January 2007
Can Atoosa's Departure Help Save This Magazine? | |
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Dear Ann Shoket,
I grew up worshipping Seventeen magazine. I must have had a subscription for 6 years straight. Every month it would arrive in the mail and I would pour through every page, making mental notes of the clothes and the makeup. I tried other teen magazines at the time, like YM, but I always went back to Seventeen. I still have every issue I ever bought too, tucked away in some storage boxes under the bed in my old room. However, nowadays, whenever I pass a newstand or the magazine rack at the supermarket, I find myself disgusted and thinking, "What have they done with my beloved Seventeen?!!". And never moreso than when I saw the cover of the December 2006 issue. Paris Hilton? Are you kidding me? She has got to be the single worst "celebrity" to be put on the cover of a magazine aimed at teenage girls (though if you ask me, she doesn't deserve the cover of any magazine, except maybe Hustler). |
She is known for, what? Being rich and blonde and spoiled. Shopping and bedhopping. And most of all, being untalented, less than intelligent, and not a particularly nice person. Why, oh WHY, would Atoosa EVER even consider her for the cover? Did the industry run out of good girl actresses, pop stars, and plain old no-name models? Because honestly, a less worthy role model you will not find. And I know this isn't the first time she has been on the cover, either. Looking back through the year of Seventeen magazine, I also see other poor excuses for cover girls: Ashlee Simpson (a talentless poseur with self-image issues), Lindsay Lohan (a nut-job alcoholic with less than "adequite" grammatical skills), and Lauren Conrad (a thin, blonde girl who I had to look up on IMDB to identify who has nothing on her resume except a couple of "reality" shows). Come to think of it, the greater percentage of your cover girls are thin and blonde. So how could Atoosa, with her kinky curly brown locks and less-than-"perfect" facial features (and from what I hear, abundance of dark arm hair), have been so blindingly narrow-minded? Not all teenage girls are air-headed shopaholics (though with a quick skim through any issue of Seventeen, one is lead to believe otherwise). Here's what I suggest to the new EIC at Seventeen. STOP worshipping cookie-cutter celebrities with no talent and for crip's sake, put America Ferrera on the doggone cover. Beautiful (though not blonde), killer curves (but not skinny), and most of all, more talent in her pinky nail than a Paris, Britney, or Kristin can even dream of having. It may be too much to ask, but excluding the likes of these girls from inside as well would also be a swell idea (honestly, calling attention to Nicole Richie's underweight status while also holding her up as a fashion plate really does give young girls the wrong message). Hopefully, whomever you hire to take Atoosa's place will have some more imagination and will be a little more progressive in her thinking (in regards to standards of beauty and talent) than she was. Because if all of our teenagers think Paris Hilton is worthy of hero worship, then the future of our culture is surely going nowhere but down. Very Sincerely Yours,
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you've got the look |
stop, look, & listen |
rock your hobby |
just seventeen
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