During last week's class conversation we talked a lot about sex (obviously). More specifically BDSM in media and Sam brought up the ways magazines have covered sex and that particular subject which got me thinking a lot about magazines in general. I'm not sure how many of you all grew up reading teen magazines. Maybe it was just a thing at my middle school but they were kind of a huge deal. Not even in a fad type of way, they were just genuinely a part of our (girls) everyday lives--so prevalent that we kind of just took them for granted. Point is, as we have talked more about sex and magazines in this class, I remember that these magazines, especially J-14, served as a kind of handbook for learning about romantic relationships and the beginning stages of a sexual relationship (kissing, making out, etc.). Hot topics or favorite magazine sections back in my days usually had to do with either quizzes, embarrassing moments, and advice columns. Above is a throwback cover of J-14 that was not uncommon to look like for my middle school years (2004-ish). A lot of the type of "sizzling secrets" that were included advice on how to initiate or respond to boys advances to kiss you and that kind of stuff. However, based off from what I can tell about most recent J-14 articles, the conversation might not be as sex-centric as they used to. Disclaimer: I can really only go off of their online portal for J-14 which still has a lot of content that they feature in their monthly magazine. However, a lot of what can be seen on www.j-14.com pertains mainly to celebrity gossip and less to teens in the context of sexual relationships. Before, there were all types of articles that described embarrassing moments while hooking up with your man and the best way to get your crush to kiss you. I wonder if there is actually a change in this content. If so, could it be that "teens" are considered teens at a younger age now? In another class, we addressed that tweens or pre-teens now adopt tendencies and interests that the traditional "teen" is usually seen to take on. I wonder if this absence of sex-related (even if they were only ever mild) topics stems from an increase in younger readership. Below is an example of a 2014 issue of the same magazine which does feature some segments of body image but other than that does not really have any references to something that could be potentially about sex.
In any case, I think that in the context of sexuality and media, it is probably important to think about magazines like J-14 as some of the beginning media types that young teens engage with. Are they even a thing anymore? We have read in literature that media can serve as a super peer for teens in the context of sexual education. As we read in Brown et al's work (2005), earlier maturing girls are more likely to take interest in media with sexual content rather than girls who bloom later. However, if media such as J-14 is, in a way, kind of designed to be a super peer for girls and does not do a wholesome job of presenting facts and testimonials for safe sex, could it be the case that girls will seek it elsewhere? Maybe this print media type is outdated but I'm guessing this would also mean that young girls would seek sexual guidance from other, more mature sources which could have different implications altogether.
Works Cited
Brown, J. D., Halpern, C. T., & L'Engle, K. L. (2005). Mass media as a sexual super peer for early maturing girls. Journal of Adolescent Health, 36(5), 420-427.
Hey Alejandra!
ReplyDeleteThis is a really interesting post and I think it is something that definitely needs to be addressed as our media environment is changing so rapidly lately. Your point about the intersection between the rate at which girls are maturing and the rate at which media outlets are diversifying is something that I haven’t thought about before but a concept that I love. In regards to your question, “if media such as J-14 is, in a way, kind of designed to be a super peer for girls and does not do a wholesome job of presenting facts and testimonials for safe sex, could it be the case that girls will seek it elsewhere?” I think the answer is definitely yes especially as the media environment we live in becomes more and more diverse and the technology used to access it also diversifies. I can’t go out in public anymore without seeing teen girls consumed by devices like smartphones and tablets. I can’t help but assume that these smartphones and tablets are contributing to teen’s use of the Internet, which, as Delgado and Austin found, serves for seeking information sexual health topics (2007). I think the internet is starting to serve as a complex super peer due to the diversity of the content that you can find on the internet. The Internet is full of different peer-generated types of content which Joyce and Harwood found can increase message-consistent attitudes amongst viewers (2014). Perhaps new viral videos and peer generated content are serving as a new super peer instead of magazines like J-14?
Really insightful post!
- Kelly