Uncovering 'Tween' Magazines

‘Tweens’ is a term describing preteens roughly of 8-12 years of age. According to USAToday tween girls spent $11.5 billion on clothing alone last year and are a market of almost 10 million. Much of this has to do with the amount of spending power they hold on the market and how quickly that they are encouraged to grow up through different media outlets such as television and magazines.

While tabloids serve up juicy scandals and snap pictures of drunken celebrities falling out of clubs and into rehab, magazines such as Twist, Popstar and Tiger Beat focus on the stars that appeal to the tween demographic. Paris, Lindsay and Britney are barely blinked at by eight year olds who would rather see pictures of Miley Cyrus, The Jonas Brothers or the cast of High School Musical gracing the covers of their magazines. These are common household names to anybody with a child under the age of 18.

It’s easy to spot the magazines targeted to these young girls. They’re the ones near the bottom shelf, brimming with pictures of their favorite Disney Channel or Nickelodeon stars where you’ll never find just one cover girl or boy, but rather something that looks more like a collage. Coupled with bright - almost neon - colors and big fonts promising to reveal style secrets, gossip or winning Zac Efron’s shirt, they’re pretty hard to miss.

But why make the covers look so crowded and loud? One reader Sam, from Canada, explains: "when I'm scanning through the huge rows of magazines, if I see Zac Efron or Ashley Tisdale or a star I like on it, it catches my eye." Rachel, from New Jersey, adds: "when you see your favorite star on the cover, you want to buy it." While a magazine geared towards older teens and adults would only include a small amount of select coverlines in medium fonts on their cover, the tween magazines are littered with them. On the recent double issue of Twist, there are no less than 23.

The layout inside is similar to the cover; bright colored pages, lots of pictures and captions written across any empty space. Almost every other page has a picture of Zac Efron, including one section of paparazzi pictures depicting him shopping with his girlfriend or purchasing a new shirt – not forgetting to name the store. In addition, they also include a full page spread on his favorite sneakers. Thankfully for parents, most of the style and fashion pages focus on items that couple be purchased easily by saving up their allowance. However it’s hard to see seven to ten year olds wearing make-up so they can get the dark, smoky look of Vanessa Hudgens' eyes.

The content is fairly worry-free for most parents. They wouldn’t have to worry about their children reading about drugs or sex or issues that CosmoGirl! or Seventeen would cover. Though there are articles on periods, bras and kissing but most readers are thankful for that coverage. California resident, Davis, says: "having lost my mom right before I turned twelve, it was harder for me to learn about things I needed to know as a teenager. Periods, bras, boys… sometimes you need a backup." In Twist, rising Disney Channel star, Miley Cyrus offers advice on buying bras and feature four or five of the best starter bras.

Rachel admits that she learnt about bras and boys from Disney Channel show Lizzie Maguire, bringing into the fact that television exposes these issues to young girls anyway, and sometimes to a more extreme level. "I don't think TV shows can really properly show a kid what they need to know. I mean, a lot of the time, TV is an example of what not to do," adds Davis. Sarah, from Indiana, believes that parents should be paying attention to what their children are reading and watching. "[Girls] are influenced by what they read and see, and publishers should be aware of that, but parents need to know what their kids are reading."

So besides the pictures of celebrities, secrets, gossip and potential advice, what is the appeal of these magazines? The huge pull-out posters that usually make up a third of the magazine? Finding out Emily Osment’s favorite color? The quizzes that keep them occupied for a time while they frantically search for Vanessa’s name in a crossword or which Jonas Brother is their type?

"They try to portray [celebrities] in a positive way, making them role models as opposed to the negative side." Sarah says. Los Angeles local, Mallory, agrees: "Usually among tween magazines, there are stars of all different shapes, sizes, and colors. This makes it easy to identify with someone." While Davis likes how there is no cussing or use of sexual innuendo present in the magazines.

In a time when society is obsessed with celebrity, it is somewhat comforting to know that children who probably can’t even spell ‘rehab’ won’t be reading stories on baby-bump watch, or whose sex-tape has been released this week.

Recently nude pictures of Vanessa Hudgens were released on the internet. While tabloids wrote scores of articles on the scandal and the paparazzi followed her around relentlessly to get a picture of her crying, the tween magazines took the responsibility of keeping their readers away from that – preferring to focus on her insecurity about the size of her feet.

Perhaps the only real downfall of the magazines comes from their advertising. As well as placing products across their style pages, there are also adverts promoting chats and tarot card readings through text messaging, downloading ringtones, wallpapers and sound effects, all which comes at a minimum cost of $1 per message received (written in small print at the very bottom). Surely there is something exploitive about enticing young, impressionable minds with finding out what their horoscope says about the boy they really like through a simple text message? Or is it no more so exploitive to print a picture of a Disney Star showing off their new iPhone or wearing the latest designer sneakers?

As the world begins to move into a more advanced technological age, so do the tweens. They’re learning how to use computers and the internet from a young age and some magazines have even followed the trend by using MySpaces to post the newest gossip between issues. Popstar and Twist are two examples and use their MySpaces to dispel the rumors that some of the tabloids put out about the Disney Stars, making these magazines feel like a trustworthy place for tweens to find out their news. Popstar in particular use the web to find fansites and fanblogs like VanAshBreNique for gossip, news and information that they may have missed proving that the spectrum of the tween market stretches further than many could have imagined.

With thanks to Jill-Renay, Sarah, Sam, Rachel, Adeline, Mallory and Davis.