Jezebel
Down Under, two of the major teen magazines, rivals Dolly and Girlfriend, are banding together to fight government suggestions that the magazines come with "audience age recommendations," because of the sexually-explicit nature of their question-and answer-sections. According to the Daily Telegraph, "Tasmanian Senator Stephen Parry said he was concerned readers as young as 11 were writing in for answers to questions on anal and oral sex." (Because if they don't read the magazine, their questions will magically disappear, right?) Dolly editor Gemma Crisp told a government inquiry, "We see it as a service. It's our responsibility to provide the correct information rather than them (readers) saying to their 15-year-old friend, 'my boyfriend wants me to do this, how do I deal with it?'" We decided to see what kind of advice the American teen magazines are giving their readership. A look at sex coverage on the websites of Teen Vogue, Cosmo Girl, Elle Girl, YM and Seventeen, after the jump.
Teen Vogue: Teen Vogue's website doesn't seem to have any sex coverage at all. Its drop-down menu on the homepage has five sections: Style, Industry Insider, Beauty, Team Vogue and Connect. And although there are no articles about sex or question-and-answer style features, there is a fair amount of sex talk on the largely unregulated Message Boards. Sample thread starter: "I haven't had sex in over two weeks. its starting to wear on me but my boyfriend is out of town and i don't want to cheat on him because i've already done that too much. I guess i just have to stay strong but its hard. TIPS?!?!?!"
Cosmo Girl!: Ah, Cosmo Girl. The website's "Sex" section is part of a drop down menu titled "Guys" (also available under the heading "Life Advice") where the magazine has a panel of reasonable experts answering questions like "Can you get pregnant if a guy fingers you with sperm on his hand?" They don't talk down to the girls, and seem to be giving straight talk. Alongside the prudent advice is a lot of boy craziness including recurring features like "Hook A Hottie", "Guy Videos", "Eye Candy", "Guide To Guys" — the list goes on.
Elle Girl: The sex coverage on Elle Girl is also pretty minimal. The brunt of it is articles like How to Deal ...With a Guy Who's Just After a Hookup and quizzes such as Are you a bad girlfriend?. None of these are particularly informative or sex-positive.
Seventeen: The bottom line of Seventeen's sex stories is always, "don't get knocked up". There's an entire section devoted to "preventing pregnancy." While the idea of sex for pleasure's sake is definitely not the backbone of Seventeen's health section, they do an admirable job in answering the tough questions, like the age-old query, "Can I Get Pregnant From Having Sex in Water?"
YM : Back in the early-mid-90s when I was a burgeoning teen, YM was the repository for the raciest sex stories. The magazine was never huge on serious content or real advice, though. It's a bit tamer than I remember — where are all the blow job questions? — but the "Say Anything" section still provides the same level of teen mortification it always did.
Magazine Readers Want Sex [Daily Telegraph]
Comments
yeah teen vogue, like its mom, is a fashion magazine and not a lifestyle magazine. bless it.
and im choosing to not focus on 11 year olds asking questions about oral and anal sex because it makes me sad.
Say Anything link broke!
Want to relive teen mortification!
Wasn't "...and then I got my period!" part of the "Embarassing Stories" section of teen girl mags, instead of there being a "Oh Thank Fuck I'm Not Up the Stick" part?
Struggling with the notion of "CosmoGirl" as the best anything. It sounds better than "Cosmo," anyway.
I want Jezebel to have an advice column, for real. Pot Psychology doesn't count, because I can't watch the videos.
I am pretty sure that Teen Vogue post is actually a "Dateline: To Catch a Predator" hook. Ewww.
When I was growing up- a lot of the stories I remember about sex usually involved the guy killing/raping/beating her or her family later on. It was that horror movie message- sluts always die badly.
aren't the teen vogue message boards the same ones that had the pro-ana threads?
i'm just saying, as someone who wants to have kids, had excellent parents, and worked for an HIV prevention education org, i'm glad that at least one of the mags is being open, honest, and forthright. kids are gonna do what they're gonna do, but geez-o-pete, can't we please help them make their choices responsibly?
The UK Mag More that I read as a young teen had a 'position of the fortnight' - I wasn't actually having sex until my late teens but I took it on board for when I did. It does no harm to know the basics and it hardly inspired me to hop on my bike and go try out tantric positions with my neighbour. Though I may have ahem, thought about it.
Teen girls are so adorably innocent. Don't even have a vibrator yet.
