by Hayley Doyle
Move over Gosling! Make way for the queens!
As women continue to impress the world with their talent, drive, honesty and let’s face it, all-around beauty, it’s no wonder we’re crushing on them. Seeing a member of the female species address a crowd with confidence, after working her backside off for decades, is incredibly attractive. And inspirational. They’re giving us hope, and putting a fire in our belly more so than eye candy faves like Mr Styles or Mr Hemsworth.
The urban dictionary says that a woman-crush is when a female has an attraction for another, in admiration or idolisation. In other words, a woman who you’d love to hang out with. The term may be applied to a regular woman or a celebrity and is not meant to be sexual, but rather centred around the pursuit of friendship and respect. And seriously, there are so many women smashing it. So who are we currently crushing on?!
Jennifer Coolidge
There’s a good chance we’ve always been crushing on Ms Coolidge, AKA Stifler’s Mom. But the Bend and Snap comedy mockumentary superstar is finally getting the accolade she deserves since playing Tanya, the ridiculous, privileged, stinking-rich loveable guest at the fancy resort in HBO’s multi-award-winning series, The White Lotus. Jennifer is an accomplished comedienne and after honing her skills in improv troupes, she first appeared on our screens in 1993 with a small guest role in Seinfeld. More bit parts followed, for many, many years, and as she kept on grafting, she said, “I’ve made a career of taking roles that other actresses didn't want.” She’s always been a scene-stealer as the hilarious bombshell with bonkers one-liners and her unique puckered deliverance, but now she is winning all the awards from an Emmy to a Golden Globe, at the age of 61. She doesn’t hold back either. Her speeches are rich with honesty and while she manages to remain hilarious, she is ultimately warm and relatable. “I had such big dreams and expectations as a younger person,” she said at the Golden Globes. "But what happened was, you know, they get sort of fizzled by life or whatever.” Well, J.C. this is your time now.
Greta Gerwig
We first met Greta in indie movies such as Frances Ha and Mistress America, both of which she starred in and co-wrote with her partner, Noah Baumbach. She can play a strong, independent woman yet always with a vital shade of vulnerability that makes her flawed and gloriously imperfect. In 2017, Greta decided to get behind the camera when she directed her own screenplay, Lady Bird. This earned her a double Oscar nomination for Best Screenplay and Best Director, making her one of only seven women ever in that category to date. Her adaption of Little Women - which again, she both wrote and directed - earned rapturous reviews upon its release in 2019 giving her more Oscar nominations. All of her characters are well-developed, especially her female ones. She is a unique writer and director in Hollywood because she writes movies for women. Her stories are humorous, emotional, and personal, and her magical touch is her ability to make mundane subjects whole by bringing every detail to life. And her next move? Well, Greta Gerwig has directed and co-written the upcoming Barbie movie, starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling! Due towell-developed release later this year, we will be crushing on Ms Gerwig for a long time coming.
Michelle Yeoh
With a career spanning 40 years, and having just won the Golden Globe for Best Actress for Everything Everywhere All At Once, Michelle is the first actress who identifies as Asian to ever be nominated for a Best Actress Oscar. She is making history and living her best life at the age of 60. The Malaysian star and former Bond girl recently told the Los Angeles Times: “I’ve learned some things over the years, and I’m more clever and smarter in how I can sustain my stamina. I’m as fit as I was before because I know how to look after myself much better than when I was younger.” And it’s true. She even has teenagers begging her for a selfie in the supermarket because they think she’s so cool. Michelle has a raw honesty about her and remains extremely grounded. She has opened up about her struggles with fertility and publicly shared her experience, saying, “I tried IVF, everything. I was desperate. I love kids and saw myself surrounded by them. But there’s only so much you can put your body and mind through. It comes to a stage where you have to accept it, move on and deal with the repercussions.” The stunning actress was recently seen on Instagram with co-star and friend Jamie Lee Curtis revealing T-shirts emblazoned with a picture of them celebrating her winning moment along with the tagline: “Friends supporting friends”. In her winning speech, Michelle has beautifully encouraged others to “find an opportunity and get there” and said the win is for the “whole Asian community.”
J-Lo
Last year, Netflix released Halftime, documenting Global superstar Jennifer Lopez as she reflects on her multifaceted career and the pressure of life in the spotlight. If you liked J-Lo before, you were head over heels in love with her by the end of this documentary. This woman WORKS. She doesn’t stop. She knows what has to be done and she goes and damn well does it. And she’s achieved so many “firsts”. She was the first Latina to be named Most Beautiful and the first Latina to be paid $1 million for a movie. After that, she became an A-list celeb known for her hit singles and rom-com movie successes. But Jenny from the Block is so much more than that. She's an entrepreneur, launched her own fragrance line and has made Latino culture and heritage visible in the media. She became an icon for young Latino and Hispanic women who couldn't relate to other actresses and performers. Through her songs and bubbly personality, she put both The Bronx and Puerto Rico on the map. Plus, she’s 53, the mother of teenage twins and absolutely hotter than ever.
Maya Jama
If you’re helplessly addicted to Love Island, you’ll know that Maya is the host of this year’s series currently on the box. The youngest of the woman-crushes, the 28-year-old is smashing her career as one of the biggest TV and radio presenters in the UK, and proving to be an excellent role model for younger admirers. Named after the US author and poet Maya Angelou, Maya is also a successful entrepreneur and launched her own face and eye mask range, MIJ Masks, with the first release in 2020 selling out within 24 hours. Maya also became an ambassador for Savera UK which provides services to individuals from black ethnic minority communities who are at risk of domestic abuse. Always one to keep it real (and openly admitting to loving kebabs) Maya is very close to her mum, and the two besties often attend celebrity events and interviews together. Recently, she rocked a rare vintage Dolce and Gabbana corset, which has left fans simply cooing over her.