Magazines covers have endured over the decades, but as could be expected, their messages have changed. Below we look at several iconic magazines to see how the cover has evolved to cater to the public appetite.
A look at how we’ve changed in the past 100 years
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- Cosmopolitan
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- Cosmopolitan
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- GQ
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- GQ
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- National Geographic
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- The New Yorker
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- The New Yorker
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- Seventeen
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- Seventeen
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- Time
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- Time
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- Vanity Fair
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- Vanity Fair
Together, these magazine covers reveal a peek into our history. Sure, we’ve gotten more sexualized. More superficial. We read less. We have shorter attention spans.
But we’ve also gotten more open-minded. At each step along the way, society has pushed the limits of what’s considered acceptable.
Not so long ago, black people couldn’t vote. Though they still face significant discrimination, they are also now idolized on magazine covers. As women have earned more rights over the years, they now take control of their sexuality. And Vanity Fair’s most iconic cover this year is a woman who used to identify as a man.
We’ve come a long way in 100 years.
Source: medium.com/@karenxcheng