014: Fashion Magazines Line the Walls Now.
This is a homework piece for my journalism class due tonight. It's about self-confidence and mass-media, feminism and teenage girls.
"Do these Web sites have a responsibility to present a more realistic and well-rounded view of young womanhood? How might the emphasis on beauty and beauty products affect young women who may not be able to afford the 'right' cosmetics? Would the same messages be contained in Web sites for magazines targeted at adult women?"
Clear, acne-free skin is beautiful. Hair must be well-managed and is never pretty if shorter than your chin. A slim waist with a proportionate bust and hip/thigh/butt ratio is attractive. Clothing should accentuate your best parts and hide your worst parts. These are the messages pre-teens and teenagers are receiving…
Teen magazines are as influential as the audience wants them to be. Most young girls don’t know any better than to follow the words of these magazines and websites. They want to be older. "You are not OK as you are." What’s the way to get older when you can’t change your age? Act older. Pretend to be older. Read the articles and visit the websites you think older girls go to.
It’s not only the magazines that are at fault; it’s the parents for not instilling ideas of self-confidence into children’s minds. The magazines exist to make money. It is not their responsibility to belittle and tear down self-esteem, but it /is/ the parent’s responsibility to help their child build a healthy self-image.
Makeup is not beauty. Makeup can only enhance (or devalue…) the canvas. And that canvas is what brings success.
As an eighteen-year-old female, I’ll pick up a Teen Vogue or Seventeen once a year for skin product recommendations or nifty workout guides. I follow high fashion closely as an art form and have my own unique sense of style, so I don’t feel a need to read a watered-down version of “what’s hot this winter!” in writing directed toward an eighth-grader. I don’t need a magazine to tell me “how to attract guys;” that’s what my personality’s for. Sometimes I I buy cosmetics recommended by actual professional makeup artists to enhance the beauty I already possess - the same reason why I have a facial piercing. Because I think it looks nice on me. Not because a magazine told me to. Not because I think that’s the only way I will achieve what I want to in life. In fact, sometimes I’ll put on a face-full of makeup and feel prettier after I’ve taken it off. Does my makeup change how hard I study or how many friends I have? Does my beauty have any influence over my talent? No, no, and no.
While the magazines should, morally, write articles on self-confidence, intellect, courage, and personal strength rather than mascara, bronzer, “best swimsuits for your body type,” and “how to get a guy to laugh at your jokes” -- they have no reason to. Cosmetic companies would not benefit from such articles with substance. A spread saying “You don’t need MAC foundation and Chanel blush to be pretty” will mean nothing when the advertisement for MAC’s newest line of powders appears on the following page. I would like to generalize and say most young people do not have much money, and their parents will not be willing to shell out $25 on a liquid eyeliner when they could easily go to the drug store and spend $1 on a pencil. The high-end, “right” products are not the issue as much as the fact that the makeup itself is being pressed.
"You are not OK as you are."
Seventeen and Teen Vogue often have a lengthy and serious article discussing the dangers of underage drug use, drinking and driving, molestation from a coach, etc. We are lucky that not everything in teen magazines is not skin-deep, but three pages out of 150 is not enough. Magazines for women include more designer clothing options and expensive makeup recommendations than the content of teen magazines (more focused on getting boys to like you and what trends you can follow next).
Beauty and self-confidence are very much related topics. They are also very much subjective topics. What self-confidence means for me may not be the same as your definition. Standards of beauty are even more varied. The ancient Greek golden model of proportions is not what everyone wants to see. In the early Christian era, women with large, round bellies that protruded from their dresses were the epitome of allure and appeal. Being thin and adhering to the mass media’s ideals of beauty will only bring success to the bank accounts of the magazines and their advertising partners. Success comes from self-confidence and determination. Beauty comes from self-confidence and a positive outlook. Success isn’t money just as beauty isn’t plump lips. You are OK as you are.
"Do these Web sites have a responsibility to present a more realistic and well-rounded view of young womanhood? How might the emphasis on beauty and beauty products affect young women who may not be able to afford the 'right' cosmetics? Would the same messages be contained in Web sites for magazines targeted at adult women?"
Clear, acne-free skin is beautiful. Hair must be well-managed and is never pretty if shorter than your chin. A slim waist with a proportionate bust and hip/thigh/butt ratio is attractive. Clothing should accentuate your best parts and hide your worst parts. These are the messages pre-teens and teenagers are receiving…
Teen magazines are as influential as the audience wants them to be. Most young girls don’t know any better than to follow the words of these magazines and websites. They want to be older. "You are not OK as you are." What’s the way to get older when you can’t change your age? Act older. Pretend to be older. Read the articles and visit the websites you think older girls go to.
It’s not only the magazines that are at fault; it’s the parents for not instilling ideas of self-confidence into children’s minds. The magazines exist to make money. It is not their responsibility to belittle and tear down self-esteem, but it /is/ the parent’s responsibility to help their child build a healthy self-image.
Makeup is not beauty. Makeup can only enhance (or devalue…) the canvas. And that canvas is what brings success.
As an eighteen-year-old female, I’ll pick up a Teen Vogue or Seventeen once a year for skin product recommendations or nifty workout guides. I follow high fashion closely as an art form and have my own unique sense of style, so I don’t feel a need to read a watered-down version of “what’s hot this winter!” in writing directed toward an eighth-grader. I don’t need a magazine to tell me “how to attract guys;” that’s what my personality’s for. Sometimes I I buy cosmetics recommended by actual professional makeup artists to enhance the beauty I already possess - the same reason why I have a facial piercing. Because I think it looks nice on me. Not because a magazine told me to. Not because I think that’s the only way I will achieve what I want to in life. In fact, sometimes I’ll put on a face-full of makeup and feel prettier after I’ve taken it off. Does my makeup change how hard I study or how many friends I have? Does my beauty have any influence over my talent? No, no, and no.
While the magazines should, morally, write articles on self-confidence, intellect, courage, and personal strength rather than mascara, bronzer, “best swimsuits for your body type,” and “how to get a guy to laugh at your jokes” -- they have no reason to. Cosmetic companies would not benefit from such articles with substance. A spread saying “You don’t need MAC foundation and Chanel blush to be pretty” will mean nothing when the advertisement for MAC’s newest line of powders appears on the following page. I would like to generalize and say most young people do not have much money, and their parents will not be willing to shell out $25 on a liquid eyeliner when they could easily go to the drug store and spend $1 on a pencil. The high-end, “right” products are not the issue as much as the fact that the makeup itself is being pressed.
"You are not OK as you are."
Seventeen and Teen Vogue often have a lengthy and serious article discussing the dangers of underage drug use, drinking and driving, molestation from a coach, etc. We are lucky that not everything in teen magazines is not skin-deep, but three pages out of 150 is not enough. Magazines for women include more designer clothing options and expensive makeup recommendations than the content of teen magazines (more focused on getting boys to like you and what trends you can follow next).
Beauty and self-confidence are very much related topics. They are also very much subjective topics. What self-confidence means for me may not be the same as your definition. Standards of beauty are even more varied. The ancient Greek golden model of proportions is not what everyone wants to see. In the early Christian era, women with large, round bellies that protruded from their dresses were the epitome of allure and appeal. Being thin and adhering to the mass media’s ideals of beauty will only bring success to the bank accounts of the magazines and their advertising partners. Success comes from self-confidence and determination. Beauty comes from self-confidence and a positive outlook. Success isn’t money just as beauty isn’t plump lips. You are OK as you are.