When flipping through television channels looking for something to watch, it’s no surprise that a high percentage of programming is geared toward teenage girls. The same trend is evident when browsing the young adult section at the local bookstores. Teen girls are avid content consumers, and marketing professionals know exactly how to target their audience.

Weeknight television series on networks like CW, ABC Family and even Lifetime Network focus hardcore energy on female teens. With programs like Gossip Girl, Secret Life of the American Teenager, 90210, Vampire Diaries and the upcoming Pretty Little Liars, it’s easy to see who their aiming to please. Nickelodeon and Disney also tend to focus on their female young adult audiences with programs like iCarly, Hannah Montana and True Jackson VP.

Though this trend wasn’t always so obvious, I reason it began around Beatlemania.

With millions of screaming girls tearing their hair out and throwing undergarments at the fab four, you can almost imagine clever marketers scratching their chins and saying, “Ahhhh,” and then “Cha-ching.”

Teen life is chock-full of drama, as anyone who’s ever been a teenager can tell you. It’s definitely fodder for fantastic fiction, and some of the most-watched programs today take advantage of that fact. With teen girls facing issues like pregnancy, birth control, dating, body image, eating disorders, bullying, fashion and the popularity contest that has become public schooling, there are thousands of hours of programming right at writer’s fingertips.

This programming trend also makes it a prime time for a variety of advertisers to take advantage of their audience. While watching Vampire Diaries with my teenage daughter last week, I noted commercials for Covergirl Lash Blast mascara, Yaz birth control, Always maxi pads, Old Navy, Playtex tampons, Special K cereal, razors and a wide variety of acne products. Since the actresses in the shows tend to be larger-than-life beautiful, it’s a great opportunity for them to confirm that image is everything, and if you want to succeed as a teen girl, you need their products.

When you combine the fact that teen girls tend to lead far more dramatic and emotional lives than teen boys, with the notion that there just aren’t as many products for males in that age-group dominating the market, the networks and advertisers know exactly who to focus on if they want to turn a profit.

One of the concerns I have as a parent to a teenage girl is whether or not this rampant programming and advertising is a negative influence on teen viewers. Because of the escalated dramatization of teen behavior, many are misguided about what to expect and how to behave in every day life situations. It also portrays life as an American teen in a negative light to viewers in other countries. Add that to rampant advertising geared toward young females, and the confusion only increases.

Of course, as parents, it’s our job to make sure our children, even the teenage variety, understand that television and reality are two different things, but not every parent does that.