You understood me well.

Do these magazines attempt to create a market or do they validate a demand?

This is the first question that came to my mind, and the answer came to me immediately by looking left and right. It was Saturday afternoon, and while I was there to remove a nasty afro-mohawk that I grew out of boredom, the gentlemen crowding the shop where almost lifted out of the pages, and seem to be following fashions proscribed therein. They're not millionaires, they were your average Joes, but I could flip through pages and find everyone's fashion and accessories; from phones, to shoes, choice of clothes. There was even a guy who had his eye-brows done before he went on to sit underneath one of those "insert head, wait for an hour" bowls that look like a giant reading lamp, or a space helmet (my girl gets those and I never imagined apparently straight men would be into that. Does it blow air or does it vacuum?)

Maybe it takes an outsider to see a world differently, but to me it was a wake up call to keep an eye on that part of society.

If I'm understanding correctly, it's what every surviving media outlet does - validate a demand. People magazine gives middle aged women something to dream about, Maxim does the same thing for guys, reading signal vs. noise does the same for aspiring founders. Because the audience is actively seeking something, there's a good chance they will follow whatever they're being fed by the media outlet. Some of these audiences are less receptive than others, but I understand how it's helpful to understand that market.

Also, I think it blows air but not sure. :)