Back in 1997, I was sporting a shiny metallic backpack and spending my evenings at the mall, all while clutching a Spice Girls lollipop. These lollipops came with stickers featuring Ginger, Posh, Scary, Sporty, or Baby—decorating my folders and books, and I might have even plastered some on my wall.
At that time, the Spice Girls were outpacing even The Beatles in sales, and their infectious brand of feminism—centered on “Girl Power,” platform shoes, and friendship—turned them into a cultural phenomenon. With their skyrocketing popularity, they not only sold merchandise but also released a movie, Spice World, a true classic, and they somehow managed to tackle sexism on commercial sets.
In a recently resurfaced outtake from a commercial shoot for the Spice Girls-themed Polaroid camera, Melanie Brown and her fellow bandmates bravely confront a request for more “cleavage shots” and “midriff shots” from a director on set. When asked why he made such a request, the man replied, “It’s every man’s fantasy. That’s showbiz.” Brown firmly rejects the “chauvinistic pig” demand, and soon Geri Halliwell joins her, followed by the rest of the Spice Girls, delivering a powerful display of girl power. Victoria Beckham (then Adams) even snatches the man’s sunglasses off his face, quipping, “Stop trying to look cool.”
You might think, “But didn’t the Spice Girls market themselves with bare midriffs and cleavage?” Indeed, they did—on their own terms. There’s a significant difference between embracing your body as a form of empowerment and selling that empowerment under the guise of “every man’s fantasy” to impressionable young girls. The Spice Girls were keenly aware of this distinction and were not afraid to speak out. Halliwell even challenged the director, asking, “What kind of message would that send?”
In their delightfully campy way, the Spice Girls emphasized a crucial message: girls have value, women have worth, and that value is independent of men. They sang about “Girl Power” and lived it behind the scenes. I feel proud of them as a teenager, and honestly, I still do.
While hindsight is always clearer, this on-set exchange should have made it into the Polaroid commercial instead of the bizarre, noir-themed version that included a vomiting nun and operatic elements, not to mention the Spice Girls getting expelled from Catholic school during a rainstorm.
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In summary, the Spice Girls not only shattered stereotypes but also served as a key example of how to stand up against sexism in the entertainment industry, a lesson that resonates even today.
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