This document discusses representations in teen magazines and their potential social ramifications. It analyzes several magazines aimed at teenage girls and highlights issues with cover lines and images that promote an unhealthy focus on beauty, fashion, celebrity, and relationships. Cover lines like "8 steps to kissable lips" and images of sexualized celebrities are presented as role models for young readers and can encourage them to grow up too fast by focusing on their appearance over their character and development. The document suggests magazines should provide suitable role models and content for their teenage audience.

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

2. ‘shout’ is a young teen magazine, aimed at stereotypical girls. There
are elements of portraying a more rebellious teenager..
The masthead ‘shout’ has
connotations of making a
stand and going against the
rules; implying that’s what
they think teen girls should
Cover line ‘8 steps to
do
kissable lips!’ is an
article that shouldn’t
be on young teen’s
magazines
Having Taylor Momsen as the
main image who is known for
becoming a rebellious teen, Representation of
being part of a rock band. She boys – article on
is pictured wearing heavy them
make up, and young girls
reading this would see her as a
role model, and it is possible
they would copy this, making
them grow up too fast

3. Cosmo girl is a teen version of Cosmopolitan, perhaps a watered down
magazine of what the regular Cosmopolitan content would have, but ‘girl’ looks like it has
still there are elements which aren’t suitable for teens to be consuming been written with a
pencil connoting the
target audience –
younger girls
This cover line
concentrates on
the appearance of Megan Fox is the main
girls, and their image, globally seen as a
perception on the beautiful actress and
term ‘hot’ – how personality, which
girls reading this young girls would aspire
should look to look like and see her
as an influential role
model. ‘Beauty’ is said to
be what she talks about
with the magazine,
connoting the young
Cover line ‘I caught girls reading this would
him cheating’ isn’t follow what she says
suitable for the about the subject
target audience of
this magazine,
promoting the
wrong sort of
content for a teen
magazine

4. Seventeen is the
Kendall and Kylie
name of the
Jenner are the main
magazine, telling us
image, widely known
the age of the target
as being part of the
audience
good looking
Kardashian family,
girls a teenager
would idolize and feel
Cover line ‘Ways to Look they have to look
Pretty’ feeding the wrong good to be successful
ideas into a teens mind,
implying your looks is all
you need to focus on,
which is not what a teen
‘Get everything you
should be
want this year; Great
Body’ this cover line
‘Mega Confidence’ also states and decides for
implies if you have a great the reader that
body, you will have everything they want
confidence, suggesting is a great body,
that the reader (teen) displaying the wrong
should be getting a great image for a teen and
body, if you don’t – you implying its what
won’t have confidence they should want, not
which is not a good giving them the
message to send out to option
young girls

5. Company is perhaps
aimed at the older end
of young teens, Whitney Port the
including higher end cover girl is a
fashion and celebrity popular star of
gossip The Hills and The
City, so represents
fashion and
Make-up and beauty in herself –
Style are also connoting young
used as cover girls reading this
lines, relating to thinks that’s what
beauty and they should look
fashion and like too, beauty
stereotypically makes you famous
what girls should
be interested in
Ibiza is the main
headline, connoting ‘Fashion’ and ‘Beauty’ are
again an older words used here and
young teen, as they frequently all over
would be more magazines, constantly
interested in the injecting the idea that these
idea of going to are the most important
Ibiza, known for things to concentrate on and
partying without them you won’t
succeed

6. Tulisa is the cover girl in
Bliss is the name of teen magazine Bliss,
this magazine, it has who has recently been
connotations of this named the sexiest girl in
magazine being the world, and is
‘bliss’ and the currently a judge of The
content inside is the X Factor, meaning
definition of ‘bliss’. It young girls would feel
is aimed at the they need to look like
younger teens, with her
the content of music
This cover line touches on the
and stories representation of boys, although
not intended for them to read, but
how they imply first of all that the
reader (a young teen, who this
magazine is aimed at) will have a
boyfriend and secondly that they
should resemble the appearance of
Justin Bieber. This makes the
reader feel that number one;
should they have a boyfriend/why
haven’t they already and number
‘Mad for Fash’ two; why doesn’t he look like
Justin Bieber. This magazine
stereotyping girls implies their boyfriend should
to fashion, it’s look like him which isn’t a good
representation for girls’
what they should expectations of boys.
be ‘mad’ about