"As its target audience shifted, the magazine got woke."
July 18, 2022 3:10 PM Subscribe
I found it interesting that the aspiration seemed to be so cool that they pick you to be in a magazine, without realizing that the reality was just "obscenely rich parents". It's like the socialite pages of old, but with the "daughter of glamorous so-and-so and powerful such-and-such" deliberately left out.
posted by clawsoon at 3:58 PM on July 18, 2022 [13 favorites]
posted by clawsoon at 3:58 PM on July 18, 2022 [13 favorites]
I have two teenage daughters and I hear the term "nepo baby" 1-48 times daily. It's not annoying because they get so much gleeful joy from saying it I've just decided to bask in their mirth.
posted by mcstayinskool at 4:07 PM on July 18, 2022 [15 favorites]
posted by mcstayinskool at 4:07 PM on July 18, 2022 [15 favorites]
What really fucks me off is when nepo babies are good at their job. Simon Rich, for example. Unfair.
posted by Countess Elena at 4:14 PM on July 18, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by Countess Elena at 4:14 PM on July 18, 2022 [2 favorites]
I'm sort of confused the point of the article. Well connected famous people have a much easier time getting in magazines. Sure it is nepotism but a major editor for whomever owns vogue more than likely knows Apatow's "people" making it far, far easier than doing a talent search for random people. Same with every other single industry.
Nepotism is just human nature to an extent, I'm much more likely to work with someone I know than a random person. That goes for less sexy jobs like blue collar work, nepotism isn't just rich people with immaculate bedrooms.
The real thing about nepotism or really just well connected, rich parents is that it allows you to follow your passion and become a success. There's a certain middle class or perhaps middle America mentality that not working is akin to being a bum. I take breaks to work on passion projects and the scorn I get is amazing. It's not that I'm not "working" just not in the traditional sense. I doubt Lena Dunham works at an insurance company in Newark between gigs but that may go beyond nepotism and more into classism.
posted by geoff. at 4:25 PM on July 18, 2022 [10 favorites]
Nepotism is just human nature to an extent, I'm much more likely to work with someone I know than a random person. That goes for less sexy jobs like blue collar work, nepotism isn't just rich people with immaculate bedrooms.
The real thing about nepotism or really just well connected, rich parents is that it allows you to follow your passion and become a success. There's a certain middle class or perhaps middle America mentality that not working is akin to being a bum. I take breaks to work on passion projects and the scorn I get is amazing. It's not that I'm not "working" just not in the traditional sense. I doubt Lena Dunham works at an insurance company in Newark between gigs but that may go beyond nepotism and more into classism.
posted by geoff. at 4:25 PM on July 18, 2022 [10 favorites]
For the greatest and oldest Republic in the world, I am fascinated by the way the US seems to culturally pine for an old-fashioned aristocracy
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 4:34 PM on July 18, 2022 [21 favorites]
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 4:34 PM on July 18, 2022 [21 favorites]
As to culture, the rich own the media, and use it to try to convince us (and themselves) that they are better/more deserving than others.
posted by fings at 4:51 PM on July 18, 2022 [15 favorites]
posted by fings at 4:51 PM on July 18, 2022 [15 favorites]
If nepotism were no big deal, revealing the enormous leg up many wealthy or famous people had as a result of their advantages should then also be no big deal.
I've grown my patience for lots of diversions and idylls. Nobody can be at class war all the time. But this shit is so transparently toxic every time people I respect give any shits at all about celebrities and their doings, values, relationships, products, and opinions I feel like I'm taking crazy pills.
I doubt I'm alone in feeling inferior to the point of humiliation at how successful some artists or taste makers seem to be - until I started following the money and realizing what an enormous leg up they had. Unfortunately by that point the damage to my self confidence and formative relationships was already done.
So, no, every nepo baby failceleb is taking up space someone less connected, equally or more talented, but with opinions less formed by the self-preservation of existing aristocracy could be filling. Given they will never want, the best thing they can do is step aside and enjoy their comfort. Wanting more is quite literally too much.
posted by abulafa at 5:08 PM on July 18, 2022 [42 favorites]
I've grown my patience for lots of diversions and idylls. Nobody can be at class war all the time. But this shit is so transparently toxic every time people I respect give any shits at all about celebrities and their doings, values, relationships, products, and opinions I feel like I'm taking crazy pills.
I doubt I'm alone in feeling inferior to the point of humiliation at how successful some artists or taste makers seem to be - until I started following the money and realizing what an enormous leg up they had. Unfortunately by that point the damage to my self confidence and formative relationships was already done.
