The Impact of Teen Magazines on Adolescent Girls in North Cyprus

This empirical study aims to investigate the image of beauty standards constructed by the Turkish teen magazines and its relation with the beauty understanding of Turkish Cypriot teenagers. Other issues investigated are the consumption behavior of teenagers who read teen magazines and the body satisfaction of teenage girls. This study employs three different methodologies. Firstly, a content analysis covering 12 issues each spanning 4 years is performed on two popular Turkish teen magazines, Hey Girl and Cosmo Girl, read by Turkish Cypriot girls. Then a questionnaire is applied to 156 girls, for investigating how teen magazines affect the beauty understanding, various behaviors and value judgments of teenage girls. The questionnaire includes a body satisfaction inventory section. Finally, a focus group study is performed with six different groups of girls aged 12-17 years discussing with them their beauty standards, body satisfaction, consumption habits and magazine reading habits. The findings indicate that the ideal beauty concept of Turkish Cypriot girls is very similar to the ideal Western beauty and teen magazines contribute to this as well as other sources of media. Teen magazines are also affecting the consumption behavior of girls. Girls read magazines to get rid of their worries and to get information on fashion and beauty trends and products. Girls show signs of body dissatisfaction especially with regards to their weight. Keywords: Teen magazines, Body Satisfaction, Beauty Standards, Consumption Habits, Feminism, Cultivation Theory.