"Girlfriend is the magazine girls seek out to guide them through all the teens struggles. Weather they're into fashion, beauty, celebs, true teen stories or just advice about life". April, 2012 girlfriend magazine issue features Lia Michele on the front. Lea Michele is an professional American actress and singer, best known for her performance in Glee a television series presented on channel FOUR. As Lia's success within her career has influenced younger girls and boys to strive for what they believe in and what they want to achieve in their life, the way Girlfriend magazine has portrayed Lia on the front cover is not the way that we want younger people to apire and look up to Lea as being slutty, sexual, seductive and revealing. Lea is a slim, white skin colour, Brunette, brown eyes and flawless skin woman. On the front of the cover the colours pink, black and white are used within article headings and descriptions of adverts amd whats inside the magazine. This is because pink is a girlie colour that is attractive, eye catching and pretty. The main colour used on the front cover "pink" is well chosen as the magazie is aimed at younger girls. Younger girls gernerally love the colour pink. Even though some young girls are 'tom boys' or 'not girlie girls' the girls who would be reading these magazines would be attracted to what is inside the magazine and on the front cover and well as the colours. The hunger games, Annah Mac, crack the bro code, how/what guys talk about when your gone, Taylor Swift, One direction and Reece Mastin are all colums, pictures, headings that are on the front of the magazine. Information on the front cover is precifcally chosen as it has to be interesting and eye catching to what young girls would want to see and read. Alot of the stories on the front cover of the girlfriend magazine are about celebrities. This catches young girls attention as young girls go through an obsession stage were they are obsessed with certain and particular celebrities. Images of One Directions and Taylor Swift features on the front cover as they are well known. People buy magazines that features certain celebrities that they like and that has information about particular celebrites. Teenagers are atrracted to good looking people as they desire and aspire to look like them.

 

By looking at these covers from the magazine Girlfriend majority of celebritys presented on the front of the cover and flawless, beautiful, white and blonde hair, blue/green eyed.
(images found from: http://img1.bdbphotos.com/images/orig/c/m/cmtqwo38bi9ii98.jpg - http://www.leeloo.com.au/blog/images/Girlfriend_Nov09_Cover_Sml.jpg - http://img1.bdbphotos.com/images/orig/f/6/f6y6xfiqbsvksbkf.jpg )

Inside the magazine-

There are over 500 advertisments within the magazine. Majority of the adverts are about beauty products, make-up, skin products, fashion and clothing. On the back of this issue of girlfriend magazine a skin product is advertised. This is a good way of advertising beauty products as teenagers look at the celebritie on the front cover then think in order for me to look like "this" (Lea Michelle) I have to use "this" (beauty product). In magazines such as Dolly, Girlfriend and Creme beauty products that are advertised are usually within a low to reasonable price range as if they were too expensive, girls would not be able to afford. Because they are a reasonable price range girls can then persuade their parents to buy products. Teenagers are convinced that in order to look like the celebrities within the magazines they have to use "these" beauty products. This is a clever way of advertising. Alot of products within magazines are also advertised by famous and beautiful celebrities. It makes young teenage girls aspire to look like them and therefore girls buy products. From my perspective and personal experience of buying magazines I was attracted to bright pretty coloured magazines that featured beautiful and famous celebrities on the front and within the magazine. When beauty products were advertised by celebrities I was attracted to buying this product as if the celebrity is selling the product it made me think the they must use it. So for me to look like this celebrity I must use this product. As I got older I used the products that were good because of its nature and not by who it is sold by or what celebrity who is supposingly using it. Articles on the cover are attention seeking as they talk about how to get a boy friend and what your boy friend thinks about you while youre not with them as well as beauty products and fashion.

Stereotypes of a teenage girl are shown in a way that they care about their apperance, what other people think about them, fashion, looks, and beauty rather than school work academics and sporting. All/most models have white coloured skin. This is very biast and racist towards other cultures. Makes dark coloured skinned girls think that "we cant be like this, were not white".
Lea Michelle, One direction and Taylor swift should all be role models towards young teenagers as they all have alot of determination, skills, and effort in their career. They way they portray Lea on the front of the Girlfriend magazine isnt the impression we want young teenage girls to be getting as its sexual, seductive and very revealing. The typical stereotype for teenage girls is bitchy, snobby, two faced, and slutty. Males persepctive of teenage girls is this. As the producer of Girlfriend magazine is female it is interesting that she still portrays girls in the way the girls dont want to be portrayed in, in such a way that it is slutty and innappropiate.  

Influence of Disney characters towards teenage girls.

The representation of a teenage girls appearance and body image is classically shown through out Disney characters. 

The dramatic and unrealistic differences between a real woman's body figure silhouette and the Disney characters body figure silhouette gives girls at a young age that this is the appearance and body image that we should have when it is blatantly unrealistic. 

