Some teen magazines to defy the status quo

In the early 1990s and 2000s, magazines like Seventeen, Teen and YM dominated the magazine publishing market for young readers.

Each of these magazines typically fixated on the hottest young celebrities in Hollywood at a time when the industry failed to fully embrace equity, diversity and inclusion. According to the standards of that time, if you didn’t have the right look, body or hair type, you were not good enough to be on the cover of a magazine. Thank goodness for a change!

The teen magazines discussed in this review are redefining the status quo by helping teen readers shift their focus from emulation to inspiration. Library cardholders will be able to check out print editions of these titles.

Otauk USA

Anime and manga are cultural phenomena universally connecting fans from all around the world to animation and comic books created in Japan. Otaku USA magazine offers fans the best of both worlds, available both in print and digitally. While both formats feature anime, manga and game reviews from Japan, the print format is most reliable when it comes to reviews because it is more frequently updated. Still, viewing the magazine digitally through Web Otaku USA allows fans to read entire stories that cannot be featured in their entirety in print, because of space limitations. Copies of Otaku USA magazine are available to check out at the Ferndale Library. To learn more about Web Otaku USA, visit otakuusamagazine.com

Represent Magazine: The Voice of Youth in Care

Represent magazine is an absolute gem of the teen magazine genre. Youths who are in foster care have an opportunity to have a voice and share their stories within the magazine. It is a highly reputable source for youths in the foster care system (or aging out of the system), and in the LGBTQ+ community — two underrepresented groups in mass media. Beyond that, Represent covers topics relatable to teens in general, including mental health, addiction, college, dating, sex and pregnancy and more. Though printed publications are no longer available, the magazine continues to be published digitally at representmag.org.

Sesi Magazine

“Sesi” means “sister” in Sotho, a Bantu language mainly spoken in Southern Africa, and it’s the name of the only magazine for black girls on newsstands. The magazine prides itself on covering the black girls’ mainstream. Similar to other notable teen magazines in print, Sesi focuses on beauty, fashion, love, horoscopes and #blackgirlmagic, a modern hashtag or phrase that seeks to celebrate the success of black girls and/or women. Teens of color, especially African-American teens, may appreciate reading a magazine designed to represent people who look like them, and one that fully embraces their colloquialisms without shame. Copies of Sesi magazine are available to check out at the library. To learn about Sesi magazine digitally, visit sesimag.com