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MAGAZINE-GIRLS Dec-7-2005 (640 words) With photos. xxxn
Magazine for Catholic girls aims for truer image of young femininity
By Steve Euvino
Catholic News Service
MICHIGAN CITY, Ind. (CNS) -- Brandi Lee and Stephanie Murphy had some time on their hands and an idea: creating a magazine for girls that features fashions that won't break their teen budgets and won't reveal most of their young bodies.
Their idea will take fruition when True Girl magazine hits mailboxes in early 2006.
True Girl is a faith-based publication. Readers won't find photos or advertising about the most revealing fashions, or see photos of the "coolest boys" from around the country.
According to Lee and Murphy, who are both Catholic and live in the Gary Diocese, readers will find stories and photos for and about girls -- ages 12-18 is the target market -- that reflect a realistic view of young femininity, based on church teachings, not sexy trends or horoscopes.
"You are in charge of your own destinies," Lee told middle-school girls at St. Stanislaus Kostka School in Michigan City during an afternoon visit Dec. 2.
She and Murphy are promoting the magazine, which will be mailed in late January 2006 for its debut February-March issue. The bimonthly periodical will not be heavy on advertising, the two women said.
True Girl will offer advice on affordable, appropriate clothing and jewelry, often sold by Catholic women who, Murphy said, "provide an example ... working hard, making it happen."
"We want to focus on educating and inspiring," Lee told the students, who offered possible features ideas. She added that the magazine is "not about gossip, but about real girls."
The first issue will include a story about a girl now residing in Indiana who was displaced by Hurricane Katrina and who, despite losses from the storm, has grown in her faith.
As to beauty and dating tips, Lee and Murphy said the magazine will focus on "taking advantage of all God's given us and how we can be examples to others."
Any comments on dealing with the opposite sex, the women said, will come from a Catholic perspective.
Lee is a parishioner at Queen of All Saints Church in Michigan City, while Murphy attends St. John Kanty Church in Rolling Prairie. Working with freelancers in photography, editorial and design, the women said they feel "blessed by all the support from the right people at the right time."
Lee is officially the editor, while Murphy's title is publisher. However, the two women wear many hats and are learning to wear even more.
The 24-page, 6-by-9-inch magazine will start out having one page of advertising, as Lee and Murphy want to develop a subscriber-based publication that is "thick with content," Lee said.
Regular features will include "Ask Aunt Sarah," a column from a Catholic grandmother; features on women living their vocations -- married, single, or religious; a rosary reflection with Father David Kime, campus minister at Marquette High School in Michigan City; appropriate fashions; alternating film, book, or music reviews; and features on real girls living their faith.
A press release said the magazine is being funded by Murphy, a mother of five. In addition to subscriptions, she and Lee plan to distribute the magazine to Catholic schools, youth groups and youth conventions across the country.
Therese Hullinger, an eighth-grader at St. Stanislaus Kostka, is the "cover girl" for the premiere issue of True Girl. Involved at school and in her community, the 14-year-old was looking forward to the magazine -- and not just seeing her picture on the cover.
"This is really a great thing for girls," Hullinger told the Northwest Indiana Catholic, Gary's diocesan newspaper. "It's hard for us to be perfect like other magazines say we can be."
It is tougher these days to be a girl, she said. "There's so much pressure to be perfect and have everything."
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Editor's note: More information on the magazine is available online at: www.truegirlonline.com.
END
Copyright (c) 2005 Catholic News Service/USCCB. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed.
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