I <3 magazines. I have always admired the meeting of words and visuals in a tactile package that is the magazine. Surely the talk of the demise of traditional media makes the printed magazine all the more important, perhaps ephemeral. A thriving magazine is deemed prestigious in this hard to justify environment due to lackluster ad revenues and compelling content. I myself miss Jane magazine!

I admire magazines that seem to have a profitable business model along with unique offerings like Monocle. This magazine makes me feel like a temporary visitor in the world not only of men’s interest, but that of a cultured urban sophisticate surveying the global village. It’s a sometimes fleeting feeling and certainly not inexpensive. It begs the question: Can magazines make it in this hyper- evolving media landscape? Can magazines influence and change your perspective of the world?

Women’s magazines provide a view that I aspire to achieve and as a consumer of all things popular culture, it is ingrained in me to want the unattainable trappings of the women’s fashion magazine world. I am at once delighted to escape to this world that provides me with many hours of pleasure and reinforces my good taste and yet, I am perfectly aware that I will never be that persona I see on the page no matter what I purchase.

Glossed Over is a blog written by a former magazine editor, Wendy Felton, dedicated to breaking down the magazine rhetoric and messages, mostly to a female audience. She is unafraid to shine a light on the excess and hypocrisy, least of all the lack of representation of models, black or white or Asian that perpetuate in media today. I found some of her critique refreshing and useful though I don’t think I will stop reading my favourite fashion and lifestyle magazines like Vanity Fair, New York Times magazine and Purple anytime soon!

Let me know what your favourite magazines are. Join the conversation.