Esquire Magazine is a U.S. magazine aimed at middle-class men. It was founded in 1933 under founder and editor Arnold Gingrich, since 1986 it has been published by Hearst Communications, and while previously it prioritized news journalism, in the 1990s it revamped itself as a “lifestyle” magazine. The cover above was published in February 2019, the cover story was written by reporter Jennifer Percy, and was swiftly criticized by the media. It shows a 17-year-old white middle-class American boy. Just below the boy’s image, the title reads “An American Boy: What it’s like to grow up white, middle class, and male in the era of social media, school shootings, toxic masculinity, #MeToo, and a divided country.”. The criticism came not just for presenting a white middle-class boy as the “typical American” but also because the magazine’s cover came out during Black History Month.

discussion

What about the cover is meant to signify the title “An American Boy”?Do you agree with the criticism of choosing a white middle-class boy to represent “An American Boy”? Why or why not?
How important do you think is it to represent diverse communities in magazines?
Who would you put on the cover “An American Girl”?