So, no, every nepo baby failceleb is taking up space someone less connected, equally or more talented, but with opinions less formed by the self-preservation of existing aristocracy could be filling. Given they will never want, the best thing they can do is step aside and enjoy their comfort. Wanting more is quite literally too much.
posted by abulafa at 5:08 PM on July 18, 2022 [42 favorites]
geoff, I agree with everything you wrote, but I think the "point" of the article (which is perhaps a bit muddled) is that when the author was reading Teen Vogue in 2000, the Internet of today didn't exist yet, which allowed for nepotism to go under the radar. I'm admittedly a few years older than the author, but I don't think it became common (for me anyway) to just Google a random actor/artist/musician/etc. until....maybe 2008? Certainly, when I was watching teen actors as a teen, I had no way to learn all about their lives (Wikipedia had merely surpassed 100k articles in 2003, when I was 18). Nepotism has always been alive and well, but our ability to see it - to the detail of viewing what some celebrity's daughter had for lunch via her TikTok or whatever - is relatively new to Gen Z/younger Millennials.
posted by coffeecat at 5:17 PM on July 18, 2022 [9 favorites]
posted by coffeecat at 5:17 PM on July 18, 2022 [9 favorites]
(It’s an article about the history of Teen Vogue, which shifted so smoothly and gradually to being kind of a Resistance organ that some people may not have noticed, and it’s also an article about the differences between Millennials and Gen Z/Zoomers, which is something I feel like childless Xers such as myself, who can recall the days when we were lumped in with Millennials in a kids-these-days kind of way, might benefit from reflecting on.)
posted by box at 5:32 PM on July 18, 2022 [11 favorites]
posted by box at 5:32 PM on July 18, 2022 [11 favorites]
Put your son-in-law in charge of solving middle-east peace and national covid logistics. Sure the article isn't about that, but wait, isn't that Ivanka in the first picture? They may be cute blameless teens now but it's only the beginning of a charmed life of not knowing responsibilities or consequences.
My curiousity: does Teen Vogue have a physical edition? Magazines seem like something you'd have to explain to a tween.
posted by adept256 at 9:54 PM on July 18, 2022 [5 favorites]
My curiousity: does Teen Vogue have a physical edition? Magazines seem like something you'd have to explain to a tween.
posted by adept256 at 9:54 PM on July 18, 2022 [5 favorites]
"Magazines seem like something you'd have to explain to a tween."
I forgot where I heard the charming story of someone's kid saying to them "ah, a magazine is like a web site but on paper."
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 10:48 PM on July 18, 2022 [9 favorites]
I forgot where I heard the charming story of someone's kid saying to them "ah, a magazine is like a web site but on paper."
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 10:48 PM on July 18, 2022 [9 favorites]
Nit: "nepot babies" would be (a) more etymologically sound, and (b) funnier (because it sounds like "Muppet Babies").
posted by The Tensor at 11:27 PM on July 18, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by The Tensor at 11:27 PM on July 18, 2022 [3 favorites]
does Teen Vogue have a physical edition?
It went online-only in 2018.
My young-millennial daughter had a subscription in late middle school / early high school, and I enjoyed reading it as much as (probably more than) she did.
posted by Sweetie Darling at 3:27 AM on July 19, 2022
It went online-only in 2018.
My young-millennial daughter had a subscription in late middle school / early high school, and I enjoyed reading it as much as (probably more than) she did.
posted by Sweetie Darling at 3:27 AM on July 19, 2022
For the greatest and oldest Republic in the world, I am fascinated by the way the US seems to culturally pine for an old-fashioned aristocracy.
Feudalism is the apotheosis of capitalism.
posted by JohnFromGR at 4:33 AM on July 19, 2022 [8 favorites]
Feudalism is the apotheosis of capitalism.
posted by JohnFromGR at 4:33 AM on July 19, 2022 [8 favorites]
The part of the conversation I find most interesting is not about "nepo babies" who are untalented wastes of space, but rather those who are talented and good at what they do. Because then the conversation is not about the child being a bad person or worthy of scorn, rather the conversation is about how success in the entertainment industry is much more about access and opportunity than it is about talent. Maya Hawke and Maude Apatow are good actors, but their connections and names opened doors for them that people without such connections would not have had access to.
For example, Frankie Cosmos is a really good indie singer-songwriter who has had a couple successful releases. And then you learn that her real name is Greta Kline and her parents are Kevin Kline and Phoebe Cates. Now, I respect that Greta decided to use a stage name rather than trade on her parents' fame (much like Nic Cage née Coppola). But the truth is, if she didn't grow up in a privileged household, she may not have been able to afford going to NYU or pursuing a music career. This is not a criticism of Greta Kline - there is no shame in being privileged enough to follow your dreams provided you don't abuse that privilege. But it helps to dispel the narrative that if you're talented enough, you will be "discovered." It's often not true.
