Hello,
I am 16, and rather annoyed with my generation. I have lived in multiple places and have only met one fellow girl in high school that could be classified as anything close to a feminist. This is one out of over 1,000 teenage girls that had any feminist ideas. The rest of the females that I have met are obsessed with how they look and impressing guys. Today I was going to write a letter to Seventeen magazine to see if they would publish any articles about the heated abortion issue, because I feel that issue should be acknowledged in my generation as more than just a choice, but as a choice that may be taken away and should be kept solid as a choice that is for an individual to make.

Then I realized, would Seventeen publish that? And what should I do? The conclusion that came was: write my own magazine!!! A magazine directed to teenage girls, by women, for women. Give them something other than the normal junk reads about clothes and makeup; give them something about feminist issues, real problems, better information, and get a sense of female spirituality and the power of the woman's mind! What I need is funding, other writers, and people who want to see this happen. I can write, am an artist, and am creative. Is there anyone out there willing to help?

Teenage Feminist,
Sally

Dear Sally,
Thanks for personally dispelling the myth that teenagers aren't active or don't care. I think it's great that you want to speak out and that you want to create a forum for others to do so. I think that there are many things you can do -- and you can do one or all of them. For starters, you should certainly write a letter to Seventeen, telling them that you are their target audience, a reader of their magazine, and this is an issue you want them to cover. You might get a response and you'll never know until you try. You can also try to get your messages and perspective into existing magazines--for instance, Teen Voices, which is a quarterly magazine out of Boston and which would certainly want to hear what you have to say. Or check out Ms. Magazine, which has an older readership, but certainly likes to include the voices of women of every generation.

And, of course, you can also start your own magazine. Perhaps you want to start it as a sort of school newspaper. I suggest this, only because you might be able to get funding for it from your school. If you decide to do it by yourself, then I can give you more suggestions and perhaps even put you in touch with friends of mine who started their own magazine. So, if you choose to go with this, let me know and I'll make the connection. Let me know what happens either way, and good luck - you will make a difference.
Amy