| The purpose of this study was to employ Bazerman and Prior's (2003) content analysis method in conjunction with feminist theory to analyze three current teen magazines for girls and four young adult novels by Laurie Halse Anderson for their constructs of feminine identity. Established categories of beauty and body image, interpersonal relationships, and roles and expectations were used for coding content as well as Evans, Rutberg, Sather, and Turner's (1991) coding scheme of primary articles, advertisements, and visuals.;This study aims to illuminate the ways in which teen magazines and Anderson's young adult novels approach their teen readers with messages of what it means to be female. In addition, it emphasizes the importance of young adult literature for girls and uncovers the complexity of Laurie Halse Anderson's female protagonists.;The results of this study suggest that the teen magazines, overall, portray teen girls as being perfect in both body and actions. Girls are taught to view themselves critically and to label their imperfections so as to "buy in" to whatever the magazines are selling. The teen magazines provide few pursuits for young readers, other than that of beauty, the opposite sex, and a career in entertainment. In contrast, Laurie Halse Anderson's four young adult novels show teen girls that they do not have to settle for merely being consumers. They can become creators of their own lives and their own destinies, and they do not need a boy or beauty to accomplish this. All of her female protagonists struggle with the same challenges and insecurities emphasized in the teen magazines, yet they eventually cast them aside, just as they cast aside the idea of being an "ideal girl." Instead, they persevere, overcome, and bask in the glory of being an independent soul---a "real girl."... |
