Teen-zine sex is not all it seems

Last week British media attention focused on the sexual content of magazines aimed at teenage girls as the Conservative MP for Worcester, Mr Peter Luff, promoted a private member's bill which would require their publishers to state a minimum age on the cover, thus enabling parents to judge whether the magazines are suitable for their teenagers.

Chatterbox, Sugar, It's Bliss, Catch, Mizz, Just Seventeen, More, and 19 are available from most newsagents, and the front covers of the February editions are more titillating than salacious and are heavily preoccupied with Valentine's day romance. Generally they do not give any clear idea of their intended target readership. Although Just Seventeen or 19 might be taken as titles indicating the target age, they are read by younger teenagers.

Without prior knowledge, teenagers must make their selection by trial and error, which is presumably the marketing strategy. Cover lines such as “Are you ready for sex? We ask your boy, your buddies … …