Input-Output -- 'Seventeen' Editor Attempting to Bring Morality to Teen Mag
by Rebecca Grace
August 12, 2004
(AgapePress) - Input. Output. What goes in will come out. At least that's what Atoosa Rubenstein, editor-in-chief of Seventeen magazine, is expecting.Less than one year ago, Rubenstein seized the opportunity to become the editorial leader of "America's most-read young women's magazine" with a readership of approximately 15 million with an average age of 16.5. By accepting that responsibility, Rubenstein sees her job and the magazine as more than just a move up the career ladder of success.
"I don't feel like I work at a magazine. My boss always laughs at me, but I feel like I work for the girls, and I am their advocate. I just take a tremendous sense of honor and pride in having that role in their lives," Rubenstein told the AFA Journal.*
Therefore, she is continuously taking the initiative to give the magazine a facelift -- taking it from the reputation of a sleazy, sexually-oriented read to one with, what she considers, morals and values.
"It think it is important to have a magazine that speaks to the tough issues of the day, yet has a moral backbone that is strong," Rubenstein said.
However, the skepticism remains, and rightly so, as to how this moral backbone measures against a Scriptural backbone where God instructs His children not to have even a hint of sexual immorality among them. With sensual ads and sexual topics still filling the pages of the most recent issues of Seventeen, it is worth hearing Rubenstein out as she shares her passionate explanation for creating a quality magazine that is in the best interest of the girls.
"I don't know that it is very sexually-oriented," Rubenstein said of the magazine, in general. "We have, in the health section, a sex-health page. We don't necessarily do it every month, but this particular month [August] we worked with the [Henry J.] Kaiser Family Foundation. We do a survey that is related to sexual health several times a year," she explained.
However, Rubenstein claims the purpose of such surveys is not to promote but to educate. "This is not a magazine that is about 'how-tos' or anything like that but rather to make sure that girls are educated," Rubenstein added.
She also finds abstinence-only education to be a very important, positive approach to sexual health. "I will always put in every piece: 'Remember the only safe sex is no sex.' And that's an important message to have out there," she said.
Although Rubenstein believes it is important to "educate" those girls who plan to have sex regardless, she takes her responsibility as editor-in-chief very seriously when it comes to this aspect of her role.
"We're very careful in that no way are we saying [or] even subliminally sending the message it is cool to have sex or it is cool to be sexy," Rubenstein explained.
Instead she seeks to associate being cool with good values -- one of those values being self-confidence. "I think what sells is confidence and feeling good about yourself," Rubenstein said of her personal marketing plan used to run the magazine. "Selling sex is the easy way to sell, and that's not the business I'm in. I'm not here to make a quick buck. I'm genuinely here to help girls."
A Forum for Faith Talk
"I'm a girl who feels very fortunate to have had a very strong family growing up and have been raised in a strict family with good values and a lot of love," Rubenstein added.
Rubenstein was born in Iran and raised in a Muslim home by "very, very spiritual" parents, as she described them.
She admitted that God is an important part of her life but that she always draws a clear line between her life and her work. However, it is the good values instilled in Rubenstein by her parents that motivate her to approach her work in a similar fashion -- not to forget her main agenda of providing the readers with what they really want.
In meeting their needs alongside her desire to instill values in the girls through the magazine, Rubenstein decided to add a "faith" section to the magazine as part of its facelift. The new faith section is made up of three parts: 1) The Big Question, 2) Inspiration, and 3) Religion in the News. The first section asks a different faith-centered question each month such as "Do you believe in God?" or "Do you pray?" Various girls respond with varied viewpoints.
The second section is a page of Scripture verses and/or quotations from religious and spiritual leaders that can be cut out and displayed on books, lockers or elsewhere.
"Then we've got a page called 'Religion in the News' where we talk about different trends that are happening within different religions," Rubenstein said. Thus far, such trends include a teen girl's story of a 180 youth group and a couple's story of premarital counseling.
"Really, how we see the faith section is not us saying, 'oh, you must be this or that or anything' ... but rather [as] creating a forum where it can be cool to talk about these things that, for whatever reason, just secular magazines have stayed away from completely," Rubenstein explained.
"I think that it is possible to just provide the outlet, provide the forum. Let girls talk about it themselves and send the signal that this is important stuff," she added.
A False View of Sexuality?
"We're certainly happy that Seventeen magazine has come to the understanding that faith is an important part of the American life, but Christianity is a religion of absolute truth. Teenage Christians should be very careful while navigating through the waters of alternative religious beliefs," said the Rev. Donald E. Wildmon, founder and chairman of the American Family Association.
