the seventeen magazine project

the seventeen magazine project

I think I might have a little bit of a feminist crush on Jamie Keiles. From May to August of 2010, she chronicled her life as she tried to live according to the "rules" set out in Seventeen Magazine. Besides the fact that Keiles is a smart, funny young woman, she's also incredibly engaged in the world around her. How many other teenagers are actively looking at the media around them with critical eyes and then speaking out about it? I know I read teen magazines every once in a while, and even now sometimes I can't stop myself from picking up the odd Cosmo or Vanity Fair. And it's taken me until 22 to start picking out the most harmful elements of girlmags like these and recognize how they've shaped my thoughts and feelings about the world. Keiles has been doing that for years now - and encouraging other girls to do the same.



Keiles also is incredibly relatable - she's from a small town in Pennsylvania, a middle-class family, has unruly curly hair, and went to both of her high school proms. What does prom have to do with this? I think that often teen girls are stuck either in or out - conforming to or rejecting mainstream media and expectations of what it means to be a girl. In the Seventeen Magazine Project, Keiles shows that you can be exactly as "girly" as you want, and that "girly" means what you want it to mean, not just what some magazine says.