Today was my last day of high school. I still have finals and graduation to look forward to, but today was the last day of really being pushed through the hallway-classroom-hallway-classroom channel. I honestly can't say that I'm not glad the experience is over. I feel like the final two years of the American education system should be restructured toward something much more practical and "real-world" oriented. School has felt a lot like being babysat lately.
My final day passed very normally. I wore another tribal outfit, this time one that included a dress with a jaguar on it from H&M. I wore my hair in a top knot. I wore waterproof mascara in case there was any crying, but it turns out that nobody seemed to be overwhelmed with too much emotion about leaving a place that forces 18-year-olds to sit in tiny chairs and ask for permission to use the bathroom.
Tomorrow I have a free day, so I'll be heading into Philly to do some shopping, and to try a few of Seventeen's suggested "Summer Fun" activities. I plan on dressing appropriately "fashionable" and taking plenty of photos, so stay tuned.
On an unrelated note, I noticed that shaking my issue of Seventeen yielded FIVE pieces of business reply mail. These cards are really annoying, and Seventeen provides you with a bounty of them. I figured I'd provide the world with one of my own. Feel free to print this out on card and add it to magazines or something. This is mostly just me being goofy and nerdy.
Don't throw them away! RECYCLE PLEASE!
ReplyDeleteI just discovered your blog on stumbleupon today! I also just finished reading all your postings (while procrastinating)and I totally loved them all. :) Your project is genius and I love all the various side comments that make me laugh. I just want to say thanks a ton. you are inspiring. Normally I associate with the typical seventeen magazine obsessed girls. Personally I would much rather pick up a Newsweek or Time. I sometimes find myself feeling subconscious and alone because of this. I'm glad to know they're other down-to-earth girls that love to know what's going on in the world and not just how Kirstie Alley gained weight again. so thanks and keep it up!
ReplyDeleteClever.
ReplyDeleteClever.
ReplyDeleteI won't say my name but some of you may guess who I am by this post. The clean room thrills me!
ReplyDelete(the blog won't let me leave my url, but I'm attack_laurel on Livejournal)
ReplyDeleteI just read through your entire blog, and you're great. I hate "you should...!" suggestions, but your writing style is easily good enough now that you could sell articles (or write a book!) if you wanted.
You're a prime example of how teenagers are fabulous, smart, funny people who deserve to have their voices heard. To hell with the hand-wringers who perpetuate the idea that all teenagers are vapid troublemakers; it's clearly a fantasy in their heads.
Well done, and keep it up!
I hate those stupid cards. Thanks for the laugh!
ReplyDeleteI've noticed a few of my magazine subscriptions (Oprah, Harper's, and Harper's Bazaar) don't have any of these mailer thingys when they come to my mailbox. But my nylon and vogue's still have them. and the ones the hold between their pages more than make up for the ones I do not receive.
ReplyDeleteI've been working on a project where I take the magazine subscription cards, paint over them, and write positive slogans on them - love yourself, you're beautiful, etc etc - and then go and slip them into magazines at B&N. I read so many magazines and they annoy me so much, I figured that I might as well do something positive with them!
ReplyDeleteJamie, I've been following from the Uk since Jezebel picked up your blog. Like others, I feel compelled (perhaps quite patronisingly) to comment on how witty, wry and just together I find your writing. I'd like to think I might have done something as smart at 18 if the internet had been available, but I'm not sure I would have done.
ReplyDeleteI also like the fact that you do acknowledge the good as well as the bad in the world of Seventeen (which I've never read) - viz your comments on lavender nails. I found in my teens - and still do find - that surprising numbers of people want one not to be interested in clothes etc if one is intellectual. And vice versa. While, quite possibly still making a judgement based on what one is wearing. Hey ho, so it goes. I'll keep reading.
Like everyone else said, this is a great blog - good insights and analysis, great writing style. And congrats on your last day of school! :)
ReplyDeleteI like to send the cards back without filling them out -- in fact, I have been known to go through stacks of magazines at bookstores, libraries, etc., and retrieve these cards just so I can mail them back. Since the publishers have to pay for each one that is returned, I'm hoping that if they get enough blank ones back, they'll rethink including them.
ReplyDeleteThis is such a great blog. Keep up the great work!
ReplyDeleteLove your blog! Just want to point out that the cards do work, according to circulation people. They wouldn't insert them anymore if they didn't. The people who manage magazine circulation track *everything*.
ReplyDeletehey. found your blog via i heart daily and have been following it for a while.
ReplyDeleteyour insights are spot on and clever, and i really enjoy this blog.
also, WOOHOO CHICAGO CLASS OF 2014!
You rock. Congrats on finishing high school! You will love college, I can tell.
ReplyDeletehey jamie! just wanted to let you know that i've been reading your blog daily and it is superb. im not a huge reader, and definitely not of blogs, but yours keeps me so interested and what you're doing is so cool! i never got to know you at west but i wish i did because you seem like a really unique person and i admire your originality
ReplyDeleteHey, I just found your blog today, and I wanted to let you know that I think this is a wonderful idea, and I really love your insight and your humor. I really respect you for doing this. I'm 20 and in college, so I can definitely see where you're coming from with a lot of your comments. I love that you are analyzing the magazine's treatment of race, culture, gender, and sexuality when it comes to their fashion and beauty advice. That's not something that a lot of people think enough about. You're exactly the kind of person that I wish was more prevalent in high schools and colleges today. You're intelligent, funny, and sensitive to privilege on many levels. You're an incredibly bright girl and I think that you will do very well in college. I bet you will be an amazing economics, gender studies, and sociology major. Keep up the good work, and don't stop being awesome.