Real woman's figure: Normal sized to smallish head, thicker neck to support head and back, wider shoulders along with less defined hip structure that supports the rib and normal sized breast area. Hip, thigh and calf muscle definition. Ankles protrude and feet are a little on the small side but are believable and realistic. 

Disney characters figure: Head slightly bigger than a realistic looking head. Shows features within the face and the emotions are able to be clearly showed. Size of head is still unrealistic. Very slender neck which would be unable to support head and back. Very demure shoulders. Have no structure or shape to them. Medium sized breasts. Any bigger, the Disney character would not be able to hold the weight of the torso. No hip, thigh and calf muscles. No definition of any muscles within the body figure. Feet are absolutely far too small and therefore realistically this character would not be able to walk as there is too much body weight given to the feet and is out of proportion. 

How does the representation affect teenage girls?

The representation of the teenage Disney characters clearly show that they are "perfect" looking and have the body figure most teenage girls would die for. The body figures of the Disney characters are clearly unrealistic as this affects teenage girls as they try to make their appearance and body figure look like the Disney characters. These a cartoons, By definition their features are exaggerated in a way that that the Disney characters heads are slightly bigger than the usual head as it allows features within the face such as eyes and mouth to be bigger and therefore we as an audience are able to see the emotions within a characters face a lot clearer.

http://images4.fanpop.com/image/photos/19600000/Disney-Princess-Lineup-walt-disney-characters-19604075-1280-800.jpg

In this image it shows the girl Disney characters. All are slim, beautiful, perfect complexion and body figure. They represent the perfect looking teenage girl through out a cartoon. This affects teenage girls as we get the idea starting at a young age that this is what we should look like as it is extremely unrealistic for a real human to have the body figure the characters have.

 

http://0.tqn.com/d/toys/1/0/F/G/1/Barbie-I-Can-Be-Doll-Asst.jpg

 

It has been realized that if Barbie was a real person her measurements are way out of proportion and are unrealistic. It would be impossible for Barbie to exist as a human. Barbie would be 5ft 9inch tall, have a 36-inch bust, 18-inch waist, and 33-inch hips. Barbies hips would be squashed and distorted. This would be very uncomfortable and painful as her organs wouldn't be able to function successfully. There would be no definition of any muscles through out the body figure and no fat to support or protect her. Barbie would fit the weight criteria of having anorexia. Barbies body figure and appearance should be what young girls aspire to be. At a young age girls are entertained with Barbie dolls and Disney movies that have girls with perfect appearance and body figure that makes young girls think this is the ideal looking girl and they aspire to look like them. Boys also live up to the expectations of what girls should look like, as they don't realize it is impossible for a girls appearance and/or body figure to look like so. From a personal perspective and experience of playing with Barbie dolls and watching Disney movies at a young age I can say that I also aspired to be like Barbie and the Disney characters. 

http://nexttruth.com/?p=7254

It is proven that young girls do aspire to look like Barbie and Disney characters. Valeria Lukyanova is a girl who loved Barbie and Disney characters at a young age. She loved their body figure, the way they look, how they dress, the big boobs and tiny waste. Valeria was apired to look like Barbie and so thats what she did.

Valeria says “I’m white blonde and I’m proud of it”. By this because Barbie is a white, slim, beautiful doll it makes us think that only white people can make them selfs or be slim and beautiful. This is very judgemental as dark coloured skin could look at the Barbie doll and think 'because the doll has whiter coloured skin and i have dark coloured skin, I cant look like that. I cant be beautiful and slim'.

 

 

 

 

For Valeria to look like Barbie she had to pratically starve her self only consuming liquid type foods and she is vegan meaning she doesnt eat meat or any dairy products as it is unhealthy and fatty. This is not what we want girls to be doing or aspiring towards. Starving them selfs just to look like something that is all most impossible to look like. Barbie is so out of proportion that it is so unbelievable unrealistic for a human to be an exact replica of what Barbie looks like.



 

 

First ever Barbie advert- 1959

 

 

 

This is the first ever Barbie advert on television. All Barbie dolls that are presented on the add are slim, beautiful, perfect looking dolls. We can tell that each doll is also white and no dark coloured skin dolls are presented within this advert. This is very racist and judgemental as Barbie is the prefect and ideal looking girl. It could give others the idea that they cant use these dolls or apire to look like this doll because they are not white. They are dark skin coloured. This could impact teenage girls in a negative way in such a way that they might feel inadequate, not wanted, not beautiful or may not be accepted by other 'white' girls.

 

Mean Girls

                                                                        "Mean Girls"

How does the representation of popular high school students affect teenage girls?

