ADOLESCENTS Teen magazines model their adult versions to a 'T'

Young girls find the same hype and glamour in their offspring magazines.
By SARA STEFFENS
KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
These days, it seems every successful magazine boasts an adolescent offspring.
People, for instance, has spawned Teen People. Cosmopolitan beget Cosmo Girl!. And even the venerable Vogue now nurtures its inner Vogue Girl.
How closely do these junior versions resemble their elder namesakes?
We dug into recent issues to find out.
Cosmo/Cosmo Girl!
Call us traditional, but Cosmopolitan's beefcake feature makes us blush. (OK, well, it didn't help that we flipped through the magazine in the office.)
Cosmo has a reputation for sleazy bimbosity, but we were surprised to realize that its gutsy, straightforward approach sounds a lot like modern men's magazines.
In lieu of graphic sex advice, Cosmo Girl! attempts to display the same spunky boldness with lots of exclamation points! Because it's exciting to be a teenage girl! Especially when boys or shopping are concerned!
There's still beefcake in Cosmo Girl!, but toned down with talk about "kissing" cute celebs such as Tyrese or Justin Timberlake.
There is an eerie similarity between the two Cosmos: antiquated dating advice.
"When the guy you're with asks you how many men you've slept with, keep your lips zipped," advises Cosmopolitan. "If he thinks the number is too high, he'll be intimidated." This mindset continues in a later article: "Peppering your convos with his name shows that you're focused solely on him."
Here's the Cosmo Girl! version: "Consider every guy to be on a level playing field -- they all have potential." And later: "Pay attention, look in his eyes, and be interested."
Elle/Elle Girl
What is it about Elle that makes us feel there's "no there there & quot;?
Our complaints in this arena are, we admit, nonspecific. Sure, the pages boast a plethora of reviews, a few serious articles, a few zany ones and the usual edgy fashion spreads full of haute couture.
But somehow it all feels so tired. If it weren't for sassy columnist E. Jean, we might not remember the July issue at all.
Strangely, Elle Girl is the opposite, filled with things that fascinate us (including sexy young actor Diego Luna, "the thinking girl's pinup").
One of the best teen mags we've read, it reflects everything that's great about our younger generation, especially its diversity.
People/Teen People
Both People and Teen People magazines feature "Star Tracks," pages upon pages of obsessive, paparazzi-style star candids. (Wow! There's Demi Moore grocery shopping! Oh my goodness, Kelly Osbourne is giving the finger, again!)
Both stab ineffectually at serious content: People, for instance, offers a story on the difficulties of laid-off workers seeking steady jobs, while Teen People serves up a gentle expose on the straight-edge movement.
One big diff: No tear-out posters in grown-up People.
Vogue/Teen Vogue
Ah, Vogue.
Forever, we've been slipping through your perfect pages, entranced by the lovely images of lustrous ladies wrapped in Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren and Gucci.
So what if we can't afford $5,000 miniskirts? So what if our faces could never be so angular, our thighs so thin?
Vogue, we understood, was always about fashion for fashion's sake.
Teen Vogue, it turns out, harbors ideals no less lofty.
Sure, there are the PacSun ads and odd Avril Lavigne references.
But at the same time, the magazine does not shy away from the $333 bikini, or the $495 blouse -- prices hopelessly, ridiculously out of reach for its adolescent audience.
And guess what? We love Teen Vogue all the more for it.