‘Get Fierce in 5!’: Depictions of the ‘Healthy’ Girl Body in <i>Seventeen</i> Magazine, 2016 to 2017

<i>Seventeen</i> Magazine, the longest running magazine for adolescent girls in the United States, reinforces problematic images of the ‘healthy’ adolescent girl by routinely featuring slim celebrities and models, all of whom adhere to a desirable body ideal of hegemonic beauty. Misleading and contradictory narratives of postfeminist, neoliberal empowerment include telling girl readers to love their bodies while simultaneously portraying the slim body as preferable. Additionally, most issues of <i>Seventeen</i> feature a diet-themed section, thereby encouraging food restriction and the surveillance of eating. Findings from this feminist content analysis of the magazine from 2016 to 2017 challenge <i>Seventeen’s </i>stated mission of ‘celebrating real girls with our social-first approach, inviting them into the conversation and engaging them in real experience as they navigate major milestones’ (n.d., n.p.)