I was in the upstairs bathroom, usually left to the princesses, and didn't have anything to read. I noticed a 17 Magazine on the back of the toilet and wondered what kind of teenage nonsense, in the form of makeup and fashion tips, was inside.
The magazine fell open to the middle, where there was a perfume insert, to "your body questions answered". Here are the three questions:
1. My friend and I - she's 12 and I'm 13, want to have sex with our boyfriends. We'd use condoms. Is it okay for us to do it? We know we're young, but we love our guys and they love us too.
2. Can you get an STD from being fingered (she's 18)?
3. Before my boyfriend (she's 16) has an orgasm, he pulls out, ejaculates, wipes himself off, and then we continue to have sex. Can I get pregnant this way?
Obviously, health classes, starting in 4th grade, aren't doing a lot of good if these questions are representative of what the magazine receives each month.
The next page (it gets worse) had an "owner's manual" that shows all the specific parts of a womans vagina, or as they put it "Your vulva has a lot of parts-check out where they are and what they do". The opposite page had actual pictures of two different women's vulvas to show that the "length, width, and color of the labia minora and labia majora vary from girl to girl. It's also fine if the two sides don't match."
All-in-all, it was quite an education. I definitely would have read 17 as a teenage boy if I'd known such information was going to be in there, plus pictures, rather than trying to work up the nerve to buy a Playboy!
Posted by bbarton at December 2, 2005 10:31 AMDavid - Yeah, #3 definitely has a can-do attitude! You're right about the pictures, not a lot of close-up stuff in Playboy back then. The fact that you see what wasn't in Playboy in 17 is pretty amazing.
Posted by: Bob on December 2, 2005 10:53 AMwow, I used to religiously read 17 Magazine - I sure never saw any pictures of poon in it though!!
Posted by: Dawn (webmiztris) on December 2, 2005 11:18 AMWow. I wouldn't have guessed.
Posted by: kari on December 2, 2005 01:53 PMDawn - Two pictures of real poon and one graphical representation thereof. Swear to God!
Kari - Me either...
Posted by: Bob on December 2, 2005 04:28 PMSounds about right. Seventeen Magazine was always pretty soft-core/instructional. It was in my high school library and everyone enjoyed that. Especially the boys.
Posted by: miss marisol on December 2, 2005 09:46 PMMiss Marisol - When I was in high school it was all about how to feather your hair and Sweet Honesty perfume. :)
Posted by: Bob on December 3, 2005 11:48 AMlol
I used to read 17 all the damn time too
Christie - I'm going to read it just for the articles. ;)
Posted by: Bob on December 3, 2005 04:16 PMSo, Bob, have you put a 17 subscription on your christmas list yet? :)
Posted by: Chosen on December 3, 2005 09:52 PMChosen - Nah! We already get it in this house. ;)
Posted by: Bob on December 4, 2005 09:39 AMummmm that is not the 17 magazine that I had when I was a young teen girl.
Posted by: leigh on December 4, 2005 07:36 PMNot the 17 magazine I read back in the day either. I just remember it being about perms and mascara and Love's Baby Soft perfume.
My sister told me about an issue of YM (formerly Young Miss) that her daughter had a year or so ago that featured an article about a girl's boyfriend cheating on her with another guy.
And how did the magazine answer Question Number 1?
Posted by: Antipodeesse on December 5, 2005 04:58 AMI MY GOD!!!!! I got shivers reading that. Can I lock my kids up until the age of 25. Isn't that about when we really become human?
Posted by: Katy on December 5, 2005 03:14 PMLeigh - Amazing, eh?
Pam - That stuff probably went on, but we didn't see it in writing.
Antipo - I think it was something along the lines of telling them it wasn't a good idea. I can't recall the wording of the answer, but it threw up lots of red flags and encouraged caution.
Katy - I don't know about human...but at least they don't think our advice is dumb by then. :)
Posted by: Bob on December 5, 2005 03:37 PMDid you see any examples of the "New American Face" in Seventeen?
Posted by: Granite on December 11, 2005 08:54 AMGranite - The magazine is littered with examples! :)
Posted by: Bob on December 12, 2005 09:25 AM
Wow. You have to hand it to the boyfriend in #3 though, huh? He's obviously a guy who sticks with a job until it's done.
I think actual closeup photos-- without, um, wider visual context -- might be scarey for a teenage boy. At that age aren't you mostly interested a glimpse of nipple or pubic hair?
Of course I'm forgetting... nowadays they've seen it all on the net by the time their 13 anyway.
Posted by: David on December 2, 2005 10:44 AM