A sexual education : sex messages in Seventeen magazine

Title from PDF of title page (University of Missouri--Columbia, viewed on June 8, 2012).The entire thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file; a non-technical public abstract appears in the public.pdf file.Thesis advisor: Professor Mary Kay BlakelyIncludes bibliographical references.M.A. University of Missouri--Columbia 2011."December 2011"Seventeen magazine has been entertaining and educating teenage girls since its inception in 1944. Since that time, the magazine has remained a popular source of fashion, beauty, relationships, and even sex advice among young women. This study examines the messages that Seventeen provides its readers regarding sexuality and sexual health. A qualitative textual analysis of 20 issues of Seventeen magazine from the last five years (2006 to 2010) examine the messages of sexual health, sexuality and romance exhibited in editorial texts. The findings reveal that there are two types of articles: articles about a wide range of sexual health topics, which portray teenage girls in sexual relationships, and articles about innocent romance, which portray teenage girls in non--sexual relationships. Using framing theory, the textual analysis of the articles of Seventeen magazine reveals a division between sexual health messages and romantic messages, which leads to a divided portrayal of healthy sexual relationships among teenage girls