Star Girl magazine - can we get it closed down?

[helpourgirls]

Hello, have name changed for this to keep my previous posting history separate.

I just want to know if any other mners have seen 'Star Girl' magazine, which my daugther brought home yesterday after a trip out with her 'never-say-no' grandmother.

DD is 7.5. Before she read it I had a quick nosey. It's full of Rhianna, Cher Lloyd, gossip about what Miley Cyrus has 'splashed loads of cash' on (a new convertible aparently - as well as her nasty little drug habit no doubt).

That's fine having a magazine about that, but I didn't want my DD to look at it, and so I explained why and gave her an old issue of 'All About Animals' to look at instead. She was cool about it and happily got on with the crosswords etc.

I decided I would contact the publishers of Star Girl, to ask them to ensure the front cover appeals to the age group it was aimed at. This is because I thought it was wrong that this weeks' issue was all baby pink with hearts and stars all over it as well as a photo of a cute bear and an ad for moshi monsters. This is all next to the aforementioned pop stars and I was confused. But I didn't judge because I thought that might have just been this week's issue.

But then I thought, 'what IS the intended age group for this magazine?' We have Moshi Monsters/Rhianna; Amber Castle books/Cher Lloyd; Gossip about Beckham going to a club until 3a.m. in the morning/a banner of cute pets pics to cut out and keep.

A bit of digging revealed the magazine is actually intended for girls 8-10. Aparently it has a circulation of 29,000.

I feel so depressed about this. What are we doing to our daughters? What are we making the next generation of women into? What mothers/parents condone this for their eight year old daughters? It's devastating.

I looked and couldn't find another thread about this in any detail. Sorry if it's been done under the MN 'let girls be girls' campaign and I've missed it. I just want to know what other people think and if anyone would help me in a campaign to get this publication closed down; or at least it's content/front cover changed.

Would love to hear your views.

Sorry but YABU... We have a free press and it's up to the adult handing over the cash to flick through the mag and decide if it's age-appropriate or giving out the wrong messages. Have a go at granny rather than the publisher therefore. We're all responsible as parents for selecting what our children are or aren't exposed to. If the magazine doesn't get enough buyers, it'll close.

YABU.

Oh wait we're in Parenting!

Yep.

Still being unreasonable though!

I think your issues with the cover were just that one week. Usually it's just the tedious round of pop stars and teen heart throbs.

It's one I wouldn't buy. But I wouldn't want to ban a magazine because it is vacuous. There are far worse things on display in magazine racks in newsagents than this.

A free press? We still have a responsibility to shaping our children's minds - and so does the press.

With an ethical question mark hanging over the UK press at the moment, I think it goes to prove that we shouldn't just let it go.

As for the 29k circulation, that's a minority. Made up mostly of people buying it without understanding its content.

Edith - worse things aimed at 8-10 year olds?

It's not the content, it's the targetting/mixed messaging at that specific age group that is so wrong.

Meh

Another meh from me

No, I just meant worse magazine covers that a child that age could easily see.

What's inside won't be seen unless the magazine is bought by or for the child, something parents can control.

Then don't buy it?
There's plenty of parents who don't mind 10 y/o reading about pop stars, if you would prefer she read something else, then buy something else.

Just out of curiosity, what about the magazine horrified you, because it sounds like it had articles about pop stars along side some advertising for young children's toys?
(I'm sure anyone's alleged drug habit was NOT mentioned in the magazine)

No, sorry, the press has no responsibility for 'shaping children's minds'. They print what people want to read. Don't want to read it? Don't buy it.

Tell the 'never say no' grandma to say no.

Censorship is never the answer. Never.

What tee said :)

I don't know what this magazine is, and I don't understand the outrage. So it's got pointless celebrities in it, and is aimed at 8-10 year olds - was there something offensive in the features?

I don't think vacuous celeb gossip is inappropriate for children who like pop music etc.

The press has no responsibility for shaping young minds any more than film-producers, game designers or anyone else in the entertainment media. WE... US... PARENTS.... are the ones responsible for shaping children's minds. You took the magazine away and you wouldn't buy another one for her. So you've made your point & your child's mind is being shaped the way you want it to be. If other children have parents that aren't bothered whether they read about popstars or whatever, that's entirely their call. Personally, I favour the approach of letting them read a wide range of materials and then discussing the contents.

Banning magazines is totalitarian tripe.

op, have you read 'cinderella ate my daughter'? peggy orenstein. there's quite a lot about at what ages girls are marketed different stuff. def not unusual for 8yos to be steered towards pop stars and associated twaddle. bratz anyone?

yes, it's annoying that our girls are being steered towards vacuous tripe.

presumably you are providing other more wholesome choices (although i might argue that 'all about animals' is just as stereotyped in a different way, despite never having bought either magazine) and are capable of discussing the contents with your child.

unless there really was a discussion about spending cash on drugs, which i doubt.

just don't buy it.

it would be lovely if everyone write to the publishers asking for them to tone down the less appropriate crap, but tbh it's just training them up to be the heat readers of the future. (and no, i don't buy that crap either)

it sounds pretty awful, and i won't be wasting my money on it, but i won't be wasting my time trying to get it banned either. pick your battles. if they genuinely are encouraging pre-pubescent girls to explicitly lose weight, dress sexy, or put out, then you might have a point. but it just sounds like vacuous twaddle. oo, she bought a car. how... boring.

(remembers fondly dd1 asking for justin bieber shite)

I hate those magazines as they are a pile of poo, but in the same way I don't buy celeb magazines myself. Now/Heat/Closer are all aimed at my age group, and there may be some appealing story, but ultimately I can choose whether or not to buy. You could perhaps ask grandma to check the mags carefully before she buys, but it doesn't sound as if this one was harmful, just a waste of money.

My DD2 is 8 and she bought something similar at the supermarket, we are trying to allow her to spend her pocket money as she chooses so she can understand what is and isn't good value. She bought that one issue because of the free gift, flicked through the magazine, and hasn't bought it since. If she does decide to go down the route of buying cr*p magazines I may use it as an opportunity to talk about celebrity/advertising/pressure to spend money etc but I'll cross that bridge when i come to it.

As an aside, does Miley Cyrus have a "nasty little drug habit"?

apparently she once made a joke about weed and there's a you-tube clip of her allegedly sitting in a circle with a bong before some show.

i suspect that if you put any sleb name and 'drugs' into a search engine you'd get similar.

it's hardly six months in rehab territory, even if it's true...

Weed? Right. so nothing really then!