Is Seventeen Magazine objectifying girls?

Seventeen has been a very influential magazine for young women for years (since 1944), so why is it that it only talks about guys, getting a nice butt and not having frizzy hair? Oh, and what not to eat. Seventeen reinforces the idea of independence, self sufficiency and girl power. This puts a real strain on me, growing up girls shouldn't think that their value is measured by how many guys they can get, their kissing techniques and how great their bangs look. I would rather see more important issues that girls today face, such as; abuse, eating disorders, sexuality  addiction, bullying and mental health. I would rather see Seventeen tell a girl not to do drugs because it is hazardous to her health rather than because it will make her teeth yellow or give her acne. Seventeen used to really hit those issues... but now it's all about making your legs look longer and how to make your eyes pop. What happen to the section about girls' lives? Making it seem that a girl's biggest problem is being "fat" and "ugly" just puts the worth of women a little lower. And guess what? That's not cool. Young women do way more than twirl their hair and find fun new ways to kiss boys. I even noticed that their are no hair tips if you have short hair and very few make up tips for varying skin complexions. Seventeen caters to young, preppy, happy, go lucky, skinny, easy-to-fix, middle class Caucasian girls. What about the rest of the population? The girls that don't have long, easy to manage hair or the girls who suffer real day to day problems that can not be fixed in the span of a glossy page.

So, have we really moved past the skirt-only wearing forties? Or are we right where we started, measuring a girl by how pretty she is and how hot her boyfriend is. Thoughts?

Barbie Syndrome

Barbie was the overall independent girl. She was a doctor, engineer, astronaut, lawyer, mom, vet, pilot, etc, etc, etc. She made all of these accomplishments in heels, a tight outfit, perfectly done make up and put together hair. So what's not to love? I mean, growing up I had 100+ Barbies, they were the only toy I really ever played with and I still love Barbie.

However, you can also see that Barbie has gotten significantly skinnier throughout the years. Compare one of your mom's old Barbies' to one your kid sister has; not that Barbie has ever had a proportionate body. According to recent studies, if Barbie were a real woman she would be around 5' 9'', her measurements would be around 39'' bust/18'' waist/ 33'' hips, would wear size 3 shoes, weigh around 110 pounds and have a BMI of around 16. Barbie would fit into the standards of an anorexic, she most likely would not get her period or have kids and would not be able to stand because of her disproportionate body. Mattle has had many controversies with Barbie. Teen Talk Barbie was said to be unique in phrases, no two would say the same thing.... except for "Math class is hard!" This upset many people and the phrase was removed. Many Middle Eastern countries have banned Barbie and made alternate dolls. 1965's Slumber Party Barbie came with a weight scale set at 110 pounds and with a book titled "How to Lose Weight". The only thing written in the book was "Don't eat." Growing up, many little girls and boys admire Barbie and look up to her; because they're young and think that is what a real woman looks like: everlasting smile, thin, no flaws, a vast variety of clothes and opportunities  Some girls look up to Barbie so much that they end up getting Barbie Syndrome (yes, it exists) where they try to emulate her physical appearance. This can range from hair and make up to plastic surgery. I am not opposed to physical alterations of any kind, to each his own, however Barbie is a very unrealistic ideal to obtain. So unrealistic that it is nearly impossible.