By tabulating the occurrences of agreement among readers of“aboutness,”a measure of Cohen's kappa,used as an index of interrater reliability,was computed.The initial measurement of kappa was insignificant where satisfactory reliability is said to occur with a measurement of 0.70;the findings here were only reliable at 0.662.Further examination of the data showed that the significance-affecting disagreement between readers regarded distinguishing the differences between embarrassing events occurring as a result of general clumsiness or as a result of accidents occurring while the narrator was“showing off.”A hypothetical merging of this data into a single category increased the measurement of kappa past the significant mark.The lack of terminological clarity that seemed to have negatively affected the reliability measurement may be considered a methodological error;stricter adherence to the codes of scientific content analysis in an iteration of this examination may allow for more reliable and conclusive statistical data.Additional numeric inconclusiveness may have been a result of the gender of the readers.A comparison of the subject assignments of a body of male readers and a body of female readers may address the issue of the gendered nature of the texts and the meaning making implications of such a finding.
Within the narratives,certain phrases were used with frequency to emphasize the dire nature of the embarrassing situation and to heighten the humiliation stakes.According to these anecdotes,often the embarrassing act is a secondary source of unease;the audience of the act can determine the level of shame conveyed in the text.Any embarrassment witnessed by“the entire school”or“entire grade”;performed before the most popular boy,girl,or clique;or meant to impress the best-looking or“hottest”teacher or boy was almost certain torate higher on the humiliation scale than lower-stakes scenarios.In these anecdotes,embarrassment was not necessarily self-determined;the level of shame was a product of the status of the watchers.This observation is notable both on a discursive and societal level.The drama of the setup for the embarrassing story is heightened by the deion of the high-stakes audience involved.That the narrator's social standing may be in the balance makes the experience of reading the tale all the more delicious.Additionally,a reader may absorb the implication that she,as a female,as a character secondary to the popular clique or the best-looking boy,will consistently occupy the object position in both the real-life tale and in her own life.The internalization of the concept of the self as secondary,of womanhood as a performance,may be a by-product of these intentionally sympathetic stories.
The embarrassing stories content in teen magazines utilize a specific vocabulary of foreshadowing;frequent readers of these columns may become adept at interpreting the magazines'unique code of prescience.Louise Rosenblatt writes that a reader brings her own experiences to a text and that these experiences shape the reading of a work for an individual.These experiences may include knowledge of another language,situational experiences similar to the conflicts portrayed in the literature,or exposure to specific cultural symbols and mores.Rosenblatt writes that the words on the page encourage the reader to“draw on his past experiences with what the words point to in life and literature.The text presents these words in a new and unique pattern.Out of these he is enabled actually to mold a new experience,the literary work.”Rosenblatt,Louise M..Literature as Exploration,p.30.New York:MLA,1995.In the case of adolescent magazines'embarrassing stories,a specific language of prediction is honed as readers accumulate“experiences”with a text.The acquisition of an embarrassing stories vocabulary becomes part of what Rosenblatt would deem a literary“experience”;the reader's fluency in this vocabulary will inform her reading of the stories themselves.For example,often in the tales of“Menstrual Mistakes,”the mention of a white dress worn by the protagonist hints at a forthcoming menstrual disaster.That a ruined white(or light-colored dress or outfit)becomes code for the ultimate menstrual mistake is of special note;the evidence of womanhood itself,as displayed in a clothing stain,is an ironic and distinctly gender-specific source of embarrassment to portray in a teenage girls'magazine.That the merest hint of a girl's menstrual period is the source of embarrassment is evidenced in the tales involving the accidental sighting of wrapped tampons or the purchase of feminine hygiene items.Additional harbingers of doom include the mention of special attention paid to appearance-hair,clothes,and makeup-in anticipation of a particular(often romantic)encounter;these“best laid plans”can fail when a newly laundered outfit attracts a pair of“staticy”underpants,a trendy pair of jeans gets wet and bleeds dye on the wearer,or a tight pair of pants splits as the wearer bends over to attract a male.
