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Socialization of teenage girls through teen-magazine fiction: The making of a new woman or an old lady?

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Abstract

A content analysis of the fiction in Seventeen and 'Teen revealed that few of the stories offered anything but traditional socialization messages for teenage girls. In more than half, the main character did not actively solve her own problems but depended on someone else to do it for her. Almost half of the conflicts were about relationships with boys. Excluding the 10 rated by coders as neutral, all but 2 of the 44 occupations mentioned in the stories were stereotypically portrayed.

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Peirce, K. Socialization of teenage girls through teen-magazine fiction: The making of a new woman or an old lady?. Sex Roles 29, 59–68 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00289996

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