The Spice Girls — Girl Power x 5
I had not one heroine when I was growing up, but five strong women: Melanie Brown, Melanie Chisholm, Geri Halliwell, Emma Bunton, and Victoria Beckham, also known as The Spice Girls. When they appeared out of nowhere every girl I know found a new kind of empowerment. For the next two years I modelled myself on Sporty Spice and along with the other girls in my class, we made ourselves into “mini” Spice Girls — only we didn’t perform. Their songs were simple and the lyrics represented women standing together. The notion of “Girl Power” took over the world and was hard to get away from, so much so that boys were even shunning football to swap Spice Girl merchandise! They certainly changed my perspective and brought out a new kind of feminism.
Despite not seeing them live at the outset, I finally got to see them in concert during their reunion tour. It took me right back to being that 10 year old girl hearing the song “Wannabe” for the first time. I look forward to being right back there again come the opening of their west end show.
-Emma Hatherall