Armchair anthropologist - Seveteen Magazine then and now

I was at my fabulous hairdressers today getting a touch-up on my color (re: gray hairs were starting to poke through again) and I accidentally picked up a Seventeen magazine instead of The Economist. Imagine my shock when instead of the latest news on the global financial meltdown I saw pictures of Zac Ephron and a how-to- feature on French kissing!

Okay, okay, I admit it. I picked up Seventeen on purpose. As I was riffling through the stack of magazines next while waiting for my color to set, I came across Seveteen and was intrigued. I hadn't looked at a copy since . . . well . . . probably since I was 17 if not younger. Call it armchair cultural research. I was like an anthropologist re-entering a community she had lived in 15 years after she had left. And what I found was intriguing.

Many things wer exactly as I remembered them. Celebrity gossip, notes on hot fahsion trends, pictures of cute famous boys (even I can admit Zac Ephron is pretty dreamy), relentless hocking of overpriced beauty products. Even some of the clothes wer similar to what I was wearing (or more likely what I wished I was cool enough to wear) 20 years ago. There were two things I was not expecting, though.

First, was a noticable different in the "romance and dating" sections. Sure there was a section on kissing that could have been ripped from the pages of Seventeen in 1990 or even 1980. However, that was by far the most innocent article on this topic. What I found that would never have been there 15 years ago was a frankness and openness about sex. There was a discussion about the benefits and side-effects of going on the pill, with a heavy slant towards encouraging teenagers to go on it even if they are just thinking about having sex, along with Planned Parenthood's national 1-800 number (as well as a reminder that abstinence was the only 100% effective method). There were frequent references to having sex with boyfriends in the advice and "personal horror stories" sections. A story about getting over a break-up included tips that assumed some couples will have been sexually active. And there was a wonderful feature about a college-aged lesbian couple who had met in high school and recently were able to marry in California. I was quite surprised.

It's not that teenagers are having sex at such as higher rate now than they were when I am in high school. (I am not substantiating this empirically. It's just an educated assertion. Call me out if I'm wrong.) But in 1990 magazines geered towards teenaged girls (that are also read by tweens) were not that explicit in recognizing the sexual activeness of its readers. And you know what? I think this is a wonderful thing. It made me smile the whole time I was reading it. If all teenagers in this country were raised in a culture of openness, education, and self-awareness that I felt Seventeen magazine was promoting, then perhaps we would have lower rates of teen pregnancy and more sexually well-adjusted adults.

The second thing that surprised me was a full-paged ad promoting Seventeen magazine's Body Peace Treaty. A number of teen-world celebrities had signed it (Miley Cyrus, Fergie, Amanda Bynes, Ashlee Simpson, Carrie Underwood) aned the magazine was encouraging all of its readers to sign the plege for themselves. It would have been nice to see some fuller-figured celebrity names on it, but I did notice that a couple of the models in the fashion spreads were larger girls, so at lease they're trying. I looked up the Body Peace Treaty online so I could re-print it here. I think it's something worth mulling over for woman of all ages.

I vow to:

• Remember that the sun will still rise tomorrow even if I had one too many slices of pizza or an extra scoop of ice cream tonight.
• Never blame my body for the bad day I'm having.
• Stop joining in when my friends compare and trash their own bodies.
• Never allow a dirty look from someone else to influence how I feel about my appearance.
• Quit judging a person solely by how his or her body looks — even if it seems harmless — because I'd never want anyone to do that to me.
• Notice all the amazing things my body is doing for me every moment I walk, talk, think, breathe...
• Quiet that negative little voice in my head when it starts to say mean things about my body that I'd never tolerate anyone else saying about me.
• Remind myself that what you see isn't always what you get on TV and in ads — it takes a lot of airbrushing, dieting, money, and work to look like that.
• Remember that even the girl who I'd swap bodies with in a minute has something about her looks that she hates.
• Respect my body by feeding it well, working up a sweat when it needs it, and knowing when to give it a break.
• Realize that the mirror can reflect only what's on the surface of me, not who I am inside.
• Know that I'm already beautiful just the way I am.

You go Seventeen!