A Critical Reading of the Spice Girls from 1994-2000.

Jade Shapiro

BA (Hons) Art & Design

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Contents

Page 3 Introduction; Here’s the Story from A-Z

Page 6 Chapter 1; Slam Your Body Down and Wind it All

Around

Page 9 Chapter 2; Who Do You Think You Are

Page 12 Conclusion; Viva Forever

Page 15 Bibliography

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Here’s the Story from A-Z

Introduction

In the year 2000, the Spice Girls split up. I, as a young girl who would stand attentively in

front of the television screen, absorbed the wonders of the media and allowed Spice World

to determine my ideals of adulthood. A badly applied iridescent sheen of pink lipstick

smeared across my face and a hideous plastic microphone towering above me, I glued my

eyes to the screen and patiently awaited my mum to press play on a video that was soon to

be played repeatedly. With the boisterous cackle of Mel B’s laughter as my queue for show

time, I took centre stage on what was, our living room carpet. Mesmerised by the fearless

display of confidence and this overwhelming belief that I could conquer anything, my naive

outlook on the world was sparkling with leopard print and platforms. Despite this

admiration, I had little knowledge on the phenomenon that was to be formed by such an

incredible force of female-forward representation.

The term Spice Mania emerged from the compulsive enthusiasm in the press that spread

worldwide faith in friendship and female empowerment (Heather Alexander, 2007).

Growing up in the early twentieth century was an expansion on the legacy of the Spice Girls

as an iconic five-some and a soundtrack to every young girls life that was enforced by peace

signs and ‘zig-a-zig-ah’, a phrase from the hit song “Wannabe” (Spice Girls, 1996).

In 1994, the Spice Girls were established as the best-selling pop girl group of the decade,

soon to claim the title of ‘the UK’s biggest girl band’ (Mark Savage, 2019). The

predominant representation of women’s independence began to influence every teen and

suddenly the late nineties was a time of female liberation. A retaliation against

discrimination birthed ‘girl power’ and the fight to push perceptions of gender capabilities

in women; “It’s woman power, it’s an essence, a tribe”, (Geri Halliwell cited in Giles

Hattersley, 2012). The impact of the media and the power of successful publicity gave a

platform for world domination and the five personas of Scary, Ginger, Baby, Sporty and

Posh were a global selling point as icons and ideologic characters. The Spice Girls used

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their music career as a moment for global stardom as they signed deals with worldwide

brands such as Pepsi and Walkers, stole front cover of the Rolling Stones magazine, met the

Royal family and political leaders such as Nelson Mandela. Each of these opportunities

were approached with a charm that gained the hearts of nation and a title of pop royalty in a

refreshing collective of these five young girls. As a result of this success, the Spice Girls

became respected, for standing and working alongside the respected. This reading is a

critical analysis of the Spice Girls, the evolution of their music career and their collective

identity as a representation of ‘girl power’; the motive behind one of the most iconic

consumerist movements in the history of Britpop (Betsabé Nevarro, 2016). Why was it a

crucial time to empower women in the media? In such a powerful time for gender rights, do

we need the Spice Girls in 2020, now more than ever?

In the mid-to-late 90s, the charts were dominated by the rise of rhythm and blues (RnB),

Dance Anthems and the patriarch of Britpop. It was a decade unlike any other with the

legacy it left behind for its radical combination of sounds and iconic trends in fashion.

(Riley Raul Reese, 2016). The 1990’s was the height of Cool Britannia, a slogan promoted

by Prime Minister of the time Tony Blair and a continuous focus on national identity. The

music industry was a juxtaposition of both domination in Girl Power and Lad Culture. The

British subculture of ‘laddism’ began to flood the UK and suddenly students were

“tramp[ing] through Manchester pretending to be Liam Gallagher” (John Robb, 1999: 46).

Men all over the country discovered a new found male celebration which sparked a nation

famous for its football, casual clothing and aesthetic representation of an old English pub.

Spice World was manufactured as a feminist break through during a pivotal moment in

history for an undeniably strong force of male presence in the media (Alex Taylor, 2019).

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“So? I hear you’ve written a couple of books.”

I replied, “Several actually”.

He said, in the way you encourage your friend’s seven-

year-old to describe flute practice, “And what are they about?”,

(Rebecca Solnit, 2008: 2)

The quotation shown above is an extract from the 2008 essay titled Men Explain Things to

Me written by American author Rebecca Solnit. Solnit uses her experience as a feminist

author in order to reflect on her personal experiences and explore others to highlight the

severity in the silencing of women (Rebecca Solnit, 2008). The reading confronts the impact

of views of gender in communication and how stereotyping can influence perceptions of

capabilities and roles within gender. Using the Spice Girls as a parallel to the subtitles

within Solnits’ reading, I aim to draw upon the evolution of the Spice Girl’s music

videography as a feminist revolution and the importance of this battle in the 1990s.

