Is He Boyfriend Material?

Abstract

Teenage girls'magazines play an important role in shaping the norms of the millions of girls who read them. In this article, I examine, through the discursive analysis of two issues each of five different popular teenage girls' magazines (ten issues total), how males and male behavior are represented. Guided by the magazines, girls are “ empowered” to be informed consumers of boys, who are written about as shallow, highly sexual, emotionally inexpressive, and insecure, but also as potential boyfriends, providing romance, intimacy, and love. Framed by fashion and beauty products in both the advertisement and magazine content, success in attracting the “right” boy and finding love is presented as a result of girls' self-regulation, personal responsibility, and good choices, with only their own lack of self-esteem and effort holding them back.

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