(See also Samia, whose parents are Kathy Najimy and Dan Finnerty (of The Dan Band) and who went to a fancy prep school in Manhattan.)
posted by Ben Trismegistus at 9:18 AM on July 19, 2022 [5 favorites]
For example, Frankie Cosmos is a really good indie singer-songwriter who has had a couple successful releases. And then you learn that her real name is Greta Kline and her parents are Kevin Kline and Phoebe Cates. Now, I respect that Greta decided to use a stage name rather than trade on her parents' fame (much like Nic Cage née Coppola). But the truth is, if she didn't grow up in a privileged household, she may not have been able to afford going to NYU or pursuing a music career. This is not a criticism of Greta Kline - there is no shame in being privileged enough to follow your dreams provided you don't abuse that privilege. But it helps to dispel the narrative that if you're talented enough, you will be "discovered." It's often not true.
(See also Samia, whose parents are Kathy Najimy and Dan Finnerty (of The Dan Band) and who went to a fancy prep school in Manhattan.)
posted by Ben Trismegistus at 9:18 AM on July 19, 2022 [5 favorites]
There's a guy on TikTok, whose account I can't find because it's hard to find stuff you aren't specifically following on that platform, who traces the history of people in the music industry who didn't make it on their own. His point isn't that your favorite band sucks because their singer's uncle is the head of Capitol Records, but that it's important to know the reality behind success.
A famous parent can usually just open the door, I don't think there are many cases of unqualified people who have had successful careers just because of who their parents are. It's good to know who had help though, because no one can do it all on their own, and those struggling to get attention to should be fully aware of the game.
posted by chaz at 9:27 AM on July 19, 2022 [6 favorites]
A famous parent can usually just open the door, I don't think there are many cases of unqualified people who have had successful careers just because of who their parents are. It's good to know who had help though, because no one can do it all on their own, and those struggling to get attention to should be fully aware of the game.
posted by chaz at 9:27 AM on July 19, 2022 [6 favorites]
There's a guy on TikTok, whose account I can't find because it's hard to find stuff you aren't specifically following on that platform, who traces the history of people in the music industry who didn't make it on their own. His point isn't that your favorite band sucks because their singer's uncle is the head of Capitol Records, but that it's important to know the reality behind success.
Yes, I was thinking of referencing that guy. His TikToks are great!
posted by Ben Trismegistus at 10:00 AM on July 19, 2022 [1 favorite]
Yes, I was thinking of referencing that guy. His TikToks are great!
posted by Ben Trismegistus at 10:00 AM on July 19, 2022 [1 favorite]
MetaFilter: I mean, yeah, I would be (more of) an asshole,
posted by elkevelvet at 10:10 AM on July 19, 2022
posted by elkevelvet at 10:10 AM on July 19, 2022
Yeah, I think the question isn't whether the children of the rich and famous who become successful really have talent, but whether talent alone -- no matter how much of it -- would matter to their success if their parents weren't rich and/or famous.
posted by kittens for breakfast at 10:28 AM on July 19, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by kittens for breakfast at 10:28 AM on July 19, 2022 [3 favorites]
There's a guy on TikTok, whose account I can't find because it's hard to find stuff you aren't specifically following on that platform, who traces the history of people in the music industry who didn't make it on their own. His point isn't that your favorite band sucks because their singer's uncle is the head of Capitol Records, but that it's important to know the reality behind success.
This guy?
posted by snownoid at 11:33 AM on July 19, 2022 [2 favorites]
This guy?
posted by snownoid at 11:33 AM on July 19, 2022 [2 favorites]
The message I get from this is that Teen Vogue carefully elides the fact that these are not "normal" people who happen to be stylish and/or talented. You can take from that that it's just easier to publish a magazine if you already have all your subjects in your rolodex.
Or you can take from it that it's designed to create a sense that the reader is not like them because the reader less stylish and less talented, rather than simply less connected. The aristocracy in America thrives on a just-world fallacy that reinforces the notion that they are where they are because they earned it, and the rest of us are where we are because we didn't. Which is clearly bullshit, but it's a lot easier to maintain your position in a fractious, upside-down society when the victims blame themselves and not you.
posted by klanawa at 11:52 AM on July 19, 2022 [5 favorites]
Or you can take from it that it's designed to create a sense that the reader is not like them because the reader less stylish and less talented, rather than simply less connected. The aristocracy in America thrives on a just-world fallacy that reinforces the notion that they are where they are because they earned it, and the rest of us are where we are because we didn't. Which is clearly bullshit, but it's a lot easier to maintain your position in a fractious, upside-down society when the victims blame themselves and not you.
posted by klanawa at 11:52 AM on July 19, 2022 [5 favorites]
klanawa: The message I get from this is that Teen Vogue carefully elides the fact that these are not "normal" people who happen to be stylish and/or talented.
