| What if there was a teen magazine that told girls to be rock stars instead of how to date them?
A Toronto publication is doing just that, offering young women an alternative to YM and Seventeen. Shameless magazine hopes to encourage girls to use the F-word, by embracing feminism and DIY culture.
Created by Nicole Cohen and Melinda Mattos, Shameless began as a project for their magazine-editing course at Ryerson University. Following graduation, the two women made Shameless a reality and, in the summer of 2004, put out their first issue.
Cohen is all too familiar with the harmful effects mainstream media can have on young women. As a magazine-obsessed girl, she was constantly reading articles about how her skin was too blotchy, her breasts were too small, her clothes were too dorky and her thighs were too fat. While magazines like Sassy tried to break down teen stereotypes in the early ’90s, Cohen was left with a poor self-image.
"When I was a teenager, I was reading typical teen mags even though I hated them. They had a pretty negative effect on me, and I know it’s the same for teenage girls today. Those magazines make girls feel bad about themselves – that they are never pretty enough, popular enough or into the right makeup and clothes," Cohen says. "I was constantly getting angry reading those magazines. I knew life was about more than diet tips and hair products."
Shameless is on a mission to change not only how teenage girls see themselves but how adults think about teens in general. The magazine has a youth advisory board that helps contribute story ideas and editorial advice on things that are of direct interest to them – everything from articles about female sound engineers and teen artists to thrift-store prom fashions. Cohen hopes Shameless will inspire girls to engage with their world and realize that they have a voice that can effect change.
"We have thrown out everything we hated about those teen magazines – exploitative images, heteronormative worldview, an abundance of advertising copy – and tried to give teenage girls stories that reflect their lives and issues they care about. And we’re trying to do it in a smart and fun way," she says.
The magazine is funded independently and money for the first issue was raised by holding a series of all-ages concerts. It makes sense that their next fundraising effort would have something to do with music.
Shameless has teamed up with Toronto label Permafrost Records to produce Good Grooming For Girls, a compilation consisting of such female musicians and bands as Mecca Normal, The Weekend, Arcade Fire, The Diskettes and controller.controller. All proceeds from the sale of the CD go towards paying the magazine’s printing bill. Cohen was thrilled to have the opportunity to combine her passion for music with politics.
"I really believe that music is a great entry point into feminism and other social and political ideas. I brought up the CD idea to my friend Steven (Himmelfarb) who runs Permafrost, and he wanted to put it out on his label. He did all the legwork and put the whole thing together for us," she says.
Himmelfarb’s goal for the disc was to make it flow like a mixed tape, combining well-known bands with up-and-comers, and introduce young music-lovers to new artists. He’s witnessed a gender shift in the independent and punk scene over the past few years and hopes that the compilation will show people that women can rock.
"I think female bands are getting more recognition than before. It’s not much but it’s still some progress," he admits. "I just recently opened my eyes to the vast amount of female talent in (Toronto) and realized we could get an action-packed amazing disc to show teenagers that it’s not all Lilith Fair and Women in Song."
He hopes Good Grooming will be used as a starting point for teenagers – both female and male – who will listen to the CD and then go out and seek new forms of information.
"If Shameless or Good Grooming can spark (a teen’s) interest in a good band or book, and that sparks more culture," Himmelfarb says. "then ‘mission accomplished.’" |
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