If you follow fashion blogs, or just the blog world in general, you'll get to Tavi Gevinson sooner or later. Her new (mostly online) magazine, Rookie, launched last week and already I'm hooked.
From an article about Rookie: "Rookie magazine will be much more than glossy editorials and Mad Hatter-style fashion spreads. With three posts a day (after school, after dinner, and before bed -- based around the schedule of a typical teen), a once monthly online mag, and twice yearly print mag, Rookie is an homage to the heyday of ’90s fashion journalism, an era Tavi admits to being obsessed with (despite having been born in 1996)."
I mean, I'm not their target demographic but a few Internet personalities I follow write for it, and there are some articles that just demand attention. A friend of mine, who is studying to be a clinical psychologist with an emphasis on teens, is reading the site to stay up to date on things interesting to her clients. I'm reading the site because it just calls to me.
How could it not with articles like Getting Over Girl Hate, Joe Loves Girls, how to buy your first electric guitar, playlists for first loves, an appreciation for stickers, and an advice column from Lesley Arfin (who I first started following after loving her All The Boyfriends I've Ever Had in Chronological Order series). And here's some wise words from famous adults about their high school experiences. Below is Winnie Holzman's.
"In high school, we become pretty convinced that we know what reality is: We know who looks down on us, who is above us, exactly who our friends and our enemies are. We know what’s true, and what isn’t, and there’s no room for doubt. Sadly, this condition will likely continue throughout the rest of our lives, unless we actively work to combat it. Which I recommend you do.For awhile, it looked like Jane Pratt of Sassy fame and Tavi would be collaborating on a magazine. However, they've parted ways and now both have their own visions up and running. There's plenty of space for both of them to thrive but it'll be interesting to see how they compare and contrast to each other. I'm trying to figure out if there's a male teen equivalent to all this? Probably not right? What would a magazine run by a fifteen year old male even look like? Would anyone read/buy it?
How do we combat it? By allowing ourselves to realize how very little we know about all the people we’re so certain about. And that what seems like unshakeable reality (he thinks I’m a fool, she hates me, they’re better than me, I’m better than them, I know what they’re thinking) is basically just a story we learned to tell ourselves. Until we know it by heart."
