Mags: Teen Vogue – girl crush trade rag

It's possible that I have had more girl crushes than man crushes in my lifetime, despite my heterosexuality. I partly put this down to a family dominated by women, my attendance at an all girls' high school, fourteen years of ballet lessons, mass consumption of popular culture, working in the female-dominated magazine industry, my glossy magazine obsession and a lack of strong real-life male role models. A psychologist might also suggest it had/has to do with the delayed formation of my sense of self and/or self esteem issues. Whatevs.

My first girl crush, and one that lasts to this day, was on my aunt. Fourteen years my senior, my mother's youngest sister had (and still has) it all going on: beauty (curly hair, ample bust, perfect teeth, cute nose), intelligence (high-flying ad exec, university educated), humour (wit to challenge Denton), an amazing designer wardrobe, extensive music collection (and good taste) adoring boyfriends/husbands... in terms of girl crush potential, she's an A+.

Most superficially (thanks to the influence of Barbie, pop culture and the inherent human response to beauty – research suggests we're drawn to symmetrical features and baby faces: see Nancy Etcoff's book Survival of the Prettiest: The Science of Beauty), all of my girl crushes have started with an appreciation of the physical, but each object of my platonic affection also possessed some other attributes that made her aspirational – intelligence, sophistication, success, humour, wit, sense of style, confidence, humility, a wholesome family/home life, sociability, extensive CD/magazine/clothing collection and/or solid faith.

My most recent girl crush was formed after meeting a friend of a friend who lives in a remote town with her husband and baby. Despite having been wrenched away from her big-city life, family and friends, and having recovered from an eating disorder (which she was totally open about), she just glowed with joy and happiness and Godliness – she was the kind of woman other women are drawn to and men swoon over (my husband commented about her radiance) simply because she was happy and confident in herself and her own skin and made you feel good, too. A woman of excellent character, one might say. Another woman I aspire to be more like is a friend's mother who is so jovial all the time it's infectious – and she loves her food.

Which brings me to Teen Vogue and also Gisele's comments about gossip magazines warping the aspirations of young women. My early-onset addiction to glossy magazines (bought my first Dolly at 13 while staying over at a friend's place) definitely encouraged a predilection for developing crushes on one-dimensional (not to mention, thin) women in my teens, as apposed to the 'of good character' kind. While pop cultural icons like Kylie Minogue and Madonna had their place, the 90s was the era of the supermodel and the focus within magazines was firmly on the Cindys, Claudias, Helenas, Karens, Lindas and Kates of the world (and how to look like them). As Mia Freedman recently wrote, one of the greatest aspirations of many a teen girl in the 90s was to become a model. And now that the celebrity-centric new millennium media obsession is slowing down, and the model is once more garnering magazine covers (as well as TV exposure via shows like America's Next Top Model and Project Runway), I can see the possibility that we might return to this looks-are-everything focus, which, in turn, feeds the looks and materialism-based girl crush.

Magazines like Teen Vogue, which this month covers the girl crush phenomenon, trade in young women's desires to be the prettiest and best dressed and most on-trend, lest they be left out of the loop (peer approval ratings are just as important as academic performance). Through its editorial coverage, Teen Vogue (like Wintour Vogue) has the ability to elevate certain young women – the likes of Lily Collins, Camilla Belle and young models – to teen worship status and, if not ridiculously rich or well connected or famous-by-parental-virtue or saving baby seals with your bare hands, they are always very attractive (most tick all prerequisite boxes, of course)... and thin (thankfully, you don't necessarily have to be white – Teen Vogue's pretty good on the cultural diversity front). Occasionally someone talented who doesn't fit the mould exactly, like Ellen Page, manages to scrape in – but even then they look out of place amongst the perfect and privileged crowd.

Teen Vogue's intentions are good, if seemingly hypocritical. In her Letter From The Editor, Amy Astley encourages her young readers to think about “what happens when normal, healthy admiration crosses the line into unproductive obsession.” Rather than comparing yourself to other girls, or attempting to remake yourself in another person’s image, Astley suggests you “celebrate all the unique traits that make you one-of-a-kind.”

This is a big ask for any teen girl – though I know many who are quite confident in their own skin – especially given the 24/7 media assault on their self image via TV, online, advertising and magazines. I personally don't think I had a good sense of my own identity until I was at least 25/26 and even now I have identity crisis days (see: Style Statement), which I'm sure isn't helped by my excessive media/magazine consumption. But back to Teen Vogue...

