I don’t know about you guys, but I’m definitely one of those girls who grew up on Seventeen magazine. I can still remember waiting for the latest issue every month and reading it from cover-to-cover. The first page I would flip to? Fashion, of course! Honestly, I think for me, and countless other girls out there, Seventeen was one of my first forays into fashion and personal style.

Now, that’s not to say Seventeen is perfect. Far from it, in fact. As I grew older, some of the content lost its appeal for me. I began to question many of their cover choices – many of the girls (and occasionally boys) selected are not what I would consider ideal role models for pre-teens and teens.

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I recently stumbled across a blog determined to pinpoint all the flaws of Seventeen, The Seventeen Magazine Project. The writer, Jamie Keiles, intended to spend one month living according to the “gospel” of Seventeen magazine. Long story short, there isn’t much of the magazine she approves of. As Keiles puts it, “Seventeen makes an effort [to provide teens with relevant, age-appropriate content], but falls short of achieving this goal by addressing teen girls as a monolithic block of people with a unified interest in nail polish, dieting, and winning the attention of swoopy-haired boys.”

Point taken.

However, I don’t seem to remember Seventeen ever claiming to be the “gospel” of anything, or forbidding teens to apply to other sources for information. In fact, I find it hard to believe that in modern times, teens are relying on a single magazine for inspiration and advice. In reality, these girls are probably also surfing the internet, reading blogs, and receiving other magazines. At the time when I read Seventeen, I was also getting Cosmogirl!, Teen Vogue, and developing an interest in the fine arts. And you know what? I still like nail polish.

This isn’t an attack on Jamie or her project. In fact, I admire her for having the courage to put her thoughts out there, and enjoyed reading her blog. The truth is, there’s no perfect magazine or website for teens, because teen girls aren’t a homogeneous group with identical thoughts and interests. At an age when they are absorbing all sorts of information, and growing into adults, teens should be exposed to as much information as possible.

And yes, that includes Seventeen.

Helen Chen
Blog Director