Review article

Advice found in self-help literature – a teenage magazine

Sofija Vrcelj ; Filozofski fakultet Sveučilišta u Rijeci Odsjek za pedagogiju
Jasminka Zloković ; Filozofski fakultet Sveučilišta u Rijeci Odsjek za pedagogiju

Abstract

The modern world has produced different types of problems and values and opened numerous possibilities of giving advice indirectly. In this sense, in virtually every country there is a plethora of self-help literature where a modern person (the one who is trendy in all aspects of life) can find all the advice needed. Self-help literature focuses on the aesthetic perception of the human body and the hedonistic concept of a teenage life. The paper presents the results of a theoretical and empirical analysis of a teenage magazine where anonymous authors give profuse advice on how to achieve the measures of a model, how to be trendy or how to be seductive. The message put across is: be pretty because pretty people are worth more and are more successful. The body exists primarily as the focus of sexuality and a source of visual pleasure. Other types of advice on how to succeed are also offered to teenagers and the indicated way to success supposes deceit. Teenagers can equally learn much about pleasures made possible solely by their youth. The authors of the paper believe that a pedagogical treatment of the media has become necessary. In other words, it is essential to teach the young how to use the media for their personal expression and social activism and the promotion of values other than those mentioned above. In this sense, it is crucial to reconstruct the concept of youth and cultivate a different kind of cultural environment which will, in time, reflect on their bodies as well.

Keywords

advice for teenagers; self-help literature; education; media

Hrčak ID:

139252

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/139252

Publication date:

20.12.2006.

Article data in other languages: croatian german

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