As any middle-school girl will tell you, there is nothing more fun than a collage made out of magazine clippings.

This adolescent form of creativity has sparked another type of feminine outlet – the girl ‘zine.

‘Zines are magazines made by girls, for girls. They are put together to depict the way girls think and write.

These ‘zines, generally underground publications, recently have been brought to the attention of academia by Prof. Janice Radway.

As part of the “Media on the American Landscape” lecture series, Radway, the Francis Fox Professor of Literature at Duke University, spoke Monday in Harris Hall 108 to about 70 Northwestern students and faculty members about the relation of ‘zines to girls’ social development.

Radway said the media have a negative effect on the self-images of young girls. For example, she said, magazines and advertisements often portray young women as nothing but consumers. As a result, girls can end up being concerned with only their weight, clothes and complexions.

‘Zines like Riot Grrrl help shape a more independent image for girls, according to Radway. She said that, with a political agenda stretching far beyond feminist issues, this ‘zine, and many like it, give girls an outlet to speak their minds in their own form, by their own rules.

Radway said ‘zine writers give girls a way to respond to the society that has tried to put them in a box and allow girls to stand independent from a culture that neither includes nor empowers them.

On their own, writers for ‘zines design a medium to show their individual ideas and creativity, Radway said. She said that ‘zines are normally made by a small group of girls, or possibly even a single girl creating many voices, making ‘zines simple in design but personal in content.

Girls paste images and words together to form a message of empowerment, Radway said. The message is then photocopied and distributed among a group of people.

These ‘zines are a positive alternative to adopting the negative self-image that the media can cause by forcing adolescent girls into the sole role of consumer. Radway cited the works of Mary Phipher, author of “Reviving Ophelia,” and Joan Jacobs Brumberg, author of “The Body Project,” to give a background to the study of “girls at risk.” She also commented on the high numbers of young women who suffer from eating disorders, depression and self-mutilation.

“I hope an understanding of girls as cultural producers will come out of this (study) so that people don’t only think of girls as consumers,” Radway said.

Michaela di Leonardo, NU professor of gender studies, anthropology and performance studies, said Radway’s work shows how girls participate in creating their own culture.

“She’s saying, ‘Let’s not just think of mass culture as a monolith crushing young women,” di Leonardo said. “Let’s think of young women as active, engaged, and creative and taking in mass culture and doing different things with it.”