I think elided may be more accurate. Based on the article, this was more of a thing from 2000-2005, after which the magazine grew more “woke”.
posted by syzygy at 1:13 PM on July 19, 2022 [2 favorites]
I think elided may be more accurate. Based on the article, this was more of a thing from 2000-2005, after which the magazine grew more “woke”.
posted by syzygy at 1:13 PM on July 19, 2022 [2 favorites]
I'm admittedly a few years older than the author, but I don't think it became common (for me anyway) to just Google a random actor/artist/musician/etc. until....maybe 2008?
It was common to read as much as you could, usually via other mags and online too (or microfiche from the library if you are old enough).
Others mags would occasionally let a few notes slip through that made it really obvious, and considering how often each was featured, it seemed something was going on, even if 'what' wasn't obvious.
It was not easy then to organize against it. How many people in your friendgroup/class/school town would even have a problem with it? 2-10 tops, and you probably didn't know them, and they were probably mainly focusing on bigger causes if they were into organizing.
posted by The_Vegetables at 2:22 PM on July 19, 2022
It was common to read as much as you could, usually via other mags and online too (or microfiche from the library if you are old enough).
Others mags would occasionally let a few notes slip through that made it really obvious, and considering how often each was featured, it seemed something was going on, even if 'what' wasn't obvious.
It was not easy then to organize against it. How many people in your friendgroup/class/school town would even have a problem with it? 2-10 tops, and you probably didn't know them, and they were probably mainly focusing on bigger causes if they were into organizing.
posted by The_Vegetables at 2:22 PM on July 19, 2022
However, with modern internet techniques I don't have to spend an hour figuring out if Annabelle Dexter-Jones is daughter to the good Mick Jones (The Clash) or the lousy Mick Jones (Foreigner).
posted by The_Vegetables at 2:35 PM on July 19, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by The_Vegetables at 2:35 PM on July 19, 2022 [1 favorite]
The thing about Teen Vogue featuring “nepo babies” in spreads is of a piece with journalists of every stripe and at every level featuring people they just happen to know, publishing quotes from people around them, profiling restaurants that happen to be near their homes, etc. A big part of being a journalist is tracking down people to use as sources, and you might think journalists are out there beating the turf, turning over stones, finding really noteworthy opinion havers. But reporters are mostly just exploiting their social networks. In the case of the “nepo babies” featured in Teen Vogue, the editors are responding to pitches from publicists.
posted by chrchr at 5:03 PM on July 19, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by chrchr at 5:03 PM on July 19, 2022 [1 favorite]
A big part of being a journalist is tracking down people to use as sources, and you might think journalists are out there beating the turf, turning over stones, finding really noteworthy opinion havers. But reporters are mostly just exploiting their social networks.
posted by chrchr at 5:03 PM on July 19
Nice way to unfairly toss a blanket of laziness and corner-cutting and elitism over pretty much an entire profession. Maybe the journalists working for Teen Vogue did that (although based on the article the girl who interned at the magazine certainly didn't have any social connections to speak of) but that's not something that can be said about journalists in general.
posted by sardonyx at 6:42 PM on July 19, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by chrchr at 5:03 PM on July 19
Nice way to unfairly toss a blanket of laziness and corner-cutting and elitism over pretty much an entire profession. Maybe the journalists working for Teen Vogue did that (although based on the article the girl who interned at the magazine certainly didn't have any social connections to speak of) but that's not something that can be said about journalists in general.
posted by sardonyx at 6:42 PM on July 19, 2022 [2 favorites]
You’re right. I was being unfair. It’s something I have seen first hand and having seen it first hand I have noticed it happening in quite a few other outlets, but certainly lots of journalists really do find good sources. My bad.
posted by chrchr at 7:54 PM on July 19, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by chrchr at 7:54 PM on July 19, 2022 [3 favorites]
certainly lots of journalists really do find good sources
For the few exposé/hard journalism articles, sure, but for most articles? I don't think so. That's why 'a-hole at a diner' is such a trope, and why most newspapers quote from a small list of people, or have a quote list as tight and obvious as OneAmerica News.
posted by The_Vegetables at 8:44 AM on July 20, 2022 [1 favorite]
For the few exposé/hard journalism articles, sure, but for most articles? I don't think so. That's why 'a-hole at a diner' is such a trope, and why most newspapers quote from a small list of people, or have a quote list as tight and obvious as OneAmerica News.
posted by The_Vegetables at 8:44 AM on July 20, 2022 [1 favorite]
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