The issue of "Life With Archie" that I read was titled "Archie the Married Life," which compared two different scenarios of Archie marrying two different women, Veronica, and Betty. The story was a little difficult to follow considering that I am not an avid reader of "Life With Archie," but I was able to pick up on what I feel is the intended audience and the basic messages and themes of girlhood. "Life With Archie," is intended for a young audience, specifically young boys who enjoy comics. After exploring some of the other comic titles, I did come across a few that seemed to be more geared towards girls in particular. Those comics had pictures of heart throb celebs who would be featured as the main characters in the comic. I think the approach of Life With Archie is to appeal to both boys and girls, but I find the stories tend to favor a male audience a bit more.
In the issue that I read, the comparison of the two different love interests were told in individual segments. The first segment featured the potential life of Archie marrying Veronica. Veronica is a very beautiful woman who is the head of her own company but was recently framed by another deceitful business owner and is facing trial. Veronica is supposedly self sufficient with owning her own company but during the preparations for her trial she hands over all of her problems to her daddy. Veronica is always saying "Daddy will take care of it," she is very devoted to her father and to Archie. In the comic Veronica is always seen affectionately speaking to her male counterparts and doting on them, she is portrayed as a fairly helpless character who relies on the men in her life to protect, and support her. In the scenario with Archie marrying Betty we see some different but similar themes of girlhood. Betty works at a local high school and is very dedicated to her work.
In the beginning of the comic we see Archie looking at a To-Do list that Betty has left for him on the fridge, and Archie complains that he is doing all of the housework and she has just left him a list on the fridge. The comic shows a scene of Betty tiresomely finishing up her work and accidentally knocking over a picture of her and Archie that shatters on the floor. This is sending a message that if a woman focuses too much on her career, her relationships will potentially crumble. As the comic goes on, Archie is seen watching a movie by himself while Betty is still at work, when Archie leaves the movie he runs into another woman who invites him to join her, Archie accepts because Betty is busy at work. The message of this scenario is that wives who devote their time to their work and not to their husbands will invariably start to lose the man in their life. This comic is suggesting that women can't have a career and a husband, you have to choose one. Both of these women that Archie is seen marrying appear to be hard working and independent women, but as the comics go on we see submissiveness portrayed by Veronica, and Betty is seen in a negative light for working too much and not giving Archie the attention that he needs. I feel that the stories in these comics are unrealistic and exaggerated portrayals of women, and of men. The Life With Archie comics appear to give women and men equal footing, but after reading the comic I see a lot of the same common gender stereotypes that are perpetuated throughout society today.
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I hadn't thought of just young boys as the audience for these, but I think you're right. I don't think I would've enjoyed them as a young girl. I'm sure there are girls who read them, but given the slant toward male superiority and the obvious expectation that women have a double consciousness when reading these, I would bet that the writers count on a male audience.
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