Hair tips, ab enhancing workouts, how to accentuate your cheekbones… yeah. “Seventeen Magazine” feeds on younger girl’s insecurities. Although many teenage girls recognize this, they seem to be able to look past the corporate appeal, and listen to all the bologna being printed.

In the February issue, “Seventeen” gives advice about love. “I thought love meant… letting the guy be in charge…solving his problems…seeming like the perfect couple.” Then it schooled us on what “real love” is. It says things such as “ you can talk about anything…encouraging each other… give each other space…” Shouldn’t we be the ones deciding what our love life should be like? Correct me if I’m wrong, but love is different for every couple. And yet, “Seventeen” has the audacity to tell the readers what they are doing wrong in the relationship. This information probably makes many hopeless teenage girls second guess their whole relationship with their boyfriend of two years!

In the August 2011 issue, the magazine prints TWO PAGES worth of “hot guys.” What? Does corporate America think that teenage girls are just a bunch of horny maneaters always waiting to “get it on?” Because although some are that shallow, a larger percentage of us are respectable young adults. I understand that the magazine is written by adults, but that’s a major setback for the company. Younger professional colleagues would be quite helpful in these situations!

“Seventeen” hosts a scholarship contest called the “Pretty Amazing Contest.” The winner gets to be on the cover and have their story told in the issue. Their story meaning they each submit their hard life story of the time they saved a life, or got carjacked, or something of the sort. Now, the bad part, or the “catch” is that you MUST be PRETTY. How demeaning! This shows not only shallowness, but also that to succeed in anything you must be pretty. Ew. What happened to strong and independent women? Aren’t we the ones who didn’t need a man? A crutch to lean on during our rare weak days? If it were up to me, we would be teaching youngsters to love themselves disregarding their looks.