"There's always the danger of suffering the shipwreck of one's faith," Wildmon added.
"At the end of the day, I don't want to send the signal to you that this is a religious magazine because ... we have a fashion section. We have a beauty section. We have a health section that includes, certainly, nutrition but also has the Seventeen sex survey on contraception," Rubenstein responded.
"[But] It's important for girls to know what's going on -- what other teens are and aren't doing so they can learn from it and not get themselves into a pickle," she added.
However, certain activist organizations feel the content presented in Seventeen does nothing but get its young readers into a "pickle" as pointed out by Concerned Women for America. CWA is "the nation's largest public policy women's organization" with a mission "to protect and promote Biblical values among all citizens -- first, through prayer, then education, and finally by influencing our society -- thereby reversing the decline in moral values in our nation."
According to an article found on the organization's website, CWA believes "Seventeen magazine subscribes to [a] false view of sexual reality."
CWA bases its claim on the partnership between Seventeen and the Kaiser Family Foundation which produces a number of sexually-oriented surveys found both in the magazine and on the magazine's website. "Seventeen offers its readers, within a venue of sexually enticing photos of kissing couples and provocative women, several online pop quizzes to help high-school and middle-school teens discover if they're 'STD savvy' or prepared for 'going to the gyno,' among others," the article states.
In addition, the article by CWA notes that the partnership is ongoing between Seventeen and the Kaiser Family Foundation as the two attempt to educate young people on sexual health issues. However, CWA pointed out how many of the online quizzes often direct readers to Planned Parenthood, "the nation's leading provider and promoter of abortion."
"For teens searching for moral guidance, Seventeen proves a serpent in the weeds," wrote Sara Brode, of CWA.
"What Kaiser and Seventeen fail to do is give an accurate picture of just how frightening and scaring premature sexual activity can be. They give lip service to the possibility of long-term health effects like cancer, but overall, they make the topic of sex outside of marriage seem fun and easy to handle," Brode wrote as a concluding thought.
The Influence of Input
Based on the claims of CWA, this secularized view of morality falls short when measured against Scripture where God values the sanctity of human life and reserves sex as a gift to be received and enjoyed within the bond of marriage.
However, it's hard to discredit Rubenstein and her efforts that are nonetheless a step in the right direction, which is one step further than many mainstream magazines are willing to take. After all, Rubenstein reiterates that Seventeen is not a religious magazine, nor is it faith-based.
"It is a secular magazine, but the person in charge is on the right team," she said. "I knock on wood and thank the Big Man upstairs that I've been able to be successful without compromising my beliefs. I'm the girl who prays everyday, as many of us do."
Although Hearst Magazines, the corporation that owns Seventeen, smiles upon Rubenstein and her passion for investing in the lives of her readers, she admits they really flash their pearly whites at the fact that she is showing double-digit sales increases since taking the position as editor-in-chief.
She'll be the first to admit "at the end of the day, everything is a business" and the ultimate goal is "to make money -- let's be honest.
"[However] I feel like it is my job and my duty to show people and create a product for consumers that is both successful on a business level but successful in terms of moral high-ground," Rubenstein concluded. "That's something I take very seriously and [is] why I do what I do."
Since morally-minded people like Rubenstein are hard to come by in mainstream America, it is important for Christians to encourage and pray for her as she is doing all that she's knows to do to impact society in a positive way.
"There are some good people in the fashion world," said Dannah Gresh, co-founder of Pure Freedom, a ministry dedicated to "equipping men and women of all ages to live vibrant lives of purity."
"They just often don't know Jesus, and our love and encouragement, when they make good choices, can sometimes speak more loudly than our criticism when they don't," Gresh added without making a direct assumption about Rubenstein.
In fact, God instructs in I Thessalonians 5:11 to "encourage one another and build each other up." In addition to encouragement, it all goes back to the input and output of one's mind and heart.
"To be less effected" (which is the output), "we have to be less programmed by the world" (which is the input), Gresh explained.
Therefore, Rubenstein is carefully monitoring the input of her magazine as she seeks to provide a positive and uplifting output for her readers -- a good example for Christians to follow when deciding what forms of input (i.e., magazines, movies, music, etc.) are edifying to the Lord.
Rebecca Grace is a staff writer for AFA Journal, a monthly publication of the American Family Association.
*AFA Journal and AgapePress do not endorse Seventeen magazine.