In the feature story ‘Fan Club’, Melissa Walker explains that if you respect a celebrity's "authentic rather than superficial traits – personal style and poise, say, as opposed to fame and money – they can be a great form of inspiration." Teen Vogue holds pop star Rihanna up as a good example: "emulating some of her best qualities and characteristics (that self assured posture and those superchic short haircuts, for example) can be beneficial, not to mention fun" (no mention here of her musical or performing prowess).

I've always believed in the idea that you can 'fake it till you make it', even if it means being happy (smile and the mood will follow), confident (imagine you are Angelina Jolie) or competent ("Sure, I know how to use Excel") and, similarly, the girl crush can help girls form their identity: "A girl crush can help you identify goals for yourself," says Doctor Jill Weber, "whether it's a sense of style, a way of thinking, or an effort to be more outgoing...".

However, girls risk getting into Single White Female territory when they start blatantly copying other girls (a sign of poor self-esteem), become jealous or let their girl crush take advantage of them. The story ends on a positive, self-affirming note, with teenager and former girl-crusher Ashlee saying: "If you concentrate on your own life, you'll start to be a girl of substance versus just style. You'll become someone whom others will look up to."

The girl crush is essentially the bread and butter of teen magazines – if not women's fashion and lifestyle glossies in general. We don't buy them, after all, to ogle pictures of the bland, boring, uninspiring and unattractive (why did Big Brother get axed again?). We're most drawn to other women who possess something that we would like to have – in real life and in magazines – so by tapping into what those things are, via profile pieces and feature stories that bring together women with similar life experiences, magazines are actually doing us a favour.

However, during the impressionable and vulnerable teen years, extra special care should be taken to ensure that young girls get a more wholesome view of what it is to be a woman and what characteristics make a woman most attractive (not talking aesthetics here, of course). Pictures speak a thousand words and magazines are a huge part of the contextual framework through which girls view themselves (i.e. when a girl looks in a mirror, it's not just her reflection she sees; she's also recalling images of Kate Moss, Sienna Miller, Ashley Olsen and the model from the bikini editorial...). Like Rachel Zoe's obvious influence on Nicole Richie and Lindsay Lohan, while both girls were under her stylistic stewardship, magazines have the power to warp girls' self image. A magazine should play the role of encouraging big sister, while also giving girls an idea of the right kind of aspirations to aspire to.

Flicking through the rest of Teen Vogue, there are Girl Crush-worthy images of Natalie Portman (x3), Zoe Kravtiz (x2), Camilla Belle (x2), Blake Lively (x2), Chanel Iman, Hilary Duff, Lily Collins (a very petite Lily Collins), Storey Schifter (the daughter of the man responsible for Gwen Stefani's Harajuku Lovers satchels), "Brit It Girl" Poppy Delevigne, model Whitney (who wears Ksubi jeans), Ashley Olsen in a vest and skinny jeans, cute actress Keke Palmer, Rescue Beauty Lounge founder Ji Baek, Gwen Stefani, Agyness Deyn (x2), Ellen Page, tall and skinny models in the 'Reality Check', 'Smarty Pants', 'Cool Cat' and 'Study Haul' fashion editorials, cover girl Amanda Seyfried playing in a grassy field, pretty student Laura Love (her dorm room gets a makeover), catwalk models (see 'Shopping Spree' and 'Index' sections) and Anna Sui's niece, Isabelle Sui, 14.
In the ad department, we get Guess (busty blonde model), Ralph Lauren (skinny tall model), DKNY (thin model in underwear), 'Soultry Pole Collection', a girl in underwear for Rocketdog and Catherine McNeil and Abbey Lee Kershaw for Express on the edgier front. While the most positive ad images, and ones I hope will resonate with girls, are for Roxy (a girl having fun in the sun), Nike Women (girl kicking butt), Taylor Swift for Lei Jeans, EMU (girl kicking back in her uggs), Vanessa Hudgens for Sears, Pastry Accessories (girls getting creative), Miley Cyrus for Got Milk? and the 'real girl' Pacsun advertorial feature.

Crushing rant over and out...

Check out this clip for the new teen flick, Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging, by Gurinder Chadha (of Bend It Like Beckham fame):



Yours truly,
Girl With a Satchel