"Can you get pregnant if a guy fingers you with sperm on his hand?"
So, uh, can you? 'Cause one of my friends wants to know.
*cough*
the say anything section of YM was my absolute Favvvorite growing up. so juicy! I'm sad the link doesnt work for me...
Dolly and Girlfriend are banding up together and are totally going to spread rumors about the time CosmoGirl! had a tampon string hanging out of her bikini bottom. Teen Vogue will stay out of the fray since she has Latin club and a hair appointment at Sally Hershberger, but ElleGirl will leave nasty messages about how they still wear whiskered boot cut jeans on the bathroom walls.
"don't get knocked up". There's an entire section devoted to "preventing pregnancy." While the idea of sex for pleasure's sake is definitely not the backbone of Seventeen's health section, they do an admirable job in answering the tough questions, like the age-old query, "Can I Get Pregnant From Having Sex in Water?"
Maybe I'm a prude but when I think of sex-ed reform, I don't think I'd like my teacher talking about anything BUT avoiding getting knocked up/STIs and preventing/avoiding sexual assault. You're a doctor/teacher; let the kids figure out what they want to do themselves (unless they do something with consequences they don't ancticipate, like donkey-punching or choking or BJ's without condoms...).
Enh. Remember that scene in the 40 Year-Old Virgin where Steve Carrell and (future) step daughter go to get birth control and Nancy Walls' character (a counselor) talked about "outercourse?" Masturbation, mutual masturbation, etc. etc...
Maybe in classes separated by gender (and one with a teacher who was the same sex as the students) it wouldn't seem so uncomfortable.
What do I know. None of it matters--this fucking country is all but ready to overturn Roe, make BC damn near impossible to get/afford and slice programs for all those unwanted/unplanned for kids, all in the same damn breath.
@girlscoutcookie (ΔΔΔ): OK, a Jez advice column would rock in more ways than I can count.
I had no idea YM is still around.
Say Anything made me paranoid about period stains years before my first period.
@marie123: Note--that should read, "LIKE a doctor/you're a teacher..."
Bleh.
@hamburgerhotdog: So Teen Vogue is the Serena and ElleGirl is the Blair?
Cheerleader! So-and-so! Whatsherface! And... The Ugly One!!!!
...YM is totally the Ugly One.
@wolf biter: Yes. In medical terminology, it's called "innoculating." Sperm in the vadge (or even on the vulva) can get you pregnant, whether the sperm is on a finger, penis, leaky condom, whatever.
Yowsers, I never thought I'd have the chance to discuss the impact that Dolly Doctor had on my formative years. Seriously, they do answer well plenty of questions that young teens are embarrassed to ask, about sex and various attributes of your ladyparts. I can remember being reassured by DD's answers on breast cancer, ingrown hairs on the bikini line (which I thought was herpes or something) and HPV. Knowledge is power.
the rest of the magazine is more or less a catalogue, but oh well.
still, it pains me to think i as ever embarrassed to ask a doctor something.
@wolf biter: Only if you're married.
@♥ dosido ☮: Seriously, I need one.
@girlscoutcookie (ΔΔΔ): Seconded!
I can't believe that Teen Vogue thing. Can't be real.
I refuse to believe that in my twenties I am more lame in the getting laid department than some teenager. 2 weeks??? Come the fuck on.
@girlscoutcookie (ΔΔΔ): she's more like Kim Kelly.
@marie123: I am so afraid to ask...
donkey-punching?
@hamburgerhotdog: and then cosmo girl's boyfriend came up to her and was all "hey cosmo you have something hanging from your swimsuit" and he pulled the string AND IT WAS HER TAMPON and then he just stood there holding a tampon while cosmo girl ran away mortified.
Isn't Dolly the magazine Sassy was based on?
@ineffable.me: I don't know... I mean, I was 11 when I first found out about blow jobs. Although, I totally thought the girl who told me about them was making it up. I was not going to be fooled again like I was the time my neighbor insisted people made babies by the man putting his penis in the woman's bellybutton...
@lolacat: Don't ask.
@marie123: But by god insurance companies WILL cover viagra! This is America after all.
lol. does anyone remember the first time they read the sex advice in cosmo girl and it dawned on you that your friends were full of crap
@Mr. Praline:
Tee hee. I haven't watched Strong Bad in way too long.
@hamburgerhotdog: Ack! I hate it when I don't get the references!