The typical stereotype of a popular girl high school student is a blonde bombshell, mean, bitchy, intimidating, perfect, slim, upper class and rich. The media has obtained this image of a popular high school student as in movies such as mean girls, Regina George, who plays the popular high school student follows through this typical stereotype. The audience age group of the movie "Mean Girls"ranges from 10 to 18 years of age. The representation of the popular high school student being a blonde bombshell, mean, bitchy, perfect, slim and upper class could give girl high school students the idea that this is the ideal image and as a younger age group watch this movie, it gives the impression that this is what teenage girls are supposed to be like. You don't have to be mean, bitchy, intimidating, perfect, slim, upper class and rich to be 'popular'. By the media to be popular is to have a lot of friends, not because they have good and kind qualities, but that they are intimidating and/or mean and people are scared of them. Usually these kind of people aren't actually "liked" by people, but people are "friends" with them they don't want to be made fun of. The media portrays being popular in this kind of way and as a result of this it can affect real teenagers to make them think that to have friends and to be popular you have to be mean and intimidating. For Teenagers who are popular it should be because they have kind and caring characteristics and therefore people want to be their friends because thats the kind qualities which people look for in a friend. The media portrays popular people in such a way because it is more interesting as a viewer of a movie and keeps the audience engaged. If the media portrayed popular girl high school students to be caring, smart, involved in sporting and academia and have kind characteristics this may give young girls and teenagers the idea of what a "popular" person should be rather than a blonde bombshell, mean, bitchy, intimidating, perfect, slim, upper class and rich. Regina George shows classic examples of bullying within a school. As young girls this gives us the idea that bullying is acceptable and is "cool" in order to be popular. As the representation of popular high school students by the media is shown in a negative way, this affects teenage girls negatively rather than positively.

How does the representation affect todays society's perception and/or attitude towards teenage girls?

The movie "Mean Girls" portrays a wide range of stereotypes such as the Jocks (sporty people), Plastics (popular girls), Nerds, Emo/goths and out casts. The way these stereotypes are portrayed though out the movie could give audience watchers the perception of all high school students to be like this and have to have these strong stereotypes and groups though out schools. As the image of the "plastics" represents what most teenage girls want to be like beautiful, popular, slim and well known this can give viewers that are not teenage girls for instance teenage boys, older men and woman that this is what the younger generation of teenage girls is like. As viewers such as young teenage boys may watch the movie "Mean Girls" could them to have high expectations of what todays teenage girls image should look like being a blonde bombshell, pretty, slim and pretty much perfect. From movies such as Legally Blonde, Wild Child, Bring It On and Cow Bells the main actors are all blonde, pretty, slim, perfect complexion and perfect looking. This can affect teenage girls attitude towards their self image as it makes us think that this is the ideal and "perfect" looking girl and therefore we try to look like the "perfect" girl and in the movies it shows that these girls get boys and are popular. The representation of teenage girls in chick flick movies is once again beautiful, slim, perfect complexion and perfect looking as well as bitchy, intimidating and back stabbing snobby girls. For older men and woman this gives them the perception that this is what real teenage girls look for in their self image and is what they act like within their schools and peers. This is not what teenage girls should be thought of as the media overly exaggerates what the teenage girls act like in mean girls compared to what teenage girls really act like in real life, as it is more interesting for audience viewers and keeps them entertained. The representation of teenage girls can affect todays societies attitude towards teenage girls in a negative way as older men and woman may think that they attitude that teenage girls have is negative and rebellious. This negatively affects teenage girls as is isn't a positive perception of what teenage girls should be thought of.

What is the effects of the representation of teenage girls?

• Perception of teenage girls from older men or woman in a negative way in such that they may think that teenage girls are slutty, un responsible, bitchy, rude, only care about their appearance and what people think of them and not so much about sporting and academics.

• The representation of teenage girls in “Mean Girls” affects teenage girls because girls are looking into the media for guidance on what to wear and how to act. When they see the girls behaving the way they do in mean girls in such a way that they party, rebel, have lots of boyfriends, get around a lot, care about appearance and are bitchy, snobby and/or intimidating they start to behave the same way as the actors in the movie such as Regina, Cadi, Karen and Gretchen.

• For teenage girls to feel pretty and be popular they need to be slim, busty, and wear revealing clothing. The way the plastics talk to one another is rude and inappropriate. Calling each other whore's and biaach, this dialogue is showing that people can call you all types of names and is not offensive. In reality if you were to call someone a whore or biaach, it is rude and disrespectful. The representation of the way the girls in the movie act and speak to one another is turning into reality, making teenage girls think that this is appropriate and normal.

