Perfect skin, perfect teeth, perfect hair. Razor thin bodies, glamorous clothes. Is that what I’m supposed to expect from girls my age? Because that’s what Seventeen magazine shows on every page in every way.
I hadn’t even heard about Seventeen magazine until I saw on the news that some girls were protesting it. I wanted to see what the big deal was, so I found one. When I looked through the magazine, the girls looked sort of strange. They didn’t look like any real girls I know.
The proportions in their bodies aren’t right. Their waists are too skinny for their heads. Everything they’re wearing looks really expensive. They have so much makeup, it looks like they have a changed face. I’ve seen Leighton Meester in other places, and she looks different on the cover of the magazine from anywhere else.
The girls I know, real girls, don’t look anything like this. They look normal. Most of them aren’t covered in makeup, they wear the kind of clothes I wear, comfortable, everyday clothes, and they don’t look like Barbie dolls. They don’t consider themselves “sporty,” they consider themselves athletes. They don’t dress like they play sports, they just play sports.
I want all of the girls out there who read this blog — especially the ones who read Seventeen Magazine — to know that the Seventeen magazine look seems silly to boys. Boys like girls who look real, the kind of girls we see every day. The Seventeen look might look good on the cover, but in real life it’s uncanny and unattractive. All I can tell you is, say no to Seventeen.
This is Ben, signing off. I’m hoping to blog every once in a while. Let me know if you like my posts.
I love what you wrote. When I used to read seventeen in high school I felt like shit because I did not look like the girls in the magazines. It’s nice to hear that men think these portrayals of girls and women are unrealistic. It’s harmful to men too because they begin to believe that all women should look like Barbies. Bravo to you! I’m so happy that you wrote this post! Keep it up and don’t let anyone or anything compromise your beliefs!
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I’m a mom of two girls (and one boy) and I think your post is *fantastic*: thank you!
Well said Ben. Thank you for putting this in perspective for the publishers of this magazine who claim they only make a magazine like this because the public wants it. Thank you for telling them you’re not buying what they are selling, and encouraging others to question Seventeen too.
I am so thrilled that we have a blog by a boy! Your opinion is fantastic. I’m so happy to hear that boys are protesting this too. Awesome blog!
I used to laugh at this magazine so much. As a girl who played sports 5 days a week, those “sporty” outfits and body types were such a joke. Seventeen is disconnected from teen girls and they don’t even know it.
Yes!
It’s so great to have a boy support our cause! Thanks for the blog.
“Boys like girls who look real, the kind of girls we see every day”
“Most of them aren’t covered in makeup, they wear the kind of clothes I wear, comfortable, everyday clothes, and they don’t look like Barbie dolls.”
“I want all of the girls out there who read this blog….to know that the Seventeen magazine look seems silly to boys.”
No one sees how awful these statements are? Not one of you?
Forget if a girl really does like to be covered in make up and look like a Barbie- men think it’s silly! Good heavens, why would you want to do something overtly feminine when it’s REAL girls that men want?
This post could have focused on all the truly negative points (the clothes are way too expensive, the girls look dangerously thin, the magazine projects a very unreal lifestyle and image) but instead, all I see is “stop doing things that I don’t like because you won’t get a man.”
I think the point of the article wasn’t that guys don’t like girls that wear make up and look very feminine, I think the point was more that they don’t like when girls try to look “perfect” or just like the magazines.
Hello Ben!
i think you are awesome: very mature, smart and nice.
but unfortunately i am going to criticize you a bit, too.
imho this post is written for the girls, but from a boy’s perspective.
what i’m trying to say is: a girl is much more than what a boy thinks of her.
if she LIKES, she should do with her body whatever SHE WANTS.
the point here is that some girls wear loads of make up and look up to cover models and stars out of insecurity, cause they want to belong, they want to uniform themselves to the unhealty beauty ideal the media are offering us.
anyways, thank you for your post and for it’s positive energy!
if you try to see the things from a girl’s perspective you’re going to even more awesome than you are now.
(sorry for my poor english, it’s not my first language)