Similarly to Solnit in her female-forward approach to equal rights, the Spice Girls

revolutionised with their music videos for their determination to push gendered boundaries

and freedom of speech. “Having public standing as a writer of history helped me stand my

ground, but few women get that boost, and billions of women must be out there on this

seven-billion-person planet being told that they are not reliable witnesses to their own lives”

(Rebecca Solnit, 2008: 8). Solnit discusses her use of a public platform to speak and the

positive impact that this advantage had on her response to “mansplaining”, the way in which

the Spice Girls used their lyrics and spotlight in the public eye for message impact. In a

persistent response to the declaration that “girls don’t sell”, (Melanie Chisholm cited in

Pascale Day, 2018) , the Spice Girls formed a resistance and lyrics that are still influential to

empowering female liberation today.

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Slam Your Body Down and Wind it All Around

When you hear the opening bars of “Wannabe”, a sense of nostalgia arises. The track is

symbolically known as the emergence of the Spice Girls’ music career as influencers and the

introduction to each member of the band as their ‘characters’. Filmed on location at St

Pancras Renaissance Hotel in London, the location is now a landmark most famous for not

only its various film sets but for it’s global recognition for the famous dance routine set on

the staircase of the hotel. “Wannabe” birthed the phenomenon of the band as a brand and the

influential message for which the Spice Girls are appreciated for today. The hit single and

music video was used to showcase the spectacle of ‘girl power’ and was an act which

referred to the views of Solnit’s theory of women fighting on two fronts of the ‘putative’

topic and the ‘right to speak’ (Rebecca Solnit, 2008: 10-11). The initiative to preach ‘girl

power’ was acted upon as a platform for a spoken outlet and the famous slogan was a

catalyst for the chance to confront in order to “have value, to be a human being” (Rebecca

Solnit, 2008: 11).

The styling of “Wannabe” reached a universal audience that catered for every kind of young

girl watching and admiring. Each member used their styling within the video in order to

launch their personalities as a collective and represent individuality within the female sector

of the music industry. The girls burst into the video with a breakthrough that not only

crashed a civilised party but reflected the social breakthrough of boundaries of the Spice

Girls in the media during that time. Disruption is a focal visual in order to reflect this

revolution, as chaos is formed with the introduction of the Spice Girls to a new audience,

charming each individual with back flips and outlandish behaviour adequate enough to

make cheeks blush.

The ongoing battle for visibility of women in the media remained unchanged until Spice

mania hit the nation. The dramatic underrepresentation of women in the media at the time

was a reflection of the history of stereotyping in character representation and the effect of

consistent image portrayal in perception of gendered capabilities. Television of the time was

saturated with ‘dominant’ male figures followed by female figures ‘enmeshed in !6

relationships or housework’(Julia T. Wood, 2014: 32-33). The mass market of the media in

newspapers, magazines, advertisement, film and television broadcasted this ideological

character of the woman and set expectancies for this ideal. The Spice Girls introduced a

force into the media with the launch of “Wannabe” that showcased confidence and enabled

any stereotypes of submission in women to begin to be shadowed.

Arrogance and ignorance is a focal aspect of Solnits’ discussion in the silencing of women

and the way in which this overconfidence in men deters women from voicing their opinions;

“The out-and-out confrontational confidence of the totally ignorant is, in my experience,

gendered.” (Solnit, 2008: 4) The character of Mr. Important is developed within the reading

as a reference to the man as a whole, to illustrate the arrogant figure portrayed in each of

Solnits’ case studies. The topic of arrogance is discussed as a ‘war’ in the reading and this

was apparent in the conflict between ‘girl power’ representatives and legends of ‘lad culture’

of the early 1990’s. With the overwhelming force of the Gallagher brothers dominating

Britain’s fashion and music scene, the power of personality was proving to be a success.

Despite this gender battle, the Spice Girls continued to push their retaliation in various

confrontations and female forward publicity against the iconic duo, further enhancing their

dominative breakthrough.

The music video for “Say You’ll Be There” (Spice Girls, 1996), was renowned for its

symbolic crashing of male dominance and upheaval in the media for controversy in feminist

theory. The “Say You’ll Be There” video asserted power of women in fighting abilities as

each member was introduced as a ninja character. However, following “Wannabe", the

idealistic depiction of ‘Girl Power’, “Say You’ll Be There" caused an uproar for its

breakthrough in gendered stereotypes and female sex symbolism. This was not only the first

time in which the Spice Girls were seen to cater to a male audience but it was the first time

they were questioned for their sincerity in the preaching of ‘girl power’. Was this considered

a way to assert female liberation or an act of commercialism?

