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How the Spice Girls became icons of the girl power movement
The track Wannabe (1996) by the Spice Girls is turning 30 this year. For the 25th anniversary of the cult British girl band, Channel 4 shot the documentary Girl Powered: The Spice Girls (2021), which focused on the stellar journey of the five singers who became influential figures of pop culture and feminism in the 1990.
By Allan Lemarchand.
Published on 30 July 2020. Updated on 26 June 2026.
Girl power though music
What was going on in the world in 1996? The young Will Smith was starring in Independence Day, Prince Charles and Lady Diana were getting a divorce, and the Nintendo 64 was the new hit video game console. Meanwhile, the Spice Girls were taking the music industry by storm with the release of their single Wannabe. Wearing their extravagant outfits, the five singers — Posh, Baby, Scary, Sporty and Ginger Spice — embodied a wider spectrum of femininity, becoming front-figures of 1990s feminism.
For the 25th anniversary of the worldwide hit track, Channel 4 announced they will be making a multiple-part documentary on the Spice Girls in 2021. Entitled Girl Powered: The Spice Girls, the project follows the music icons’ exceptional trajectory and featured exclusive interviews and footage of the girl band.
Icons of 1990s feminism
From the start of their career in the 1990s, the Spice Girls embodied a new type of feminism and became true figures of the girl power movement. “[Girl power] is being able to do things just as well as — or even better than — the boys, and being what we want to be”, Mel C, aka Sporty Spice, explained. By embodying different archetypes, such as the sporty one, the posh one, the ever young one, and wearing printed shirts reading “Girl Power!”, the girls band proved just how much the fight for equal rights applied to each and every woman.
In 1995, the Spice Girls imposed their vision of modern, free women and fired their manager, because his artistic proposals limited them to a childlike, soft image. With the lyrics “I’ll tell you what I want, what I really want / If you want my future, forget my past / Don’t go wasting my precious time”, they inspired a whole generation of women. Every public appearance gathered thousands of supportive fans. In November 2018, almost twenty years after the group had broken up, the Spice Girls had announced a series of nine exclusive shows in the United Kingdom, triggering waves of hysteria. The fans fought tooth and nail over the tickets, breaking the country’s sales record.
