Magazines are deceptive impish devices. I've talked about this before. I used to love them, but oh man, do they wreck you. After a ten minute browse of Cosmo, I need a new wardrobe and body and boyfriend AND OMG 60 DOLLAR MASCARA I NEED IT.
But.
At some point in my life, probably around ten years ago, after I had exhausted every ounce of copy in a CosmoTeen, I read the Editor's note. And I never forgot it.
In summation: The editor displayed two pictures of herself--a headshot from her 20s (skimpy dress, pouty face) and a school photo from middle school (mini-fro/perm, corduroy pants with zipper undone). She talked about how she was so much happier in the former. Who friggin cares how she looked? Pretty big idea for an impressionable teen. Then, she went on to discuss how around the time of the sultry pic, she went to a party and saw a super perfect guy there. She approached him as perfect as she could be, and he totally bit the bait. They started dating, and she never actually liked it because she was being what she thought he wanted. She broke up with him, and he was semi-devistated. Of course he was! He had no clue where that came from. She explained subjectivity in success in terms of dating. Whoa. Blew my brace-face brain wide open.
Anyway, those were some pretty rad lessons to learn at that age. And I got them from a semi-vapid place. Thank you, you CosmoTeen editor, wherever you are...
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I remember being a teen and reading "Seventeen" magazine and thinking to myself, "I will ALWAYS read this magazine!" I liked it because it got me excited about getting into the world in ways I hadn't explored yet. Then I got into the world and found my own way. Bye-bye "Seventeen", but thanks for the inspiration.
As a feminist I feel a little guilty saying that, but it's my truth and my experience, and now I'm a different person, but the person who thought those thoughts and lived that life helped form me today.
Thanks for this post, Alice. It's a good reminder to me to honor the past versions of myself, for they formed my present.
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