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The sadomasochistic wardrobe of Spandex and PVC catsuits used to style the video was a

sharp contrast to the nature of the free spirited styling in the “Wannabe” video. “Say You’ll

Be There” gave a sexual platform for the group that broadened a target audience beyond the

bedroom wall of a teenage girl. Comparably to the Spice Girls and their criticism for the

seductive nature of “Say You’ll Be There”, Beyonce got referred to as an ‘anti-feminist’ by

author, feminist and social activist Bell Hooks in a 2014 panelled discussion titled “Are You

Still a Slave?”. Surrounding the topic of ‘liberation’ of the female black body, Hooks

discusses Beyonce as a selling point and the influence of ‘class power and wealth’ in which

she believes impacts ‘peoples fascination with her’. (Bell Hooks, 2014) .

“I actually feel like the major assault on feminism in our society has come from visual

media and from television and from videos. Just think, where do we even know, as of late, of

any powerful man of any colour that has come out with some tirade against feminism?”

(Bell Hooks, 2014)

Yet again, this topic questions boundaries between independence and ‘playing into the

hands’ of a predominantly male audience. The use of objectification as a selling point in

visual media, whether it be seduction or wealth, raises questions to female role models in

their integrity for feminism or whether this is just an act which ‘serves you to make lots and

lots of money’ (Bell Hooks, 2014). Similarly to Beyonce and her contradictory acts of

feminism in appeal, the costumes used and the fictional identities created in the “Say You’ll

Be There” visuals formed a thread of objectification in which remained a selling point

throughout the Spice Girls’ music career and rocketed their fanbase.

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Who Do You Think You Are?

In 1997, the Brit Awards hit the screen with a live performance of “Spice Up Your

Life" (Spice Girls, 1997) that went down in pop history for the most iconic Brit Award

moment (Harper’s Bazaar UK, 2018). Spice Mania was at its ultimate domination in both

the UK and the US at the release of Spice World (Spice World, 1997) the movie, when the

famous Union Jack dress marked the most emblematic moment of Geri Halliwells’ career.

As a result of an idea that began as the restructuring of an old tea towel, Halliwell’s bold

and patriotic approach to fashion gave a recognition to the group in which secured a whole

new brand identity.

The power of personality took place as the central feature of the Spice Girls’ career as they

sold a worldwide mass of merchandise as manufactured identities. Initially, the Spice Girls

got their nicknames from a 1996 Top of the Pops interview with Peter Lorraine, a ‘lazy

journalist’ (Melanie Brown cited in Ryan Buxton, 2015), who couldn’t be bothered to

remember each of the members names. This objectifying act sparked a trend that

characterised each member and animated the Spice Girls as a fictional collective. Further

following the Brit Awards, the individual labels of personality, style and unofficial objects

smothered in the British flag gave a platform for fans to buy into each member as collectors

items. The consumerist obsession of the Spice Girls gradually pinned dresses onto

thousands of collectable figurines and the group were no longer just a musical interest for

fans. Fandom progressed into the form of a physical collection.

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Vincent, A. (2017). Girl Power: The Spice Girls perform at the 1997 Brit Awards. [image] Available at: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/music/news/sisters-got-great-union-jack-tea-towels-geri-halliwell-created/ [Accessed 22 Nov. 2019].

“For me this was my way of showing my fandom: the bigger collection I had, the bigger fan

I was!”

(Liz West, cited in Tish Weinstock 2015)

The term “fandom” is defined as ‘the state of being a fan of someone or something,

especially a very enthusiastic one’ (Cambridge English Dictionary, 2019). The impulsive

impact of Spice Mania left an impression on the history of fandom for the craze that it

stirred within its fanbase. Liz West is a British curator and visual artist that holds the

Guinness World Record for the biggest Spice Girls collection. In a 2015 interview with i-D,

West discusses her obsession surrounding the Spice Girls, the nature of her collection as a

fan and how it formed due to a subconscious instinct to collect, to be ‘part of their

gang!’ (Liz West cited in Tish Weinstock, 2015). West’s fascination with the group was !10

formed as a response to her role models but also as a result of the capitalist nature of the

Spice Girls as a product and how, like many other fans, she formed a ‘need to own their

branded objects’ (Liz West 2015).

‘6. ownership: the treatment of a person as something that is owned by another (can be

bought or sold);’

American philosopher, Martha C Nussbaum, discussed the notion of “Objectification” in her

reading surrounding feminist theory in the book titled Philosophy and Public Affairs. In her

seven features of objectification, Nussbaum lists the contributing factors by which we

associate the objectification of a person. The quotation shown above states the element of

‘ownership’; the possession of someone in a way that can be bought or sold and the way in

which this dehumanises someone. “One is treated as an object what is really not an object ,

what is, in fact, a human being” (Martha C. Nussbaum,1995 cited in John Wiley & Sons,

2005: 256-7). Beyond their nicknames and their uncanny likeness to the plastic figures

crafted and sold as a marketing tool, the boundary between positive and negative

connotations of the objectification of the Spice Girls is a query unresolved. Similarly to

West, many fans began to form their collection following their sincere interest in the

discovery of the Spice Girls as a musical phenomenon. The announcement of Halliwells’

departure from the group in 1998 caused an uproar in the media and most importantly, the

devoted fan base that spread devastation worldwide. As the news flooded front covers and

breaking headlines, it became largely apparent that people were no longer only devoted to

the lyrics but invested in the personal lives of these young women.

