Tavi Gevinson has come a long way since starting her own amateur fashion blog at the age

of 12. Now a
high school sophomore, she has, in just a few short years, made her way into the limelight of the fashion
industry, appeared in countless magazines, sat front row at international Fashion Weeks, and, most
recently, spoken on the Early Show about her views on fashion. But Gevinson’s newest project, an
online magazine entitled Rookie, focuses on a subject and audience a little closer to home: teenage girls.

Rookie isn’t a magazine aimed at teenage girls in the usual sense; it would prove an impossible task to
find an article with a title like “10 Ways to Drive Your Guy Crazy,” “How to Lose That Tummy Fat in Time
for Bikini Season,” or “Quiz: What Kind of Girl Are You?” Instead, the magazine focuses on issues that
are (or perhaps should be) more relevant to real girls. Common features include articles on affordable
fashion and DIY projects, reviews on both new and old movies, books, and music, fabulous vintage-
inspired photoshoots, witty and informative advice columns written by adults, a rockin’ playlist every
Friday, and a gratifying amount of reader-submitted work. The magazine hits tough issues commonly
overlooked by mainstream magazines: dealing with depression, finding one’s sexuality and gender, and
attempting to look at bullies as humans, all written about in a style that is frank and intelligent, and at
the same time, extreme-ab-workout levels of funny. The magazine is also heavily influenced by
feminism, particularly the Riot Grrrl movement of the 90s, and aims to show girls how to love
themselves and their bodies, develop a sense of sisterhood with their fellow females, stamp out sexism
still present in today’s society, and generally just own their girl-ness. That being said, guys can enjoy
Rookie, too. One male reader says, “Rookie is pro-girl, but it's not anti-boy,” and goes on to say, “It
makes you realize that there's a lot of stuff in the world that guys just ignore, but we shouldn't because
it's hurting girls and hurting us too.” Even dealing with serious issues like this, Rookie never forgets to
be fun – after all, it’s a magazine for teenagers and often by teenagers, and its content never loses touch
with all the confusion, rebellion, craziness, and restlessness of adolescence. Overall, this description
does not and cannot do Rookie justice – it’s something you have to experience first-hand.

Rookie can be viewed online at rookiemag.com. It features a monthly theme (the first four being
“Beginnings,” “Secrets,” Girl Gang,” and “Home”) around which all the articles are based. It is updated
on weekdays 3 times a day – after school, after dinner, and before bed. Be sure to check it out!