Fashioning Teenagers ─ A Cultural History of Seventeen Magazine

Kelley Massoni has written the first cultural history of the origins of Seventeen and its role in shaping the modern teen girl ideal. Using content analysis, interviews, letters, oral histories, and promotional materials, Massoni is able to show how Seventeen helped create the modern concept of "teenager." Fashioning Teenagers will be of interest to students of popular culture, sociology, gender studies, mass media, journalism, business, and American studies.

"Kelley Massoni has produced a masterful work-a critical but fair review of all that brought Seventeen to life and above all the clarity of its creators' editorial commitment. I was overwhelmed by her interpretation of corporate machinations, as well as by her understanding of the role I played in what the new generation calls `branding.' Fashioning Teenagers is a fascinating story and a timely one."---estelle ellis, Former Promotion Director, Seventeen Magazine

"Kelley Massoni has been indefatigable in seeking out information about Seventeen's creators and the details of their struggle to create a magazine that would address girls as workers and citizens as well as consumers. Her telling of that story is irresistible-infused with energy and sparkling with insights about how the gender, class and race politics of the times get played out from the workplace to the market place to the pages of the magazine itself. This book is a must-read for anyone interested in gender and popular culture. More than that, it will entertain and enlighten anyone who used Seventeen as a model for how to be a real teenager."---joey sprague, University of Kansas

"This book offers a fascinating study of the role Seventeen magazine has played in turning teen age girls into full fledged members of American consumer culture. The discussion of the magazine and its advertising's impact on the ideas of teenagers and young women about beauty and fashion is both perceptive and highly alarming."---arthur asa berger, Emeritus, San Francisco State University

"This book will make a major contribution to our understanding of gender roles, culture, consumerism, and media in the 20th and 21st centuries."---peter adler, University of Denver

kelley massoni, Ph.D., is a lecturer in sociology at the University of Kansas.