• In mean girls the representation of the perfect girl is to be slim, pretty, busty, attractive towards boys and popular or well known. As the plastics clearly represent what “perfect” looks like, we constantly hear the girls complaining and fussing about their appearance which shows that they have very low self esteem even though they are clearly what most girls would dream to look like. This affects teenage girls in such a way that if they don’t believe that they are beautiful, then what are we and what do they think of us? It makes teenage girls worry about their appearance much more than they need too as we must not be pretty enough if they truly don’t believe that they are.  

Video from the movie mean girls

 

In this clip from the movie mean girls we can see that from a young age the media reflects that its not socially accepted for girls to be content with their own complexion, figure, and them selfs. As Regina, Karen and Gretchend look into a mirror and point out their flaws. Their "pores", "man shoulders", "big ass" and bad morning breath. This shows us that no teenage girl is really happy with them selfs as we can clearly see that these three girls are the perfect and ideal looking teenage girl, they should be happy with them selfs. At the start of the clip we also see Reginas younger sister as she watches a music video off T.V. She holds her top up and does sexual moves. This gives us an understanding that at a young age younger children get the idea that they have to be slutty, sexual and seductive. Reginas mother also wears pink, tight fitting, slutty clothes and acts like a teenager. When Regina was younger she would have thought that it is acceptable for her to act in this type of manner being slutty. Regina is a teenager who also gets what she wants. She orders her parents for the bigger bedroom, as she gets it, this gives younger teenagers the idea that it is acceptable to talk to older people and parents in this type of manner when in reality if a child was to ask for the master bed room of the house they would not get it as the type of manner she asked in is innappropiate and rude.

 

Consequences for differences between the medias representation of teenage girls and in reality.

Consequences for differences between the medias representation of teenage girls and in reality what teenage girls are like is that teenage boys have expectations of what the typical teenage girl should look like due to the appearances of how the media portrays teenage girls. In reality, teenage girls don't wear short skimpy skirts and exposing clothes. For one: This probably wouldn't be allowed in schools and students would be advised to wear something different as it is disrespectful for male teachers. In the movie mean girls the "plastics" are made to wear exposing, pink clothing as we can easily distinguish who the plastics are and it helps the audience have a clear understanding of what the plastics are like.
In reality there isn't such obvious school groups such as the Jocks, Plastics, Nerds, Emos/Goths and Out Casts. People are not catergerised such a way, but place them selfs with people that they have similar interests with and easily associate them selfs with.

What are the reasons/implications/consequences for why the stereotypes/messages and/or values have been created by the representation?

Queen Bees and Wannabes is a self-help book which was written in 2002 by Rosalind Wiseman. It focuses on the ways teenage girls look at them selves through out high school, and on patterns of aggressive behavior and how to deal with certain situations.

The film "Mean Girls" was produced to show teenage girls how easily people can change due to the influence of other people. A classic example of personality modification in the film is Cady, when she first arrived at North Shore High School. When Cady first enters high school she was friendly, knew who she was as a person and knew her potential goals in life. Through out the duration of the film Cady is negatively influenced by her pairs who change her views on school work, her values and morals and the way she is perceived by other people and manipulate her. Cady gradually loses her friendly, caring and individual personality and restyles herself in the image of Regina, the "queen bee". Due to the influence of Regina, Cady's personality modification is then perceived as being rude, ignorant and self-absorbed. Towards the end of the film Cady identifies her true self again as she has an understanding of how much she has changed for the worse, and how much it has effected the people around her. She is then perceived as being thoughtful, understanding, friendly, caring, and is generally a happy girl seeking long lasting relationships with family and friends. The Director, Mark Waters, is a male who's opinion and perception on teenage girls may be different to how teenage girls and woman see themselves as. Mark portrays teenagers in the movie to be two faced, ignorant, and rude as this is true that as teenage girls go through their high school years they have difficulty finding who their true selfs are and who they want to be. But to the extreme exaggeration of how the plastics act within the film is not realistic. The film mean girls was produced to show the changes a teen can have on their opinion of themselves, other people, life, school and the way they treat other students, family or friends. The book Queen Bees And Wannabees focuses on the way teenagers look at themselves and helps self guide teens though their high school years. The consequences of the film mean girls being produced is that young girls between the ages of 9-12 may not get the fact that this is a movie and not understand the real meaning of the movie. Young girls could start acting bitchy, bully other students or people, be rude towards their family and friends and not respect them self or others. The message the director and producer wanted to get across to the audience was that teenage years are tough and showing the consequences of acting horrible towards ones peers, friends and family could result in bad grades, loss of trust from family and friends, and what goes around comes around, others will treat you how you treat others. The director wanted young girls to understand that in the movie Cady realizes what she has done wrong and learns as well as acts wisely upon her past decisions, hoping that this would put a positive  impact on how young teenager deal with real life situations.