Those Germans! Their teen magazines are something else: You'll go through about 12 pages about the stars of High School Musical, followed by a full-page photo of a naked 18 year-old guy, followed by a photo-comic about a high school lesbian relationship.
The website for Bravo! does not disappoint (but it does make me blush). I don't speak German, but I'm assuming the subject matter is pretty sex-positive, judging by the NSFW-ness of it all :
[www.bravo.de]
@lolacat: Ah, it's a very classy fake sex move made up by some douchebags somewhere. Basically, whilst in the doggy style position, when the man is about to come, he asks the woman a question, causing her to turn around, at which point he punches her in the face! Classy!
@Notes from the underwhelmed: well when they say questions i imagine that its questions because they are doing stuff not just out of curiosity.
@maliciousfallacy: there's an archive, yo!
[www.ym.com]
@and Begorrah: I deserved that.
Dolly was started by the same woman who started Sassy, so I'm not surprised they haven't shied away from what comes to them. It's sad that such things should even be on an 11-year-old's mind, but that's a larger problem.
Whenever I travel to a different country I pick up a couple of magazines. When I was in Australia I got a copy of "Dolly" and I remember thinking how great of a magazine it was. It even came with free earrings.
@hamburgerhotdog:Freaks and Geeks reference, FTW!
I remember driving to conference tournaments with my field hockey and softball teams and reading the embarrassing stories from YM and squealing about how "oh my god, we would have died if our tampon string was sticking out!!" which then turned into a discussion about tampons v. pads, etc. I pity our poor male coaches.
@girlscoutcookie (ΔΔΔ): The commenters alone are a great source of advice. Personal anecdote: I've been reading Jez since June and if I wasn't for all you commenters I would never had known I had to pee after sex. So when I started up the sexin' in September I remembered what y'all said. Jezebel: saving college girls from UTIs one post at a time.
I always wondered why GURL.com isn't a bigger force for the teen set. I remember reading that in high school and their sex ed section is top notch. A quick peak to the site just now told me that its owned by IVillage now but I doubt it changed too much. MAybe GURL should jump onto the publication train.
@Notes from the underwhelmed: OMG- my coke just went down my windpipe I started snorting so hard. Thank you- that was more fabulous than I was expecting.
@Jessi Ramsey: OMG, I totally learned the peeing-after-sex thing from Jez too! Which, totally, the general tidbits I pick up from posts and commenters alike here are invaluable, but it would be great to have a forum for specific questions, you know?
My aunt, who is a rogue born-again Baptist in our otherwise loosely-practicing Anglican family, gave me gift subsciptions to a Christian teen magazine from the ages of 12-16. The advice columns were AMAZING.
Q: What do the scriptures say about holding hands?
A: Any skin-on-skin contact can lead to sexual temptation. It's best just not to touch at all.
This was in sharp contrast to the German teen magazines I bought when I went to school there at 16. The Valentine's Day issue had a pull-out fully-illustrated-with-real-nude-models kama sutra. Christian Teen had an article about Valentine's Day being a pagan holiday that would lead to herpes.
@Notes from the underwhelmed: Ugh well I went to urban dictionary and they have THIS defintion which just as distgusting:
donkey punching:
when gettin down anal style, punchin the spine of the girl you're with (not hard unless you're both into that shit) so her muscles contract for when you pop
WTFFFF I'd seriously go to jail if anyone ever tried that shit on me
@girlscoutcookie (ΔΔΔ): I was JUST thinking that this morning - not so much for the column itself, but I think there's a huge resource of smart women that would know the answer to "if I ever have a daughter, how can I ensure she doesn't inherit my food issues"?
@girlscoutcookie (ΔΔΔ): I learned about that from a John Irving book.
While I'm all for teaching honest pregnancy and STD prevention, I'm not sure about teaching kids as young as 11 about "sex for pleasure". I mean, are young kids really having sex for pleasure, or because of peer-pressure and curiosity? I'm inclined to think it's a latter.
Personally, I'd rather my child get accurate info but I know I'd emphasize how important it is to choose to have sex for you not because everyone else if doing it or because some guy threatens to break up with you if you don't or whatever.
@Bianca_Cheri: I have a strange desire to hit myself in the back to see if it makes my bumhole muscles contract.....
....Nope.
@lolacat: For all related queries, I recommend you proceed to urbandictionary.com with EXTREME CAUTION. sometimes ignorance is bliss.