airbrushed, celebrities to get their point across: you should either aspire to be them or be with them. These range from Demi Lavato, known for going to rehab due to her breakdown fairly recently, to Zac Efron, supposedly one of the most sought after men in the world. None of the cover girls/guys are put on there for being nice and down to earth. Lucy Hale is referred to as “”Queen Bee”, Katy Perry as “ballsy” and Zac Efron as “perfect.” Are any of them used because they are “normal?” The answer to that is no, teenage girls shouldn’t be normal. 

Even with cover stars aside, the coverlines theirselves are still reinforcing the image that teenage girls need to better theirselves appearance wise. “Hair that makes you happy!” as if having nice hair is the key to happiness, “Mum’s always getting her boobs out” is this the type of role model to put on the cover of a teenage girls magazine? And “Yes you can look like Vanessa!” because that’s the kind of pressure, to look like someone who is always airbrushed and has lots of money to spend on beauty products, every teenage girl needs when they’re going through some tough, and sometimes, life changing  times. Extra pressure to look good is not needed for these girls.

It’s not just teenage girls that are represented in this “un-perfect” way, teenage boys are also represented in a way that I’m sure is very far from the ordinary. From coverlines like “Boys come clean: the dirty flirt tricks we use on you” to “how to cope when he wants a grope,” boys are depicted in a very “stereotypical” way: they are only after one thing and will stop at nothing to get it. Boys are also represented in an ideological way. They are viewed as “perfect” from simple headlines like “fit boys” to the posters of Nick Hoult, Zac Efron and Shayne Ward, all tanned, toned and totally unrealistic! 

The social ramifications of these magazines are that girls, apart from the ones on the front covers, aren’t perfect and so they should do everything they can, like trying to look like Vanessa Hudgens to buying a whole new wardrobe to “loving your curves” (suggesting all teenage girls are “fat”) and having hair that makes you happy, to make theirselves look as fake and airbrushed as possible. Another social ramification is that girls need to be liked by men and should be interested in them, are the early teenage years really the right years to be concentrating on looking “sexy” for males?  Another thing is the reaction from Bliss magazine to Katy Perry’s quote: “I was born with balls” referring to her no-nonsense, slightly head on approach to life. Bliss replied with “Blimey!” as if it were a shock that a female can act like a man and get what they want rather than being the damsel in distress. 

So to conclude, teenage girls from 11/12/13+ have to deal with looking good, being interested in boys and having everything handed to them because they are too weak to get it theirselves, because that’s what all magazines aimed at them are telling them to do. “Blimey!” Perhaps in future, magazines should write fewer articles on how to find the right lip gloss to match your complexion and more on how to pursue your dream profession. Give girls brains, not beauty.