ReplyDeleteHey Jamie, just another person taking a minute to tell you that I think your blog is fantastic. A friend of mine sent me a link to it about a week ago, and I've since read all of it, not only am I impressed with your analytical (and satirical) perspective, but also your dedication to this project. You've put a lot of work into this, which anyone who reads it can tell, and the university of Chicago should be stoked to have you (as I'm sure they are.)
ReplyDeleteHow cool is this? Love your blog. You're a great writer and I love to find teens who are as ambitious and creative as someone I knew back in the '80s. *whistling, glances in mirror*
ReplyDeleteI found you via a link on twitter and am ecstatic about your project. I wonder why so many other young women don't do the sort of self examination and analysis that you do rather than blindly succumb to whatever they think the world expects of them.
ReplyDeleteI graduated high school over a decade ago and don't miss it a single bit. Life gets progressively more awesome as one gets older. :)
Dude.
ReplyDeleteThose reply papers will be the end of me. I am always the embarrassed one at the gym chasing down the bits of paper flying out of her magazines.
Annoying!
Jamie, you're awesome. This project is awesome.
ReplyDeleteFound it through Feministing.com -- currently enjoying your engaging writing style.
I really enjoy your blog!! My only suggestion is that you do not focus this solely on one issue of Seventeen. I think the month-long project idea is a great one but you should keep going! You have very interesting commentary on society and the media and I would love for you to take your observations further. For example, in your blog post about advertising, the data would be open up more conversation and insight if you looked at multiple issues of the magazine, and other similar magazines as well. I'd love to see a comparison to the New Yorker, too!
ReplyDeleteHave you received any feedback from Seventeen? Obviously I understand it is not your intent to bash the magazine and discourage people from reading it. But I would be interested to hear what the magazine had to say about your project and your commentary!
Thanks for an interesting and funny read!
I just want to say that you are a very inspiring human being. I admire your initiative to investigate the messages and implications thrown out into the world by the media in our society. I feel the need to comment on your blog as a whole. You are a talented writer, and your posts are very thorough. I especially appreciated your post on the various demographics Seventeen appeals to. I, myself, am a minority in this country and I'm glad there are publications out there that don't exclude those groups. Thank you for making me realize so many new things about teen magazines in general--the good and the bad.
ReplyDeleteHope graduation is a blast. Have an awesome summer (and keep up the great work!)
While I do think you make many interesting and insightful comments on this blog, I sort of feel that you might slighty be missing the point. I think you did acknowledge that Seventeen is not meant to be the be-all end-all of teenage life however, it sort of seems like you are thinking it to be. While acting as a "Seventeen Girl" you continuously bash not only their content and contributers but the girl who reads the magazine. I actually think magazines such as Seventeen can be extremely beneficial to teenage girls. It offers suggestions on how to a more shiny version of yourself, if you will. Of course most of their advice should be taken with a grain of salt, but it is not nearly as sinister and misogynistic as you make it out to be.
ReplyDeleteSure, Seventeen is not for everyone, however it is just a magazine and does not suggest dangerous or harmful things to girls. It's a collection of relatively generic ideas that can actually inspire girls and push them to become better/healthier versions of themselves.
I want you to know that I am in no way bashing your blog-- I really enjoy it. And, hey, maybe you share my opinions but, I just wanted to get what I had to say out there because there seems to be alot of unecessary Seventeen-bashing going on out here.
I found your blog today and proceeded to read every post in it. You are a fantastic writer and this is a very interesting project! I was never a typical teen so never bothered to pick up Seventeen, however, after high school I did start reading Cosmopolitan for awhile. I have to say that the two magazines sound like they have a LOT in common. Since Cosmo is supposedly aimed at grown women I find this fact very sad.
ReplyDeleteSo what do you think? Has this project changed your life/lifestyle at all? I'll be bookmarking your blog in eager anticipation of the answer :)
P.S. Congrats on finishing high school!
Your blog is a wonderful testament to the critical and analytical thinking that young women are capable of and should be doing. It's wonderful to see someone so inquisitive and engaged in the world, and willing to push against the status quo rather than just acquiescing.
ReplyDeleteI've taught freshman-level writing courses for the past four years, and very rarely am I able to convey the importance of the kind of rhetorical analysis you are doing. I would feel infinitely grateful to the universe if I had a student like you in my class!
Have you thought about extending the project to follow Seventeen for an entire year? My own (less public) project involved designing a study examining Cosmopolitan readership. Looking to Cosmo as a model of femininity is eye-opening!
Can we RECYCLE the cards instead please? Earth says thanks.
ReplyDeleteI noticed you have not discussed the new, "Geek chic" trend and how it is considered favorable to describe yourself as geeky or nerdy, as you have this post. The librarian look is also rampant, with thick glasses popping up everywhere. Is mainstream society finally promoting intelligence as something to aspire to, or is it just another fashion centered trend?
ReplyDelete