Teen magazines: Getting a dumbing down for the times

Teen magazines: Getting a dumbing down for the times

M. Taufiqurrahman, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Pick up two or three glossy teen magazines from a newsstand, and
start browsing. Before long, you will be surprised by the
striking similarities between them.

By the time you read the last page and close the magazines,
you will be hard put to tell any difference between them all.

Teen magazines these days -- for boys or girls alike -- offer
universal themes; how to look hip like your favorite singers or
movie stars, what is going on with your favorite singers or movie
stars, how to act like your favorite singers or movie stars and
the latest outings of those very same favorite singers or movie.

They may touch on more substantial advice, such as how to
respect parents or teachers, but it will be buried amid all the
celebrity fluff, entertaining though it is.

With tabloid-style gossip shows dominating the airwaves, teen
magazines are following suit. Their content runs the
entertainment gamut of gossip, movies, fashion and favorite
hangouts.

So, what's wrong with that? After all, better quality
magazines like Kerrang or Spin also examine the same subjects.

The issue is that in years past teen magazines like Hai and
Gadis were a training ground for young, talented writers, such as
Hilman Hariwijaya and Gito Gilas.

In a time when teenagers were not yet herded into worshiping
bubble-gum pop and cheesy TV soap operas, magazines offered
balanced reviews on records and enlightening short stories.

These days, teen magazines focus on teen queens and cover
girls who will probably graduate to become TV soap stars. Teen
magazines educate girls about how to be beautiful in their quest
to be lead a shiny happy life, as if that is all that young women
aspire to.

Even the once well-respected Hai magazine could not resist the
temptation to jump up on the "beautiful is where it's at"
bandwagon and run a 50 sexiest celebrities issue.

The managing editor of the oldest and highest circulation
magazine for young women Gadis, Didin P. Ambardini, argued that
the glossy content reflected the tastes of the readers.

"Our magazine runs images that girls are smart, vibrant,
beautiful and in keeping with the latest trends," she told The
Jakarta Post.

It runs stories on celebrities like Britney Spears, Stacie
Orrico, Christina Aguilera and Westlife because they were what
girls wanted, she said. The magazine holds focus group
discussions of its readers, regular polling and a greet-the-
readers program to gauge what its audience wants.

"U2 or REM are out of the question because they are too heavy
and don't look bright for most girls," she said, adding that
target audience for the magazine was young women aged between 20
and 24, from middle to upper income brackets.

However, from the inception of the magazine, it has
relentlessly promoted local values. "We provide considerable
space on manners, education and psychology for our young
readers," she said.

Deputy chief editor of Seventeen magazine Tenik Hartono
strongly disagreed that her magazine promoted mainstream banality
among readers.

"We know what it is like to be young and what it is all about
-- movies, pop stars and fashion. We are only capitalizing on
what is already there," she told the Post.

An observer of youth matters, Robby Chandra, said that most of
teen magazine available in the market reflected the prevailing
urban lifestyle and values.

"Most of them talk about lifestyle, fashion and all the things
that are offered in the city's malls. All in all, they depict
materialistic values," he said.

There is also the trend for teen magazines to ape adult
lifestyle publications in the discussion of how to boost one's
sex appeal.

"This isn't surprising because media outlets depend heavily on
advertisements for their survival, whereas advertisers are
business entities which offer up costly lifestyles to reap
maximum benefit (for them)."

The most worrying trend is the presentation of a superficial
view of the world, centered on the current youth enchantments of
malls and TV.

No consideration is given to the fact that, amid the gleaming
shopping malls, beautiful boutiques and the quest to be
beautiful, a lot of people are just scraping by.

"The teen magazines give no time for their young readers to
contemplate. There is no food for thought, since what matters for
the youth now is how to become their favorite idols," Robby said.