Mass Market Mortification: The Developmental Appropriateness of Teen Magazines and the Embarrassing Story Standard

Abstract

Magazines created for teenage girls are effective because of their developmental appropriateness; the relationship developed between magazine and reader represents a distinct feminine space, while the demands of the text itself are appropriate to the analytic ability of the adolescent. The inclusion of the confessional “embarrassing story” column that has become the mainstay of the teen magazine is a unique example of the sympathetic space created between reader and text by the magazines. By examining theories of adolescent identity development and the implied effects of environment on self‐esteem building, we can investigate the influence of teen magazines and their “embarrassing stories” on adolescent girls and theorize the full impact of these texts. In addition, as we recognize magazine reading as a component of what Margaret Finders calls the “literate underlife,” we may begin to realize the benefit of collecting these periodicals in our public and school libraries.