"If it weren't for the magazines, why would she think that?" : a study of reader response to the text of Seventeen magazine
Date
1998
Authors
Giese, Christine Diane
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Abstract
This qualitative study is designed according to grounded theory methodology. In this study, the reader responses of adolescent females to the text of teen magazines was examined. Females aged 13-15 who were self-declared regular readers of teen magazines were the focus of this study. A textual analysis of 16 issues of Seventeen magazine, the top-selling publication in the teen magazine market, was also conducted. Thus a component of this study involves an examination of various aspects of the magazines' content, and the inclusion of quantitative data concerning the textual analyses.
The participants' responses to the text of the April 1998 issue of Seventeen magazine were examined through the use of two response tasks. First, the participants were given a copy of the text and a response log in which to record their responses to the text for a period of one week. Once the logs were collected and examined by this researcher to identify themes that emerged from the participants' responses, the participants met with me to discuss the themes that emerged from the response logs. This meeting was tape recorded and transcribed. The transcripts from the discussion groups were analysed for salient themes that emerged.
Based upon the discussion group and reader response log data, this study concluded that the participants read the text more critically and thoughtfully. Indeed, they demonstrated considerable sophistication in their reading of various aspects or components of the magazine. This sophistication was evidenced in a number of ways. For one, the participants made different uses of the text's components. They used some parts of the text for information, and others for light-hearted entertainment. They also used the components of the text that they found offensive or irritating as opportunities for debate and opinion formation.
Another way in which the participants' reading of the text demonstrated the complexity of their responses was evidenced by the ambivalence with which they regarded certain aspects of the text, namely those which they found offensive or potentially harmful to the reader's self-esteem. Recommendations have been made to researchers to investigate more seriously the complexity and sophistication that young readers of teen magazines bring to the reading event. Suggestions for teachers and curriculum developers have also been provided. These include a number of ways in which the methodology employed in this study can be used in the classroom to engage students in meaningful investigations of popular media in all of its forms.