Girls Club #4
The fourth issue of Girls Club, entitled ‘Me myself and I’, a wink to the Beyoncé track, continues its focus on the ‘quarter-life crisis,’ using illustration, creative writing and poetry to portray life as a twenty-something woman. The issue sees the small format zine spread into 84 pages and adopt a perfect bound format.
From Missouri to London they showcase the talent of contemporaries. Across all ages and forms of women, we see ‘LA’s most enigmatic pantsuit enthusiast’ Pinky Harman, writers from Oslo, Bristol and Chicago born artists and illustrators. The smaller size of the zine helps the nature of the content. Like scribbles in a diary, one of the most memorable features is the stroppy, puerile Illustrations by Emma Allegretti that break up the lofty topics (below).
Throughout, they confidently deal with Endometriosis, death, and surviving child sexual abuse. The sensitive, pink palette wallows in femininity. However, I was surprised by the raw nature of the pieces in Girls Club and grew to enjoy the soothing, familiar flesh tones. I am interested to see where they take the zine, as feminists and as an independent publication they are going from strength to strength by understanding flaws and celebrating vulnerability. The soundtrack on the back page has a mix of female musicians, whose genre or image are only one facet of their girl power. Breaking down girl on girl hate, and listing them all in a playlist side by side underpins the aims of the whole issue.
Recently the term self-love has had it’s meaning altered to become a defiant form of protest. Girls Club rises above the prattling of media attention and click-bait mindfulness pieces. Its eclectic, contribution-led collaborations reflect an authentic community and is a light but satisfying read.
