We all have our share of girl crushes—women who we admire and strive to be a little more like. Although labeling non-sexual adoration as a “girl crush” can perhaps be seen as homophobic, Got A Girl Crush, a zine started by Meg Wachter and Andrea Cheng in 2009, is far more about celebrating inspirational women in all capacities than singling out a group. The genesis of Got A Girl Crush began over the Internet when the two were fittingly girl-crushing on each other’s blogs. Since, Meg and Andrea have maintained a bicoastal relationship (Meg lives in Brooklyn and Andrea in San Francisco), through which their mutual crushing has blossomed into the creation of a platform for highlighting more of their crushees.
Although the zine is relatively new (their second issue is coming out in a few weeks), what I’ve consistently loved about Got A Girl Crush, is its knack for supporting an unusual variety of women from different backgrounds and careers. After reading one of their articles or blog posts, I get an invigorating feeling that girl power is still very much alive. Since most of their days are spent talking about other inspiring women, I wanted to turn the tables on Meg and Andrea and interview them about Got A Girl Crush.
I’ve read that you guys met online? In what context?
We met via Tumblr–not sure who started following who first, but we reblogged each other’s posts enough to the point [where] I (Meg) emailed Andrea saying how I thought she was my West coast taste twin.
What made you want to start Got a Girl Crush as a collaborative project?
Since we had such similar tastes in music, art, fashion, and culture, it was no surprise we admired a lot of the same women and started Got a Girl Crush as a mutual blog for a place to share that.
The girls featured in Got a Girl Crush are without a doubt stylish, but are by no means only concerned with fashion. What are some of your personal interests and how do they play a part in the making of Got a Girl Crush?
Meg is a photographer–so starting the magazine was born from having some down time and needing a new project to work on. It became a great way to approach current girl crushes to photograph and meet and even become pals with–or recruit to blog along with us (we’ve expanded from just the two of us to additionally including Cassie, Brooke, and Meredith).
What, for you, renders a girl crush?
A girl crush is the feeling of envy and admiration (wanting to be her and to be friends with her). It varies from a stylish teen on the subway with bleached hair and lavender tips that you could never dream of rocking, to Janean Garafelo showing up to a storytelling performance in her pajamas because she felt like it, to an older polish lady at the grocery store covered in (new and old) tattoos.
Who was your first girl crush ever?
Meg: My first girl crush was a girl in my 5th grade class who was sporting a horse-print dress on the first day of school. Upon building up the nerve and complimenting her sartorial choice, she informed me that she, in fact, owned three horses. It was crush at first sight and we ended up becoming best friends from then through college even!
Who is your current girl crush?
Oscar-winner Melissa Leo for her sexual reciprocity rant on the television show, Louie.
What would you say is the mission statement of Girl Crush?
To celebrate–rather than compete with–ladies doing all sorts of cool stuff!
How is the zine evolving?
In our second print issue (which will be going to print soon!!), we definitely branched out responsibilities by tasking interviews, photography, and illustrations to more ladies than just ourselves. Diversifying keeps it from becoming stale, question-wise and view-point-wise, and allows for fostering collaborations you’d never dream of before (like having two illustrators interview and then illustrate each other).
Do you think it’s easier for girls to have crushes on other girls without there being a sexual connotation to it, than there is for guys? Will we ever see Got a Guy Crush run by your male counterparts?
Meg: I would like to think there already exists something like that out there on the interwebs! If not, gentlemen–a call to arms!
Anything else you want to add?
Stay-tuned to gotagirlcrush.com in the next few weeks for pre-sale announcement of issue number two!
Images courtesy of Got A Girl Crush
