I started writing an email to Seventeen about this, but then at the suggestion of a tweeter, figured it would have more power if I just posted it here. Commenters, please add your two cents! I would also like to direct you to this awesome blog, The Seventeen Magazine Project, a documentation of one girl’s experience living under the magazine’s advice for a month.
I am writing you concerning your headline on your June/July cover, “THE PARTY DRUG THAT CAN MAKE YOU FAT & UGLY.” I hope you keep these problems in mind for your future issues.
First of all, “fat” is a descriptive term. It is not a negative thing if it is what is healthiest for a person, and I mean ACTUAL health, not like how your “Health” section is really just code for “Skinny” (“Feel lighter and leaner!”) It’s very disappointing to see your efforts with the body peace treaty and Jess Weiner’s column about body image contradicted with the suggestion that fat=ugly.
By trying to discourage the use of drugs with the threats that it will make someone fat and ugly, you’re saying the worst thing that can happen to your average reader, a teenage girl, as a result of drug use, is not that she will have any damage done to her brain or become unhappy, but that her appearance will suffer (again, being fat does not mean bad appearance, but that is what you imply.) Notice anything wrong with this picture?
I know that the reality is that people do value looks over intelligence, and that therefore, the easiest way to convince them not to do pot is that it will make them unattractive. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Pop culture and the media, two things teenagers especially breathe, have quite a bit to do with the way teenage girls are expected to value beauty over all else. You, Seventeen, do too, and you have an influence, so use it. I know your intentions are good, but there are ways to discourage drug use without taking away from another important message. Teenage girls are worth more than looks, and we don’t need another media outlet telling us otherwise.
Sincerely,
Tavi
(Image source.)
Wednesday, July 14th, 2010, 12:25 am | 
Tavi Gevinson | 
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July 15, 2010 at 6:38 pm
Good for you to realize that beauty isn’t about being anorexic/unhealthy! For shame to 17 Magazine for trying to make their advertisers happy at the expense of young impressionable girls!
July 15, 2010 at 7:07 pm
You probably answered your own question with the graph. I mean, we’re talking about a shallow little teen fashion rag here, not ATLANTIC MONTHLY. It’s gonna take ads that promote that universally Barbie-doll-like appearance — you wont find anything from, say, Rosetta Stone in these pages.
I mean, seriously, look at the rest of the headlines. “Your best bikini body”? “Look cute all summer”? It’s like the men’s exercise mags that promise fabulous abs in six weeks.
July 15, 2010 at 7:17 pm
fantastic! bravo!
i am personally struggling with an eating disorder, and reading magazines that feature articles about weight and how to lose it, or how to not be ugly…
it really isn’t conducive to recovery.
July 16, 2010 at 4:28 am
Thank you! I def. Agree. Finally someone says something
July 16, 2010 at 11:12 am
I couldn’t agree more with you Tavi, seventeen and it seems a lot of other teen mags, are following into the direction, that they are trying to make teens not go down the anorexic route, but they just can’t help themselves in trying to get teens to drop that baby ruth and jump on a treadmill.
It’s not right, how can they get away with this cr/p?!
love your work, tavi
July 16, 2010 at 12:43 pm
You’re too young to remember old seventeen of the 2001 era. There wasn’t even a section discussing fitness or health. Sure they had the occasional article on the dangers of this or that but it wasn’t a proactive effort to educate girls. These new articles take a real approach to ways you can be healthier. A drug that makes you “fat and ugly” is a legitimate concern because it show unhealthiness. I used to roll in crowds that did weed, e and coke with girls not even batting an eye at the possible long term effects. But if in the short term they knew they were drastically changing metabolism and looks I believe it could have helped to deter them. There are more to drugs then just the aspect of addiction. No one talks about how your body changes.
As teenagers the message “don’t do drugs” is shoved down your throat. Kids everywhere sit through health ed classes learning about the dangers and still some of those kids do drugs. Why? Shows like intervention and celebrity rehab further still show the effects of addiction but they aren’t deterring the problem either. Seventeen is taking a different route and not trying to rehash what kids already see everywhere. They are trying to dissolve the allure of drugs by showing how gross they can be. There are still a considerable number of girls who take drugs to be skinny. I know a girl who did coke just for that reason. Skinniness is still desirable
July 16, 2010 at 1:29 pm
i have to congratulate you for:
1. being smart and mature
2. deciding to write this
i really appreciate that you had the courage to slam this utterly stupid magazine. it’s really good that there are some teenagers (Like you) who don’t listen to this crap and, instead of accept all this in a pathetic way, they decide to express their opinion.
well done, tavi!!!
you are an inspiration, not only as far as your style, but as a role model, too.
July 16, 2010 at 4:29 pm
well said, tavi. it’s distressing to me that women are assaulted from every angle with negative propaganda to make them live in fear of gaining weight or not being considered physically beautiful by men, at the detriment of their physical and mental health, well-being, future, and self-respect. i cannot think of a more blatantly manipulative and disgusting idea to put in the head of young women than telling them that the worst consequence of doing drugs is that they will be fat and ugly, and that fat IS ugly.
July 16, 2010 at 8:41 pm
whoo, you go girl! i so agree with you! i love magazines, and grew up reading seventeen, but so much of it is fluff, and biased at times, it’s frustrating. ironicallly enough, i just did a blog post on my own blog about how there needs to be a more realistic magazine, concentrating more on inner beauty and strength then fashion, beauty and outward appearances!!! oh, and yes advertising definetely sways what magazines publish, speaking from personal experience!!
July 16, 2010 at 9:00 pm
This post is exquisite, and I hope that someone at Seventeen reads it and acts on it. I won’t hold my breath, but still! Just looking at the rest of their headlines tells me that the imperative to be beautiful will always be the most important message their magazine spouts.
Also that graph is so depressing.
July 17, 2010 at 1:26 pm
Oh Tavi, you are the wonderfullest. If I were American, I would want to vote for you as President.
July 17, 2010 at 1:59 pm
Good for you!! Great letter, thanks for standing up for this issue.
July 19, 2010 at 2:18 pm
Love this post. Reposted on my blog (with credit to you, of course).
Thanks for bringing this up!
July 27, 2010 at 12:55 am
I think it’s pretty awesome that you’re taking on the “beauty myth” where it lives — in magazines like Seventeen. But in addition to “fat = ugly” what about all the other myths that dominate young women’s ideas about themselves? For example on the same page, Seventeen is plugging nail polish (why are colored nails better than natural? If colored nails are better, shouldn’t men also paint their nails?) and “hair that won’t frizz” (hair comes in all textures – some so-called frizzy hair is gorgeous). Plus the pictures promote other false notions of feminity – hairless legs and armpits; colored eyelids, eyelashes, cheeks, lips; a level of spending on clothes that will bankrupt most Americans. I know that most folks think it’s outrageous to question these things, but I think it’s on the same level as “fat=ugly”, and I hope that this generation of women questions ALL of the beauty myths, whomever they may discriminate against.
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