In 1996, the Spice Girls took the world by storm, becoming the highest selling girl group in history, and sharing their message of girl power so loud that it inspired the 4th wave of feminism – or at least we like to think so. So how exactly did the Spice Girls become the group that changed feminism and the media forever?
The rise of the Spice Girls came at a time when the 24-hour news cycle had just begun, meaning that the group are seared into the minds of every British citizen and every woman born between 1980 and 1993. The constant media attention was unparalleled, leaving the Spice Girls with no shred of privacy as newspapers slowly evolved into tabloids dissecting and criticizing every aspect of their lives.
Join us as we break down the Spice Girls phenomenon – from their feminism Lite that inspired a generation to headlines they could not escape.
Other episodes of Name 3 Songs we think you’ll enjoy: Girl Groups Were the Original Punk Icons (with Kurt Suchman) and The Most Criticized Women in Pop (with Lesley Chow)
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Sources for Spice Girls: The Group That Changed Feminism and The Media Forever
How the 90s Tricked Women into Thinking They’d Gained Gender Equality (Time, Allison Yarrow, 2018)
Spice Girls: What happened to Girl Power? (BBC News, Alex Taylor, 2019)
How the Spice Girls changed feminism (Independent.ie, Lauren Bravo, 2018)
Spice Girls cover story for Vogue (Vogue, Kathy Acker, Jan 1997)
Q&A: The Spice Girls (Rolling Stone, Janice Dunn, March 1997)
Spice Girls: Too Hot To Handle (Rolling Stone cover story, Chris Heath, July 1997)
Spice Girls Vote Thatcher the new leader of their band (The Independent, Steve Bogan, 1997)
How a middle-class nice girl became a snarling Spice Girl (DailyMail, Ceri Jackson, 1996)
Like mother like Spice Girl (DailyMail, Jon Clarke, 1997)
Why plenty of Spice is just as nice (DailyMail, 1997 — Write in letters in response to the previously bullet pointed article)
Revealed: How the Spice Girls couldn’t even sing a note (DailyMail, Ceri Jackson and Annabel Cole, 1997)
Are Spice Girls starting to lose their flavour? (DailyMail, Daniel Jeffreys, 1997)
Lewd, loud and loaded: What do the Spice Girls tell us about sex, morality and our age? (DailyMail, Lesley Garner, 1997)
And Girl Power gets the blame for crime (DailyMail, 1997)
Skeletal Spice (DailyMail, Helen Weathers, 1999)
The Yoyo Spices (DailyMail, 2003)
Ginger Spice Leaves, but Tour Goes Ahead Herald-Journal – June 1st 1998
Former Spice Girl’s solo CD not Flavourless (Daily News Bowling Green Kentucky, July 7th 1999)
Star admits obsession with dieting (The Guardian, Tania Branigan, September 3rd 2000)
Victoria is not amused (The Guardian, Esther Addley, December 6th 1999)
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