I remember reading this novels religiously as a preteen, during a period of identity crisis where I went from Sassy to soap operas to the Smiths trying to find my comfort zone. I don't hate the Sweet Valley High series for the unattainable (and undesirable) values they proposed for young women in the Reagan eighties. Everyone knew that Sweet Valley High was a confectionary too sweet for even the most perfect of teenage girls. It was a imperfect solace, like chocolate, in which girls sought refuge precisely because the world of high school was not Sweet Valley High, just as the world for older women is not Guiding Light or Harlequin romances. There was never any confusion, at least on my part, that I was somewhat lesser for not being Jessica or Elizabeth Wakefield. I did not want to be them, at least, not for any extended period of time. It's the same way you want to be a porn star for an hour of the day. They were the perfect, mind-numbing escape from being a quiet, chubby, tomboyish child from an alcoholic family in a new, small-minded town, the same way drugs and alcohol later become an escape from the ennui and confusion of young adulthood. But I knew there were no Jessicas and Elizabeths in the world, just as there were no Brandons and Brendas and are no Mary Kates and Ashleys for subsequent generations. But the marketing hallucinogen continues for the next generation. And talking about escapes such as Sweet Valley High is actually a perfect marketing tool to capture the countercultures like me who likes to mock and analyze (and perversively embrace) the tools of my youth.

This article was actually a disappointment in that it started off with the appeal of twins (which I, was a twin, albeit fraternal, was interested in reading) but actually doesn' explore the psychology of twins at all. Instead, the article becomes another run-of-the-mill analysis about mass culture role models and their effect on the "susceptible" minds of preteen girls. I'm surprised it was even accepted by the journal in which it appeared.