Adolescent Girls and the Magazine Effect
"Do not read beauty magazines. They will only make you feel ugly." That is just one of the many helpful suggestions drummed into Baz Luhrmann's Sunscreen Song (which is originally an essay written by Mary Schmich). That is also one of the pieces of advice found in the song that are certainly never followed. Most teenage girls surely have read, or at the very least have flipped through, the pages of some popular fashion and beauty magazines that today: Seventeen, Vogue, Cosmo, etc. It has been claimed, however, that reading these kinds of magazines does make young readers somehow feel ugly. Operation: Perfection Looks. This is what these magazines seem to prioritize. Take even just a single glance at the cover of one of these magazines and anyone will notice that flooding it are headlines such as dress to impress, be a knockout and lose that extra weight. Most of the articles inside the pages also typically revolve around making oneself look good and more ...