Youth Identity Construction

By Robert Kerr

Looking at Miley Cyrus and Emily Osment, we can see their faces have been heavily photo shopped to give them sense of perfection.

The use of the colour white and the colour beige give a sense of purity and innocence.

Looking at these two you can see that teenage girls are represented as being perfect, ideal and feminine.

Looking at this magazine cover we can see that “Teen” is portraying teenage girls as feminine and pure people which is further emphasised by the bright colours.

As an audience, teenage girls will feel that they need to follow their example by having pure skin and flawless features etc.

Looking at this image of Zac Effron we can see that the use of a white shirt and tie give off a sense of how important education can be. The white shirt is most likely a connotation for purity and perfection.

As an audience and from a female perspective, teenage girls are “told” that the ideal conformity of a teenage male is the “perfect skin”, “wavy hair” and smart clothes etc.

When we look at Hayley Williams on the cover of the Kerrang magazine and compare it to the teen magazine featuring Miley Cyrus and Emily Osment we can already see the differences between the subvert the conform.

First off when we look at the cover the first thing were drawn too are her hair and her body posture. Her hair is a bright orange while her body position gives off a sense seduction and enigma. The white background may give off a sense of security but this is contrasted by the colour black which is commonly associated with topics such as death etc. which is fitting for Kerrang as it follows the rock genre.

From an audience’s view the magazine cover gives off a sense of teenage youth and rebellion.

"How far do you agree with this statement: "Identity is complicated, we all

have one" - David Gauntlett"I agree with both parts of the statement but at different degree’s. First off “identity is complicated” I agree with this because as teenager and a member of the youth “sub-culture” it can be hard to find yourself within our own peer groups. This is why we tend form groups with people based on interests and hobbies etc. This is further backed up by Richard Jenkins who stated that we need to interact with others to form our social identity.

The second half of the statement however is harder to agree with. While it is true, as an individual we have an identity, in some cases it is not our “own”. We can imitate an identity and personality based on the media we interact with. For example if we look at films, music, sport, actors, singers and performers. We seek to be like them and as a result we take on the characteristics we see them portray through the media.