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Viva Forever

Conclusion

Spice Mania stormed the nation in the 1990’s with a significance for bravery and confidence

that went down in cultural history. We now exist in a time where we require a community of

faith, optimism, belief and a vision of preferable futures to strive for. Faced with growing

concerns in national politics and world affairs, 2020 is a time of overwhelming unease for

not only our country, but for the entirety of mankind. The turmoil of Brexit, the controversy

surrounding British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and the ongoing horror of the US

President Donald Trump is an overwhelming disturbance that shadows our optimism for the

future and humanity. Trump’s famous quotation “Grab them by the pussy” (Donald Trump,

2005 cited in Mark Makela, 2016), sparked a repulsion that not only further highlighted the

position of men in power in the world right now but the detrimental impact that this display

of gendered rights in the media has on our optimism for the future.

“Now a younger generation doesn’t dream, it hopes; it hopes that we will survive, that there

will be water for all, that we will be able to feed everyone, that we will not destroy

ourselves” (Dunne and Raby 2013, pg 9). The 2013 book Speculative Everything: Design,

Fiction and Social Dreaming by Dunne and Raby explores our ideals, ideas and imagination

for possible futures for design and our society. It teaches us to ‘speculate’ for potential

futuristic motives in design and in this case, civilisation. Having read the book, I reflected

upon our expectations for tomorrow and the suggested query of ‘what if’ that is discussed

by Dunne and Raby throughout the book. It made me question the possibilities for us and

begin to imagine the many alternatives for us as a future forward generation. Does Britain

need hope of cultural icons in the spotlight as an emblem of positivity? Does ‘girl power’

still have the ability to inspire a generation?

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“When I saw videos of the Spice Girls, I wanted to be them”.

(Charli XCX, cited in Will Hodgkinson 2015)

“Spicy” (Spice Girls et al., 2019), a remake of the hit song “Wannabe”, featuring Diplo and

pop icon Charli XCX is an exemplary case of an approach to keep the essence of ‘girl

power’ alive today. The song was released in May 2019 and has been released with an

intention to ‘honour the Spice Girls’ (Herve Pagez, cited in Kat Bein 2019). Many artists in

the charts today approach the music industry with a zest for sisterhood and almost an

incentive to replicate the chemistry and energy that the Spice Girls gave to the world.

Female influencers such as Little Mix, Dua Lipa and Charli XCX parallel the Spice Girls

with their modern day interpretation of ‘girl power’ and their highly effeminate fan base.

This notion of the female pop “role model” that threads throughout pop culture today was a

result of the Spice Girls and their duty to maintain an admiration in fan base. The idealistic

characters portrayed through the presence of these five young girls kept their target audience

thrilled which was indeed, a thriving success (Laura Snapes, 2019). The offscreen antics

were shadowed with a cautiousness that masked any struggle with a wild smile and a peace

sign that had the predominance of 1990s youth culture hooked.

The hysteria surrounding the Spice World- 2019 Tour was unlike any other for its staggering

fan responses surrounding emotions of nostalgia, iconic flashbacks and “Viva Forever”.

(Spice Girls, 1998). The tour, in mourning of the legendary Victoria Beckham, ’Posh Spice’,

who decided against the reunion, was a flood of millennial exhilaration in search for a night

packed with memories of youth and alcohol fuelled dance routines. A trip down memory

lane splashed the media and poured into people’s Instagram feeds with a collective of

energy that momentarily revisited Spice Mania once again, but this time we were part of a

whole new generation.

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“We welcome all ages, all races, all gender identities, all countries of origin, all sexual

orientations, all religions & beliefs, all abilities.”

(Spice Girls, cited in Laura Snapes 2019)

Spice World visited us with an essence of an all accepting and all loving sense of

community that spread warmth and gave space for a body of people to unite. The brief

return of the Spice Girls and the connections that formed through these crowds, resonated

with me and the harmony that was created as a result of this reunion. As a result of the

research and points explored within this case study, I have come to the conclusion that we

do indeed need the powerful framework the Spice Girls created for people of our modern

day in 2020. Despite the questions raised as a result of opportunism within the marketing

strategy of feminism, the positive response formed gave us a network that enforced a

hopeful fight for every age, race, gender and sexual orientation. The Spice Girls taught us

the importance of freedom in life lessons, but most importantly, how to spice up our lives.

Word Count- 3710

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