Jezebel: seventeen magazine

Awkward Moment On Morning TV

Dodai — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 09:40:00 EDT

At left: Seventeen editor Ann Shoket. At right: NBC medical analyst Dr. Nancy Snyderman. At issue: Girls who cut.

“It's Fun To Be Seventeen", Unless, Of Course, You're Seventeen

Margaret — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 13:00:00 EDT

It’s been a while since I’ve read Seventeen, but I assumed not much would have changed. Through the ages, teen girls have always needed the magazine to rehash the same stories about which jeans look best on “curvy” figures and assuage their fears about vaginal odor. But this wise “older sister” has turned abusive of late. Even though makeup, boys, and eating disorders are still the topics at hand, the August issue has a pretty relentless message of “everyone is judging you constantly, so listen to us or suffer the consequences.” After the jump, a guide to the panic attack-inducing world of the adolescent female, as seen through the eyes of Seventeen editors.

This letter from Editor-in-Chief Ann Shoket sets the tone for the entire issue (bold-facing hers):

Hi! I have a weird Q for you: If your outfit could talk, what would it say about you? Think about it for a sec. We put so much importance on first impressions. And when you're going back to school, meeting new teachers, checking out cute guys, and seeing your friends again after a long summer, it's especially important - you're making impressions on about 150 people a second. Sure, your energy and vibe go a long way toward telling people who you are and what you're about, but your clothes and makeup are an important part of the package. That's why I'm practically obsessed with helping you get your look just right for the first day of school. So when your fourth-period history teacher sees you in class, or when your secret crush (who, BTW, got the best muscles over the summer) asks where the music room is, you'll be saying all the right things - before you even say a word! How's that for an awesome payoff from a day of shopping?

What impression do you want to make this year?
Tell me everything at ann@seventeen.com
XOXO
-A

I’m never going “back-to-school” again, and yet for some reason I’m now anxious about September. Thanks Ann!

The beauty section explains how to “tell everyone about yourself” by “picking the look that makes the right statement about you.” So, if I wear a subtle shadow with purple liner, will that tell the world “I’m serious about school” but “I don’t take myself too seriously?”
This two-page fold out chart shows how size measurements vary for different styles of jeans. Maybe I’m just feeling vulnerable after measuring my waist to 1/8 of an inch, but I think the real message in the size 15/16 row may be “Sorry! They don’t come in this size, fatty!”
In case you’re a little too flabby for those “perfect fit” jeans, the magazine's health section includes a “get your best butt” exercise plan. It also advises that you shouldn’t eat chicken Caesar salad because the dressing is fattening, but that apple rice cakes “are almost like mini apple pies.” But watch out, because exercising too much or counting calories obsessively could be a sign that your “feelings are bad for your body.” And yet, if we don’t watch ourselves everyone may “see the emotional weight we’re carrying right there on our stomachs, hips or thighs.” I guess everything about me really is wrong!
Maybe it’s not just me – there’s probably something wrong with my friends too. I’d never considered the possibility that boys don’t like me because my friends are annoying!
But think twice about ditching your friends for a guy. In “Sex Lies He Tells you,” we learn that “sometimes he’ll say anything to keep going.”

I remember there being a few non-heinous aspects of being a teenage girl, but after reading Seventeen (motto: "It's fun to be seventeen") I've realized it’s just seven years of public humiliation and ridicule. I wish that when I was growing up I had more positive role models to guide me through these difficult years — like the girls from The Hills! Who better to look to for cues on self-respect and supporting other women than Lauren Conrad?

You Wanna Be On Top

Tracie — Mon, 19 May 2008 17:20:00 EDT

Check it out: It's ANTM Cycle 10 winner Whitney Thompson's photos (taken by noted fashion photographer Nigel Barker) and interview from the forthcoming July issue of Seventeen. It's kinda great that the "full figure" girl won the cycle that featured a bikini shoot, so they weren't able to hide her body behind ponchos and shit. What's bizarre is that Whitney claims that she's a size 14, but with skinny arms, a flat belly, and what looks to be boobs not much bigger than a B cup, we don't see how she's anything larger than an 8 or a 10. But whatevs, congrats, Whitney! (Click image for the rest of the pics and the interview.)

Why is this always the go-to post for plus-size girls? Was Miss Piggy giving the "posing teach" that day?

Anatomy Of A Celebrity Maturation: Avril Lavigne Grows Up, Buys More, Sounds The Same

Moe — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 14:06:52 EDT

If there is one thing we are more soooooo sick of than Avril Lavigne giving interviews about how she is soooooo sick of everyone talking about how she is this, like, tomboy in Chuck Taylors and suspenders because she is suuuuuch a feminine grown-up now (and p.s. Mark Jacobs and Proenza whatever and every other cool designer pls send her stuff she is a perfect sample size!!! maybe skinnier!!!) it is probably Gwen Stefani giving interviews to the same effect. Because, like, aren't there enough makeover shows in the world already that we don't need our manufactured pop idols spending valuable studio time disseminating the important message that "maturity" actually equates to "buying clothes you can't afford"??

Haha, kidding! Of course we need popstars to tell us what to buy. But that's why God created the Olsen Twins! After the jump, we assess the metamorphosis that has occured within Avril since being spawned by the Matrix in 2003 of Seventeen, Jane, and Lucky magazines... and, oh yes, her new album, which comes out this week.

Since Avril started giving her first "not a tomboy anymore" interviews in early 2004, she has transported her skateboard in a limo, dyed her hair white with a pink streak a la Rachel McAdams, made bank writing the song "Breakaway" for Kelly Clarkson and gotten married in a Vera Wang dress outside Santa Barbara. Is she still punk? (And by "punk", we mean does she still shop at Hot Topic?) Was she ever really one of us? Who is she?

Evidence in the April issue of Seventeen was heartening. Avril extolls the virtue of Bath & Body Works' berry body sprays and $15 Target flats, and poses in Doc Martens, those American Apparel socks made famous by classy lady Lauren Phoenix, Forever 21 boots and a super cute Charlotte Russe jumper. So far, so within our budget constraints!!

But then she shows up in Jane, wearing the same Tonya Harding-esque scowl/severe eyeliner but a much pricer wardrobe: $160 Diesel sweater, an $895 Mia and Kompany skull necklace and a $235 Max and Co jacket.

Then this month the skateboarding star poses for the most honest (about its intentions) women's magazine in the world, Lucky, in a collection of items apparently "worth" $1500. Not punk!

So what about the "music"??? Devoted Avril fans can delight: nothing whatsoever has happened to Avril Lavigne's signature punk sound: we downloaded four whole Avril songs with a little help from our pink-hued sisters at Idolator, and despite her protestations to the contrary in USA Today, she sounds exactly the same! (Except that there may be more curse words, even as she also overuses the word "damn", which we thought had been rendered obsolete by the word "fucking" in 1997.)

The album drops April 17, folks! Don't forget to not download it!

Avril's Best Damn Thing [USA Today]

Win Avril's Cover Look [Lucky]
The New Avril Lavigne Album Is Not That Complicated [Idolator]
Avril Is Upset With Songwriting Partner [StarPulse]